IN BRIEF: The Israeli Electoral Process

A 2009 election poster of Benjamin Netanyahu

The upcoming elections for Israel’s House of Representatives, the Knesset, will be taking place this year on 17 March, 2015. Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party is currently vying for his fourth term as Prime Minister, which would prolong his involvement in Israeli politics to nearly two decades.¹ But before we lay out the specific parties and their candidates, it is important to understand the process of these elections and how it marginalizes Palestinian parties and the right to vote for Palestinians citizens of Israel. In Israel, there is a parliamentary system that exists which is very different from the electoral system in the United States. Israel uses a system of proportional representation where voters elect the nationally registered political parties instead of local candidates.² It is also important to understand how this system dates back to the original political system of the Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine, before Israel’s establishment as a state in 1948.

History of the Yishuv

In the early 1920s, during the time when the British Mandate of Palestine was the legal commission for the administration of the territory, a newly formed Yishuv had become the national liberation movement to establish an independent Jewish state in Palestine.³ At this point in time, less than one percent of Jews inhabited Palestine, but waves of immigration largely increased before and after World War II. 

The Yishuv, or organized Jewish community, functioned as a parliamentary democracy with three formal branches of government comprised of the parliament Asefat ha-Nivharim (the National Assembly), the executive branch ha‑Va'ad ha-Le'umi (the National Council) and the judicial system Beit Mishpat ha-Shalom ha-Ivri (the Hebrew Court of Peace).⁴ The first elections to the National Assembly were held in 1920, establishing a protocol that elections be held every four years. The Yishuv were very politically oriented and eventually formed different parties. Therefore, after 1935, there were actually three main groups of Jews in Palestine, which consisted of the "Organized Yishuv" (the labor Zionists, the General Zionists and the religious Zionists), the "Porshim" (the Revisionists) and the Ultra-Orthodox.⁵ In the summer of 1947, when the United Nations’ Special Committee on Palestine arrived in the region, they had seen the internal organization of the Yishuv, with elected political leadership, as sustainable, and the international committee was convinced that British supervision was no longer needed. In 1948, the official transformation of the Yishuv into a sovereign independent state of Israel was completed.

How Do the Elections Work?

Elections are held every four years. Every citizen of Israel above the age of eighteen is eligible to vote.⁶ The members of the Knesset are elected by party vote - the voters cast one ballot for a specific party (who list their candidates in preferential order) to represent them.

            In these elections, voters also vote by direct vote. There is no “body of electors,”⁷ but rather, the entire country counts as one district so all votes are counted together, contrasting the American Electoral College system where Americans do not cast a direct vote for the President. In contrast to the American winner-take-all voting system, the Knesset follows proportional representation. Of the 120 seats in the Knesset, each party has a chance to hold a seat provided they receive two percent of the total votes proportional to the percentage of votes they received, providing an opportunity for every party to represent their voters’ interest.

            Once elections are held, results are published eight days later. The first session of the Knesset is held two weeks later and elected members declare their allegiance to Israel.⁸ The President is elected by the Knesset by majority vote, and the President appoints the Prime Minister.

            This information is defined in Article 4 of the Basic Law of Israel which states, “The Knesset shall be elected by general, national, direct, equal, secret and proportional elections, in accordance with the Knesset Elections Law.”⁹

What About Palestinians Living in Israel?

            According to the Basic Law, the Central Elections Committee (those who oversee and make rules regarding elections) are able to prevent a party from participating in the elections if “its objective or actions, expressly or by implication” include “1) negation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people; 2) negation of the democratic character of the State; and 3) incitement to racism.”¹⁰ This is able to be interpreted in any way the Central Elections Committee deems fit. 

             
           A large issue surrounding the elections is the question of “citizenship.” While a minority of Palestinians are citizens of Israel, the systematic discrimination enacted by Israeli policy keep the majority as residents of Israel which prohibits them from voting in elections, affecting a vast majority of Palestinians living in Jerusalem. The Knesset Members (MK’s) must swear allegiance to the State of Israel as the home of the Jewish people, which can act as a deterrent to Palestinians as the Knesset “emphasizes the exclusive connection of the state to the Jewish people.”¹¹

 

            Amendment 39 of 7A (Candidate who Visited a Hostile State Illegally) states a candidate or party can be denied an election campaign if that party/candidate visited an Arab or Muslim country defined as an “enemy state” – this includes Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.¹²

            Overall, a poll conducted by the Abraham Fund Initiatives reflects that Arabs are “frustrated with pervasive inequality in Israeli society and feel that voting in the past has not translated into influence over government policy.”¹³ This is most apparent given that the Arab turnout for voting barely averages around 50 percent.¹⁴

Implications and Predictions

This year’s elections are particularly important given that they have been pushed early as a result of a fractured Israeli government. In an attempt to gain unity on key agenda setting issues, Netanyahu decided to fire top officials within his government. This led parliament to vote on dissolving the coalition and moving the elections earlier than they would have normally been.¹⁵ The results of this election are predicted to be close, with a center-left alliance threatening to unseat Netanyahu's government.¹⁶  

Numbers Breakdown

            All numbers are taken from +972 Magazine translated from Hebrew to English from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics of December 2012:

• 255,000 Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem have no voting rights for the Knesset.

• 1,855,115 Palestinians living in the West Bank (Areas A, B & C) have no voting rights.

• 1,710,257 Palestinians living in Gaza have no voting rights.

 “2,128,115 people have no voting rights. Altogether, one in every 4.5 people is denied political representation; this one person is almost always Palestinian. If the people of Gaza are included, the number of the unrepresented climbs to 3,820,372, or roughly one in every three people.”¹⁷

External Links

Basic Law: The Knesset http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic2_eng.htm

The Central Bureau of Statistics http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/cw_usr_view_Folder?ID=141

The Knesset Website http://www.knesset.gov.il/main/eng/home.asp

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^[1] JStreet. "Candidates." Election 2015. Accessed January 29, 2015.

^[2] "The Electoral System in Israel." The Knesset in the Governing System. Accessed January 28, 2015.

^[3] Halamish, Aviva. "Israel Studies An Anthology: The Yishuv: The Jewish Community in Mandatory Palestine." Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed January 28, 2015.

^[4] Ibid

^[5] Ibid

^[6] "Legal Voting Age around the World." ChartsBin. Accessed February 6, 2015. http://chartsbin.com/view/re6.

^[7] “Israel Elections: Overview and Explanations”. Jewish Virtual Library. 2015. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/elections.html

^[8] Hellman, Ziv. "Israeli Electoral System." My Jewish Learning. http://www.myjewishlearning.com/israel/Contemporary_Life/Politics/Electoral_System.shtml

^[9] Basic Law: The Knesset - 1958 http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic2_eng.htm

^[10] Garofalo, Elise. "Israeli Election Primer – What You Should Know." PBS. 21 Jan. 2013. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/israel-election-primer/

^[11] Lowrance, Sherry. “Being Palestinian in Israel” Project Muse: Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Vol. 25, No. 2. 2005. (pg. 490)

^[12]  Law of Political Parties - Adalah. 2015.http://www.adalah.org/en/law/view/512

^[13] Thrope, Samuel. “How Israel’s Arab Citizens Vote.”The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 27 Dec. 2012.. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/27/how-israel-s-arab-citizens-vote.html

^[14] Garofalo, Elise. "Israeli Election Primer – What You Should Know." PBS. 21 Jan. 2013. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/israel-election-primer

^[15] Kershner, Isabel. “Netanyahu Fires Ministers and Calls for Elections”. The New York Times, 2 December, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/world/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-cabinet-elections.html?_r=0

^[16] Heller, Aron. “Israeli Center-Left Alliance Looks to Unseat Netanyahu” Associated Press, 29 January, 2015. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_ALTERNATIVE_ALLIANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

^[17] Sheizaf, Noam. "Who Gets to Vote in Israel's Democracy?" +972 Magazine, 30 Oct. 2012. http://972mag.com/who-gets-to-vote-in-israels-democracy/58756/

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Land Day: What it Means and Why it's Important

Today, March 30th, marks Land Day or Youm Al Ard in Arabic. Perhaps more than May 15th, when the Nakba is often marked, or June 5th, when the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is marked, Land Day is symbolic of the totality of the Palestinian struggle. It's a day that refugees, who dwell in dismal camps dreaming of return, internally displaced or marginalized Palestinians in Israel and Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza are bound together in commemoration of what the Palestinian struggle is all about: a people's desire to live free on their native land.

So what precisely is Land Day? An info brief here, which is worth reading in its entirety, explains:

On 29 February 1976, the Israeli government announced that it planned to confiscate 21,000 dunum (5,500 acres) of Arab-owned land in order to create eight Jewish industrial centers. While government officials claimed that this expropriation was necessary in order to develop the region of Galilee, Israel's Palestinian citizenry perceived it as another attempt by Israel to geographically marginalize the state's Arab community and strip it of its agricultural livelihood. Their fears were later confirmed when Israel's Ministry of Agriculture declared the plan's primary purpose to be the creation of a Jewish majority in the Arab Galilee.

Having experienced institutionalized discrimination since the Jewish state's inception, the Palestinians of Israel decided to challenge this latest measure. Almost immediately after the announcement of land expropriation was made, community leaders met in an attempt to organize and communicate a unified message of objection. To deliver this message, a public demonstration was planned at the Knesset. Rather than risk a violent encounter with Israeli police, community leaders decided to cancel the protest and, instead, encourage members of their community to remain indoors making their objections known through a general strike.

Anticipating Palestinian repudiation of the measure, Israeli authorities imposed a curfew on the lower Galilee on the evening of 29 March 1976. The following morning, Israeli police and military forces entered the striking Arab villages, a move which provoked some Arab youth into a stone-throwing demonstration. To the protestors' dismay, Israeli forces responded with live ammunition, indiscriminately opening fire upon the unarmed protestors. By the day's end, six residents of Sakhnin, Arabeh, Kufr Kana and Taibeh were killed, 96 others were injured and 300 arrested.

Israeli authorities eventually confiscated the land in question under the guise of 'security.' The territory was later converted to Jewish settlements and an Israeli military training camp. The events of 30 March 1976 have not been forgotten in the minds and hearts of the Palestinian people. To this day, Palestinians, whether Israeli citizens or not, annually mark March 30 as 'Land Day' to demonstrate their connection to the land and to honor the memory of those who died defending Palestinian rights to the land.

Things haven't gotten much easier for Palestinian citizens of Israel and we are holding an event on the challenges they face in particular next week which you can attend in DC or watch live from anywhere in the world.

But it's not only Palestinians who are marking Land Day this year. Palestine solidarity activists in the United States and around the world are working to bring attention to the BDS movement on this day. The YouTube video below shows how one such group in New York decided to do just that by breaking out into a flashmob dance, reworking the lyrics to a popular Journey song, in the middle of Grand Central Station last night.

Oh yeah, the Israeli military marked Land Day as well.

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UPDATED: In the Cross-Hairs: Palestinian Citizens of Israel

*UPDATE: It seems like the Israeli Knesset wasn't done with its targeting of the Palestinian Arab minority for the day by the time I had concluded this post. Late yesterday, the Knesset passed a "citizenship-loyalty law" which stipulates that Israeli courts can strip Israeli citizens "who spied for a terror organization, brought about an armed conflict, aided an enemy in wartime, served in the enemy's armed forces or carried out acts detrimental to the State's sovereignty". And of course, it's up to the Israeli government, dominated by anti-Arab rightists, to define what all of that means. If an Palestinian citizen of Israel, for example, calls for changes in Israeli policy that can be deemed as acting against the "State's sovereignty" then they can be stripped of their citizenship.

The law also seems to go beyond the targeting of citizens but includes permanent residents as well. This seems to indicate that Palestinian residents of Israeli occupied Jerusalem, who have no Palestinian or Israeli citizenship but mere residency, could possibly face deportation if charged with any of the above. In this respect, the law may be a pretext for expediting the Judaization of Jerusalem by removing its Palestinian residents. More on that effort here and here.

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Palestinian citizens of Israel are increasingly in the cross-hairs of the right-wing government as of late. Recent weeks and months have seen some key events which will have a negative

impact on this segment of the Palestinian population. Everything from legislation to bulldozers have been used to intimidate, marginalize and discriminate against this community in a state which clings to the mantra of "only democracy in the Middle East." (Image right: Anti-Arab graffiti in Hebrew on Mosque in Yaffa)

A few examples in recent weeks are listed below. On April 4th, the Palestine Center will be hosting important advocates for the Palestinian community in Israel which is working to combat the ongoing and increased discrimination and targeting of their community. Here's but a sampling of the challenges they face:

The "Nakba Law" - The Nakba is the Arabic term for the most central event in the Palestinian plight: the rapid and systematic depopulation of historic Palestine of the majority of its native inhabitants. For Palestinians who managed to remain inside Israel -- a small number in 1948 when the Nakba occurred, but approximately 20% of Israel's population today -- the events of 1948 are central to their identity and their history. It marks a major shift in the trajectory of their modern existence. It was the moment in time when the community's life, as it knew it, was changed forever. For many Palestinian citizens of Israel, the Nakba in 1948 was the last time they'd ever see family members forced to take refuge and never to return.

But the commemoration of the Nakba is as important for the Palestinian community as it is challenging for the Zionist narrative. The annual reminder that the State of Israel was born upon the destruction and depopulation of the native people of the land is unsettling to Israeli Zionists, who either find the ethnic cleansing of Palestine justified or see it as a historical reality they'd rather ignore.

So legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset last week that would punish anyone financing events commemorating the Nakba. This is but another example of the genuine fear a people's expression of their own history creates for the state of Israel. Much more on the Nakba law can be read here.

The "Communities Law" - As if passing a law punishing the commemoration of the most significant event in modern Palestinian history wasn't enough for Israel's right-wing government, another law targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel was passed the same night last week. This law basically legalizes a discriminatory practice that was already firmly in place.

This law permits the screening of Israeli citizens by residency committees in small communities to ensure that only applicants “fitting with the life of the community” or “fitting with the social fabric” would be permitted to live within the community. The vagueness in the language allows committees to deny Palestinian Arab citizens, as well as others, on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. So much for democracy.

But as mentioned above, this is merely the legalization of an ongoing norm in many parts of Israeli society. In recent months, for example, 50 municipal Rabbis issued religious decrees banning Jews from renting homes to Palestinian Arabs. This is one bigoted Middle East fatwa you probably didn't hear about in the American mainstream media.

Last year I spoke with a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, Ahmad Tibi, about the increase in racism against the Palestinian population in Israel. I'd urge you to watch the entire video but here is an important excerpt from what he had to say:

The most and very sensitive obstacle between Israel as a state and its Arab citizens is the land issue. Our land has been confiscated from the very beginning, [since] 1948. At that time we were owning more than 80 percent of the land. Now we are owning only 3 percent of the private lands in Israel. All our lands were confiscated. Not confiscated for our sake, but confiscated for the Jewish majority. This is discrimination. And when we are building inside our towns, they are demolition of houses. Tens of thousands of Arab houses in Arab towns and villages are threatened to destroyed and demolished by the home ministry. We are demanding to enlarge our areas; allow to build there. We are prevented. But we have needs, natural growth, as citizens. Israel is recognizing the need for natural growth of the settlers but does not recognize our need for natural growth as citizens. That’s why I am saying that Israel is a state of its own settlers and not its own citizens. It prefers settlers over its Arabs citizens. Not one Arab town was created from 1948. Hundreds of settlements were created from 1948 and from 1967, also in the West Bank and Gaza strip--in the occupied territories. It is built in discrimination against us. This is a policy and official policy.

The "Anti-BDS Law"- Working its way through the Knesset, and having already passed its first reading, is another bill that would undoubtedly target Palestinian citizens of Israel for their political beliefs and expressions, as well as other Israelis and foreign nationals. In perhaps the most significant sign of the Israeli state's fear and vulnerability to the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), the Knesset is seeking to pass a bill that would punish Israeli citizens involved in advocating for BDS and would target and punish foreign nationals doing the same:

The draft law distinguishes among boycotts by Israeli residents or citizens; by foreign residents or nationals; and by foreign states, through legislation. It explicitly includes boycotts that affect the West Bank, such as boycotts of goods and services originating in the Jewish settlements there.

Under the provisions of the bill, the court could levy a fine of up to NIS 30,000 on Israeli citizens calling for or taking party in boycotts against Israel. Foreign citizens who violate the law could be prohibited from entering Israel for 10 years or more.

Foreign states that pass laws leading to a boycott of Israel or of Israeli products could be barred from carrying out transactions in Israeli bank accounts and from trading in Israeli stocks, land or real estate. In addition, the state could suspend the transfer of payments owed to the states. Israeli citizens who have suffered damage as a result of the boycott could sue for compensation, to be paid out of the frozen funds.

Targeting of Bedouin Villages - We wrote about how one particular Bedouin village, Al-Arakib, had been demolished for the 6th time last July as well as a post on unrecognized Bedouin villages. Needless to say, since then the situation for residents of Al-Arakib has not improved, as remnants of their unrecognized village were recently demolished for the 21st time.

Amal ElSana AlHjooj, who is the Co-Executive Director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED), began her career as a community organizer at 14 and at 17 established the first Arab Bedouin women's organization. She will be joining our panel on April 4th and will surely provide an important update on the challenges facing the Bedouin community.

The panel discussion, titled "Right Wing Israeli Polity: Implications for the Arab Minority" starts at 1pm EST and you can watch a live webcast of the event here from anywhere in the world.

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Ovadai Yosef Award Nominee

In Sullivanesque fashion, were inaugurating the Ovadai Yosef Award for overt racism toward Arabs in historic Palestine. Yosef, of course is the controversial Rabbi and Shas spiritual leader, who has rarely missed an opportunity to talk about how inferior and worthless Arabs and Palestinians are. To call out such instances of racism in this context we'll be posting comments or quotes that are inline with what Yosef typically spews. Our first nominee: MK David Rotem.

A little background: Haaretz reports today that a Knesset panel approved a controversial bill which would allow towns in Israel to deny residency to people who are not suitable to the "community's fundamental outlook" i.e. Arabs. The 'only democracy in the middle east' is sponsoring state-sanctioned segregation. Can you imagine if a white town in the US would deny a non-white person residence because having a neighbor of their skin color doesn't conform with the neighborhoods 'fundamental outlook'? It would be naive to think this stuff doesn't happen in the US, white neighborhoods often find hush-hush ways to stay white and deny minority residents because they fear what a change in the neighborhood's composition would do to their property value, but it is illegal. In Israel, its becoming part of the law of the land. The state is essentially saying, 'hey, we get it, we don't want to live near Arabs either'.

In response to a question about whether this bill is meant to exclude Arab citizens of Israel from residing in towns of their choosing Yisrael Beiteinu MK and Israeli Settler David Rotem said "In my opinion, every Jewish town needs at least one Arab. What would happen if my refrigerator stopped working on a Saturday?"




If you have suggestions for future Yosef nominees please leave them in the comment section below or e-mail permissiontonarrate@gmail.com .

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Israel's Zionism Problem

I was struck by a piece I read this morning on The Atlantic's website by Jonathan Tepperman. The piece, which admirably decries Israel's drive toward a loyalty oath, is a perfect example of the type of bend-over-backwards thinking that is produced by the desire to justify an ethnocentric majoritarian state. Tepperman begins:

Last Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved a controversial new draft law that would require non-Jews hoping to become Israeli citizens to swear a loyalty oath to the nation as a democratic and--here's the ugly bit--Jewish state.

OK not so bad, he continues:

While there's no question that the measure is abhorrent, smacking as it does of blood-oaths and narrow, violent, 19th century notions of nationalism, I think there are a couple of points worth keeping in mind.

Uh oh...here it comes (emphasis mine):

One, those of us who live in multiethnic, pluralistic societies with few external threats and where everyone basically agrees on what it means to be a citizen--we have it easy. And the knowledge of our good fortune should perhaps make us just a touch slower to judge societies that don't enjoy such luxuries--or at least lead us to double-check our criticisms before letting fly. I'm not arguing for giving Israel a pass in a case like this. But I am suggesting that we should think about the kinds of fear that motivate it.

Which leads me to point number two. The Lieberman pledge is an odious attempt to deal with a problem. But that doesn't mean that the problem itself isn't real.

So what is the problem Jonathan?

Even if Israel were to shed itself completely of the West Bank today, the issue wouldn't go away. For Israel proper--as defined by its 1967 borders--also has a sizable Arab population, and that population is also growing fast (or so it is commonly believed), again thanks to a birthrate higher than that of the Jews. The rate of increase is far too fast for the likes of people like Lieberman--but also too fast for many secular Israeli Jews, who worry that once again they risk being outnumbered in their own land.

This is where "liberal Zionism" gets all dressed up in flamboyant garb to prance around in the oxymoronic parade. Still, very few take notice. The problem as Tepperman sees it, is that the Palestinian Arabs exist, and their mere existence in their ancestral homeland poses a threat to ethnocentric majoritarianism. The problem for liberal Zionists is not the state adopted ideology which demands ethnic majority rule, but rather the people who were there before the state. And why?

Israel was founded and internationally recognized as a refuge for Jews, and it is legitimate that modern Israelis are determined to keep it so.

There is no doubt that Jews suffered tremendous injustice in Europe and elsewhere throughout history, and the notion of a homeland for Jews is a legitimate one. But to argue that this justifies ethnic majority rule while ignoring that the creation of that state directly created another stateless people through depopulation and ethnic cleansing is irresponsible and dangerous. In fact, ignoring these truths which are inconvenient for the liberal Zionist leads to perverse and obscene arguments about managing birthrates among ethnic minorities to maintain majority rule. You know, something like this:

For the explanation for the falling birthrate in Israel is the same as it is everywhere: as women get richer and more educated, they start having fewer kids. So if Israelis are still convinced they have an Arab "problem" and want to deal with it, their best bet would be to continue to ensure the economic and social integration of those same Arabs.

Doing so should appeal to Israel's moderate mainstream because it will help guarantee that the Arabs remain loyal citizens in the long term, as it will give them a greater long-term stake in the state.

As for hateful xenophobes like Lieberman--well, even they should find something to like. Since by lowering birthrates, at least it will reduce the number of their enemies.

So in essence the argument is if Israel could just eliminate some of the institutionalized racism in its socio-economic policies vis-a-vis the Palestinian citizens of Israel, then it will lower birthrates among this population and secure its meta-goal of institutionalized racism in the long term.

Isn't it just awkward when liberalism meets Zionism? I suppose in theory the two are not incompatible, but in practice, when Zionism means the creation of Israel in what was Palestine, Zionism will continue to be at odds with the liberal values of equality and freedom.

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Jewish State?

Since the recent "offer" by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to temporarily and incompletely abide by its decades-old obligation in return for Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish State, and the news of a law requiring a loyalty oath for Palestinians in Israel, there has been increased discussion about this issue and the fate of Palestinians inside Israel.

I have plenty to say about this, but I think this entire discussion at this moment, which is being advanced by the Israeli government, is an attempt to distract from the clear failure of the Israeli side to abide by international law vis-a-vis the settlements, and to shift blame on the Palestinians for the failure of a process that was destined to fail to begin with. That being said, the increased focus on Palestinians in Israel because of these new Israeli provocations prompts us to bring forward resources on both of these issues. We've had numerous lectures, briefings and events at the Palestine Center in the past on this issue and a selection appears below.

One recent event which focused on the Palestinian citizens of Israel featured new polling data collected by Prof. Shibley Telhami which captured the attitudes of this population. He, along with Prof. Asad Ghanem who has authored a number of scholarly works on the Palestinian population in Israel, spoke at a Palestine Center event titled "Palestinian Citizens of Israel: Stakeholders in Limbo." Here is the video and full transcript. Here is an important excerpt but the entirety is very valuable:

Ghanem: When we say Israel is a democratic and Jewish state, we get the impression that Israel considers democracy as equal as a Jewish state. This is not the situation. When it comes to the interface between Israel and its Palestinian citizens it is 100 percent clear that Israel considers first the fact that it is a Jewish state. The key factor for the allocation of resources in the state of Israel is being Jewish or non- Jewish, rather than being citizens and non-citizens.

We also hosted a delegation from Mosawwa, the advocacy center for Arab citizens in Israel, who spoke about the challenges facing the population they serve. Here is the video and full transcript. Here is a highlight from Jafar Farah, Mosawwa's director:

The question and the challenge--this is the second issue-- is if they will accept us as full citizens with our civil and collective rights. Our collective rights are very important to us, not because we undermine civil rights but because the Jewish majority wants to have collective rights, even for the Jews that are living abroad. So, the self-determination of the Jews should not undermine our existence as Palestinians, as a Palestinian minority, as a collective. Equality should be included in the values that the State will accept. Actually, the whole debate about equality--do you know that the eleven basic laws that exist in Israel and the whole debate about [the] constitution don’t include the value of equality? It was rejected. So, we may have in Israel constitution without equality. So, the Supreme Court ordered that equality should be guaranteed and etc. But equality will not be guaranteed if you will have 30 laws that discriminate or give privileges to one group and forget about the second group.

Another event we hosted on this issue in 2006 focused on Palestinians inside Israel and the outcome of the Israeli Knesset election. Here is the transcript, but this paragraph by Yosef Jabareen was particularly prescient given this weeks events:

The other feature of this election, which I think is also drastic, is the rise of a fascist party, which is Yisrael Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman. This is very bad news for us - that he succeeded in bringing together many people to win twelve seats. I am happy that at the last hour he lost one seat. His main agenda is, I quote, "I want a Jewish State." For him, it's not the declaration of independence of Israel. For Israel to be defined as a Jewish state, its minority should be respected. The state should respect the minority - the Arabs. But for him, he wants a state completely clean of Arabs. So he wants to change the boundaries and transfer people from the "Triangle," from the area of Um el-Fahem, even close to Nazareth and in the south. He declared it that his first enemy is the Bedouin, the Arabs in the Negev. When he was in office as a Minister a few years ago, he was poisoning the land and the agricultural fields of the Bedouin there. So this is very important.

A decade of transcripts from previous Palestine Center events can be found here, and videos here.

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Interview: Palestinian MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi

Download Video (mp4) [right click the link and select 'save link as']

Download Audio (mp3) [right click the link and select 'save link as']


Palestine Center Brief No. 196 (20 April 2010)

Palestine Center Executive Director Yousef Munayyer recently sat down and spoke with Palestinian MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi in Washington, DC. The following is a transcript of their conversation.

YM: Some commentators and analysts here in the United States believe that the Obama administration wants to bring down [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s right-wing government and force the inclusion of Kadima into a new government which would make for a more compliant partner. Having a front row seat to Knesset politics, do you believe such analysis is accurate and would a government with Kadima in it be likely to halt and dismantle the illegal settlements?

AT: I am not sure that this analysis is correct. I think it is a wrong reading of the political map in Israel and about the remarks sent by the White House and the American administration to Netanyahu’s government. There are substantial remarks about settlement activity mainly in East Jerusalem. Yet, it is only remarks. The American administration did nothing in order to impose its opinion on Netanyahu’s government and they should. They should impose their position against settlements in this [Netanyahu] government because the whole international community is saying no to settlements. The American administration is saying no to settlements but only to say no and remarks will only be verbal without any tangible pressure.

YM: For example…

AT: Diplomatic for example; not to automatically use the veto in the Security Council mainly about settlement resolutions, or economical. If the American administration is saying they are totally opposing settlement activity why not prevent merchandise from the settlements here in the American markets? Why not do what is being done in England about putting labels on this merchandise? It is symbolic but it is important.

Let’s talk about coalition issues. Netanyahu has chosen the most radical parties in order to compose this coalition. He was able to do something else but he preferred to declare the most radical and right-wing coalition ever in Israel which is a settlement government. Supporting in all means--financially, politically, publicly--the settlements both in the West Bank and mainly in the occupied areas in East Jerusalem; totally violating written agreements and understandings with the White House and the State Department. Supposedly, [Leader of the Kadima party] Tzipi Livni will get in. It is not to say, at any case, that we are going to quickly finalize the negotiations. Tzipi Livni is the largest faction in the Knesset and she is in the opposition. But both Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu support settlements in East Jerusalem.

YM: And we have seen a history of that with the Kadima government, the establishment of Maskiot, the expansion of Efrat and a number of settlements that they decided to expand even at the last moments of their leadership in government.

AT: The Kadima government was very much active in enlarging settlements in the West Bank, mainly in East Jerusalem. They are talking about it proudly. Look, the way the American administration dealt with the negotiation process with not influential and was not successful. In every delicate station they told the Palestinian leadership or the Arab leaders, ‘we cannot put real pressure on the Israeli prime minister because we knew and we should understand his delicate coalition problems.’ As to say that Palestinians should be responsible for the Israeli internal political problems and to keep and sustain every Israeli coalition. Look, this coalition is radical, is rightist, is fascist. I am, as a member of the opposition, I am acting every day to bring down this coalition. Why should the American administration accommodate itself to the internal problems of every Israeli prime minister who is creating the most radical coalition?

YM: I want to focus a little but on some of the fascist elements of this coalition that you mentioned. How has life changed for the Palestinian citizens of Israel since the rise of the Israeli right? [Israeli Foreign Minister] Avigdor Lieberman and Yisrael Beiteinu have been very aggressive toward this population. What new challenges are they facing?

AT: Racism became mainstream in Israeli society. Once, racists were only in the streets. Now, they are in the government; deputy prime minister, foreign minister, home minister. Avigdor Lieberman is targeting and concentrating all his efforts against the Arab minority and Arab citizens mainly against the Arab MKs, ourselves, in order to delegitimize our presence, our very presence in our homeland. He is proposing revoking our citizenship as a community. It is very strange that an immigrant who came just 30 years ago to the country by airplane is willing to deport or revoke the citizenship of the indigenous people. He is creating a hostile atmosphere towards us. Once, when Jörg Haider was elected in Austria as a leader of a party, the Austrian government was isolated. Here, he is being accepted in some capitals as a foreign minister. It’s a double standard. This man should be boycotted. He is a fascist by all means.

YM: We often hear about destructive Israeli policies in Jerusalem and the West Bank, like the demolition of Palestinians home. What we don’t often hear about is the demolition of Palestinian homes inside Israel. I recently read about thirteen Palestinian homes in Al-Lyd which are threatened with demolition. Can you tell us more about these types of challenges?

AT: The most and very sensitive obstacle between Israel as a state and its Arab citizens is the land issue. Our land has been confiscated from the very beginning, [since] 1948. At that time we were owning more than 80 percent of the land. Now we are owning only 3 percent of the private lands in Israel. All our lands were confiscated. Not confiscated for our sake but confiscated for the Jewish majority. This is discrimination. And when we are building inside our towns, they are demolition of houses. Tens of thousands of Arab houses in Arab towns and villages are threatened to destroyed and demolished by the home ministry. We are demanding to enlarge our areas; allow to build there. We are prevented. But we have needs, natural growth, as citizens. Israel is recognizing the need for natural growth of the settlers but does not recognize our need for natural growth as citizens. That’s why I am saying that Israel is a state of its own settlers and not its own citizens. It prefers settlers over its Arabs citizens. Not one Arab town was created from 1948. Hundreds of settlements were created from 1948 and from 1967, also in the West Bank and Gaza strip--in the occupied territories. It is built in discrimination against us. This is a policy and official policy. I have a motion, a law in the Knesset, to enforce the authorities to create a new Arab town. It has been brought down by the government.

YM: After the Goldstone debacle in the fall, there was a conference held by Palestinians in Israel calling for the dissolution of the [Palestinian Authority] PA. This was probably the most significant involvement of the Palestinian community in Israel with the politics of the Palestinian Authority. What are the political relations between both groups like now and how would you characterize the views of the Palestinian community in Israel toward the inter-Palestinian divide?

AT: This move that you are talking about did not represent and was not initiated by the Arab community. It was represented by only one party. We are trying to bridge the gap between Fateh and Hamas, to reunify factions and not to call for dissolving this faction or another, this authority or another. We have remarks, some critical remarks, about the behavior of both Fateh and Hamas. But the split which took place in Gaza was disastrous. When I was going to the Knesset in the day when Hamas took over in Gaza, shooting each other in the streets, one Israeli rightist member of the Knesset came to me and said, “I want to tell you something Ahmad Tibi.” I said, “Yes?” He said, “This is the first time I hope both parties will succeed.” It was very painful, very insulting. That’s why I feel shame of this dispute and this rift between Gaza and the West Bank, between Fateh and Hamas. We are calling to reunify the Palestinian people and to have democratic elections in order to give the people the right to decide who should rule. It is the only civilized way to decide.

YM: Many are opposed to any relations with Israel, normalization or any other form of communication with the Israelis. Some would argue that Palestinians should not bother being involved in Israeli politics as this is in effect a form of normalization. How would you respond to these critics?

AT: We are living there. We are responsible for the good living of our community. We should be responsible for improving the status and situation of the Arab community. We should be responsible for politically representing the Arab minority in the Knesset in order not to be allowing revoking the citizenship of the Arab minority. You know, Lieberman is willing to have the Knesset cleaned of Arab MKs in order to have all of our country cleaned of Arabs. That’s what they are saying. We should be there. We should not give any gift for the right, fascist parties by leaving the parliament. I think that those who are not participating in the elections are making a mistake. We should be there in order to say to the whole world and to the Israeli public and to ourselves that we have rights and that we are defending our rights all over the place; in the streets, in the public and in the Knesset itself as a parliament.

YM: Speaking at the Palestine Center, you mentioned Israel’s pre-occupation with the Iranian nuclear issue. This continues today. Palestinians in Israel, when polled, believe Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and have a right to it, in stark contrast Jewish Israelis. Is Israel’s reaction to the Iranian program a sincere expression of security concerns or a necessary distraction from the realities of occupation?

AT: I am calling for dismantling the whole Middle East from weapons of mass destruction. The only country which has this kind of weapon is Israel. I do not want neither Israel nor Iran or any other country in the Middle East to have a nuclear weapon. Israel should respect all the international covenants about nuclear weapons and it is not. They are violating international law. I think President Barack Obama talked about that last week; that they should abide by these treaties. There is a hypocrisy on this issue. I do not want any nuclear weapons to be in the Middle East. But it seems like Israel is using this issue as an excuse to have all the time, external intimidation, to recruit and mobilize its public that, ‘we are in danger from an external, huge enemy,’ like in Iraq; Saddam Hussein. They were the first to say Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and he did not. From the other side, I feel that the remarks of [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad are mistaken when he is talking about the destruction of Israel. This is a weapon in the hands of Binyamin Netanyahu. They are using these kinds of statements to recruit and mobilize their public opinion and here in the United States of America and in the Congress. Because this ammunition is given to them by these kinds of statements by Ahmadinejad and this is a mistake.

YM: Finally, many years of a failed peace process, ineffective Palestinian leadership and accelerated Israeli colonization in the occupied territory has lead to a growing chorus of advocates, Palestinian and Israeli alike, of a bi-national state. A colleague of yours, MK Said Naffa, spoke at the Palestine Center last summer and said that a one-state solution was Israel’s nightmare, yet, it was marching toward it anyway. What are your views on this issue?

AT: I wrote an article before six years saying that we should talk about choices. I do believe that the optimal solution, supposed and supported by the international community, is the two-state solution. But every day that passes puts an obstacle placed by Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government for creating this kind of solution. Netanyahu talked about a two-state solution at Bar Ilan University. I do not believe him. If you are supporting a two-state solution, you should acknowledge that you should put an end to the occupation of 1967 as a whole. Instead, he is supporting settlements, continuing settlement activity. Last week the Israeli military issued the military order 1650 enabling them from deporting any Palestinian from any place in the West Bank, just like that. They are not sincere. That is to say that we should appeal to the Israeli government and to Binyamin Netanyahu saying if you are willing to have a two-state solution, ahlan wa sahlan, but you should recognize the need to put an end to occupation first, and you are not. That’s why we should say to the Israelis, if there is no hope for a two-state solution; one democratic state is the other option and you should choose. And the international community should choose. Definitely, they are feeling that this kind of solution is a nightmare. They do not accept it in any case. The third option, which is being chosen by Binyamin Netanyahu and every Israeli government, is the status quo which is leading to the deepening of the apartheid system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Then, this should be the challenge to the international community: to accept the reality of deepening the apartheid or to impose the solution of Israel putting an end to the occupation.

This policy brief may be used without permission but with proper attribution to the Center.

The views in this brief are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Jerusalem Fund.

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Palestinian Citizens in Israel: Stakeholders in Limbo? - VIDEO

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Treated as second-class citizens in Israel and left out of Palestinian national representative structures, this population continues to grow in number and political dynamism. What do the Palestinian citizens of Israel think about a negotiated solution to the conflict, the Right of Return, and their future status? How can/should this constituency participate in the decision making processes that will ultimately provide an answer to their national question?

"Palestinian Citizens in Israel: Stakeholders in Limbo?"
with Dr. Shibley Telhami and Dr. Asad Ghanem

Wednesday, 2 December 2009 - The Palestine Center | Washington DC

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EVENT TODAY: Palestinian Citizens of Israel

[photo: Maureen Murphy | Electronic Intifada]

[Event video/audio recordings will be posted soon]

Palestinian Citizens of Israel: Stakeholders in Limbo?

with Dr. Shibley Telhami and Dr. Asad Ghanem

Wednesday, 2 December 2009
12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
The Palestine Center

[LIVE WEBCAST of the event will be available starting at 1 PM on this blog]

If you want to attend this in Washington, DC, please RSVP.

Treated as second-class citizens in Israel and left out of Palestinian national representative structures, this population continues to grow in number and political dynamism. What do the Palestinian citizens of Israel think about a negotiated solution to the conflict, the Right of Return, and their future status? How can/should this constituency participate in the decision making processes that will ultimately provide an answer to their national question? The speakers will explore these questions with a presentation of recently conducted public opinion data, commentary and analysis.

SPEAKER BIOS

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, College Park, and non-resident senior fellow at the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. He has served as Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the UN (1990-91), as advisor to former Congressman Lee Hamilton, and as a member of the US delegation to the Trilateral US-Israeli-Palestinian Anti-Incitement Committee, which was mandated by the Wye River Agreements. Dr. Telhami is the author of the best-selling book, The Stakes: America and the Middle East (Westview Press, 2003; updated version, 2004)

Asad Ghanem is a senior lecturer at the School of Political Sciences at the University of Haifa. His theoretical work has explored the legal, institutional and political conditions in ethnic states. He has been the initiator and designer of several policy schemes and empowerment programs for Palestinian-Arabs in Israel. Dr. Ghanem has authored and edited numerous articles and books, among them Palestinian Politics After Arafat: A Failed National Movement; Ethnic Politics in Israel - The Margins and the Ashkinasi Centre and Palestinians in Israel-Indigenous Group Politics in the Jewish State.

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Tonight on PBS: Heart of Jenin

Documentary Film Tells the Story of a Palestinian Boy Killed by the IDF

8 July 2009 - Tonight, PBS will air a documentary film at 10:00 PM called, Heart of Jenin (Check Your Local Listings). The documentary tells the story of Ahmed Khatib's, a twelve-year-old Palestinian, death at the hands of the IDF. In 2005, Israeli soldiers shot and killed Ahmed believing his toy gun was real. After Ahmed's death, his family decided to donate his organs.

The documentary traces his father's journey to visit three of the organ recipients two years later. One of Ahmed's kidneys went to an Orthodox Jewish girl and his other kidney went to a Bedouin boy. While his parents hesitated to donate Ahmed's heart, it now beats in the chest of a Druze girl. "I see my son in these children," Khatib says.

Crossing from northern Israel to the Negev desert and ending up in Jerusalem, Khatib encounters every complexity of the conflict: deep-seated animosity, hardened judgments and heartfelt generosity. While laying bare the deep divisions between Israelis and Palestinians, Heart of Jenin offers a rare vision of common humanity and hope.

Views expressed on this post or on linked web pages do not represent the Palestine Center, the educational program of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. All content is for educational purposes only.

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Israel to Limit West Bank Incursions; PA Skeptical

Israeli and international media have been reporting a new Israeli promise to refrain from carrying out incursions in four West Bank towns as a reward for the Palestinian Authority’s crackdown against Hamas.

According to the reports, Israeli forces will end their near nightly incursions into Jericho, Ramallah, Qalqilia and Bethlehem to allow the PA’s security forces greater leeway in imposing ‘security’ in the four Palestinian population centers. However, the Israeli army will not hesitate to enter the towns if it believes that a Palestinian attack against Israeli interests is imminent.

According to anonymous sources within the PA, a joint meeting of PA and Israeli security leaders took place outside Bethlehem last night to discuss the new arrangement. However, the sources expressed their dissatisfaction with the possibility that the new arrangement would change the reality of occupation in the West Bank.

It is worth noting that Israeli forces reinvaded Palestinian towns in the West Bank during operation Defensive Shield in 2002 and have not returned to their positions just outside the towns since. This arrangement comes after the Palestinian Authority’s heavy crackdown on Hamas members and affiliates, which has resulted in hundreds of arrests as well as two deadly gun battles in Qalqilia three weeks ago.

Views expressed on this post or on linked web pages do not represent the Palestine Center, the educational program of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. All content is for educational purposes only.

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Building Palestinian Civil Society within Challenging Realities

Building Palestinian Civil Society within Challenging Realities
Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Mr. Jafar Farrah, Dr. Mary Totry and Dr. Khaled Furani from the Mossawa Center.

Today, there are 1.4 million Palestinian citizens in Israel. However, since the establishment of the Jewish state 61 years ago, this minority continues to struggle for their civil rights and equal rights as citizens of the self-declared "only democracy in the Middle East." A delegation from The Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, explained the challenges and the triumphs of the Palestinian citizens in Israel.

The Palestine Center
Washington, D.C.
23 April 2009

Read the Transcripts.

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