As a followup to yesterday’s posting, it is worth reading this article by Gideon Levy. Yosef Lapid, head of the Shinui party, is a vulgar man reminiscent of many European rightist politicians, like Le Pen and worse. When Bibi Netanyahu ran against Shimon Peres, a few days before the election, Habad [the Hasidic Lubavitch movement] plastered the country with signs: “Bibi is good for the Jews.” Many credited these signs with Bibi’s last minute surge and victory over Peres. Lapid’s comment after the election was that these signs were not at all racist, and were as justified as as Le Pen putting up a sign in France “Le Pen is good for the French.”
But while Le Pen’s sign may be directed against immigrants, it does not exclude any of France’s citizens. Bibi’s sign excluded the 20% of Israel’s citizens who are not Jewish.
Communalism, racism, xenophobia – whatever word you want to use – is becoming rampant in Israel. Shinui, the flag-bearer of this repugnant phenomenon, is the fastest growing political party in the country. But this hatred is not only directed against Arabs. As Levy points out, some of the worst and most disgusting language used by Lapid is directed against the Haredim – the ultra-orthodox Jews. Sadly, Meretz, the so-called leftist party in Israel, vies with Shinui on who can savage the Haredi community more. When American Jews start talking to me about anti-semitism in Europe, I often respond by saying that the most anti-semitic country in the world is Israel. No European politician, not even Haider in Austria, would dare to publicly talk about Jews the way Lapid talks about Haredim.
Of course, anti-Arab language has long been common in Israel’s parliament and public discourse. Which is why it is such a brave thing for Mitzna to make the bland and supposedly obvious statement in a democratic country, that Arab citizens have equal rights.
Most Israeli’s don’t have any real understanding of what true democracy means. This is true at all levels of Israeli society. I recently appeared on a panel with Israel’s economic consul in New York, presumably someone with diplomatic training. Among the incredible statements this official of the Israeli government publicly made:
In a democracy, one can make any statement one likes before an election. But once a government is elected, everyone in the country must publicly support the government’s positions.
Arik Sharon is the democratically elected leader of the Jewish people, and hence all Jews must support his position.
It is proper and justified to dehumanize all Palestinians since the suicide bombers are Palestinian, hence Palestinians are not part of the human race as far as he is concerned. For the same reason he thinks that the Israeli government is perfectly justified in imposing collective punishment against all Palestinians.
These gems, mind you, come from a man who is a career diplomat, not a political appointee. He told me that he has been part of the Israeli diplomatic corps since Rabin’s days. Poor Trent Lott. Maybe he should move to Israel. Then again, maybe he wouldn’t be better off there. He would be considered a bleeding-heart liberal in the only democracy in the Middle East.
Tags: Israeli Politics, Xenophobia