With the likes of Avigdor Lieberman holding one of the top positions in the Israeli government it should probably hardly be surprising that all manner of authoritarian measures are being proposed, but these proposals aren’t just dangerous because of the way in which they threaten freedom of speech, but because of the way in which they take up the energies and attentions of politicians who should be focussing on far more crucial issues.
Before the elections earlier this year many people were aware of Lieberman’s proposals concerning withtracting Israeli citizenship from the Arab sections of the population and trying to stop Arab political parties from standing in the 2009 Knesset elections but it seems that there has been little softening of attitude on Lieberman’s part since then. Recently we’ve seen calls for the banning of Nakba day, the Arab day of rioting and mourning the creation of Israel and in the past days proposals to punish the advocation of the dismantling of the Jewish state with prison sentences.
This of course will do nothing to take away internal opposition to Israel in real terms and will no doubt only serve to make Israeli Arabs feel even more alienated and restricted within Israeli national life. The opposition may for a time become less visible but when it finally erupts again it will almost certainly be more intense due to the frustration caused by the lack of expression that will have been inflicted upon it. And of course such measures will only serve to increase international condemnation of Israel as undemocratic, authoritarian and racist, and for once there will be a grain of truth in what these critics say.
Meanwhile as Israel’s politicians on the right focus on these proposals who will be speaking out on behalf of the important issues that they usually concern themselves with?
And what will any of these attempts to crush freedom of speech do to prevent militant Iran from attaining nuclear weapons? What will these motions do to help combat the world’s largest terrorist base that Hamas has created in Gaza? And are these reactionary moves supposed to be some sort of substitute for right-wingers to make up for the destruction of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (West Bank)? Indeed shouldn’t the people advocating these policies be focussing their time on trying to save the homes of Jews slated for demolition by Defence Minister Barak as part of his attempts to oppose a leftwing agenda on the people of Israel who clearly voted against such policies just a few months ago in the country’s national elections.
Instead of worrying about what the Arabs are saying the Israeli politicians proposing these measures should be worrying about what Jews are doing. Instead of trying to stop Israeli Arabs from calling for the destruction of the state they should be working to stop Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran from making dangerous moves that are actually aimed at bringing an end to Israel. And instead of worrying about Arabs mourning the creation of Israel they should be ensuring that Jews don’t find themselves mourning the destruction of their homes, synagogues and communities in some of the most historically and spiritually weighted regions of their homeland. The only response to such anti-Israel sentiments to push ahead in practical terms with the Jewish national programme; strengthening the Jewish state and continuing the process of returning the Jewish people to living in their country. Trying to stop Israeli Arabs from calling for Israel’s destruction and lamenting its birth is a fruitless task, a policy that even at its most successful would still do nothing to strengthen Israeli society from within or make Jews feel any more connected to their nation. Pursuing these aims are the distractions and obsessions of madmen whose focus is on struggling with marginal opponents on issues of national ‘honour’ rather than on combating real enemies or taking immediate actions to better the lives of Jewish people.
Little can be done to change what Israeli Arabs think about Israel, but this doesn’t really matter because we should not be trying to alter the landscape of the Arab mind but rather the landscape of the Jewish national home.
Before the elections earlier this year many people were aware of Lieberman’s proposals concerning withtracting Israeli citizenship from the Arab sections of the population and trying to stop Arab political parties from standing in the 2009 Knesset elections but it seems that there has been little softening of attitude on Lieberman’s part since then. Recently we’ve seen calls for the banning of Nakba day, the Arab day of rioting and mourning the creation of Israel and in the past days proposals to punish the advocation of the dismantling of the Jewish state with prison sentences.
This of course will do nothing to take away internal opposition to Israel in real terms and will no doubt only serve to make Israeli Arabs feel even more alienated and restricted within Israeli national life. The opposition may for a time become less visible but when it finally erupts again it will almost certainly be more intense due to the frustration caused by the lack of expression that will have been inflicted upon it. And of course such measures will only serve to increase international condemnation of Israel as undemocratic, authoritarian and racist, and for once there will be a grain of truth in what these critics say.
Meanwhile as Israel’s politicians on the right focus on these proposals who will be speaking out on behalf of the important issues that they usually concern themselves with?
And what will any of these attempts to crush freedom of speech do to prevent militant Iran from attaining nuclear weapons? What will these motions do to help combat the world’s largest terrorist base that Hamas has created in Gaza? And are these reactionary moves supposed to be some sort of substitute for right-wingers to make up for the destruction of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (West Bank)? Indeed shouldn’t the people advocating these policies be focussing their time on trying to save the homes of Jews slated for demolition by Defence Minister Barak as part of his attempts to oppose a leftwing agenda on the people of Israel who clearly voted against such policies just a few months ago in the country’s national elections.
Instead of worrying about what the Arabs are saying the Israeli politicians proposing these measures should be worrying about what Jews are doing. Instead of trying to stop Israeli Arabs from calling for the destruction of the state they should be working to stop Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran from making dangerous moves that are actually aimed at bringing an end to Israel. And instead of worrying about Arabs mourning the creation of Israel they should be ensuring that Jews don’t find themselves mourning the destruction of their homes, synagogues and communities in some of the most historically and spiritually weighted regions of their homeland. The only response to such anti-Israel sentiments to push ahead in practical terms with the Jewish national programme; strengthening the Jewish state and continuing the process of returning the Jewish people to living in their country. Trying to stop Israeli Arabs from calling for Israel’s destruction and lamenting its birth is a fruitless task, a policy that even at its most successful would still do nothing to strengthen Israeli society from within or make Jews feel any more connected to their nation. Pursuing these aims are the distractions and obsessions of madmen whose focus is on struggling with marginal opponents on issues of national ‘honour’ rather than on combating real enemies or taking immediate actions to better the lives of Jewish people.
Little can be done to change what Israeli Arabs think about Israel, but this doesn’t really matter because we should not be trying to alter the landscape of the Arab mind but rather the landscape of the Jewish national home.
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