Israel bans Arab parties from running in upcoming elections

[mswas]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054867.html

Israel on Monday banned Arab political parties from running in next month’s parliamentary elections, drawing accusations of racism by an Arab lawmaker who said he would challenge the decision in the country’s Supreme Court.

The ruling by parliament’s Central Election Committee reflected the heightened tensions between Israel’s Jewish majority and Arab minority caused by Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Arabs have held a series of demonstrations against the offensive.

Parliament spokesman Giora Pordes said the election committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion, accusing the country’s Arab parties of incitement, supporting terrorist groups and refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Arab lawmakers have traveled to countries listed among Israel’s staunchest enemies, including Lebanon and Syria.

The 37-member committee is composed of representatives from Israel’s major political parties. The measure was proposed by two ultranationalist parties but received widespread support.

[Giles]

Quoting further from the article:

Roughly one-fifth of Israel’s 7 million citizens are Arabs. Israeli Arabs enjoy full citizenship rights, but have suffered from discrimination and poverty for decades.
…

Together, the Arab lists hold seven of the 120 seats in the Knesset, or parliament.

Given that the Knesset is elected by a proportional representation system, there should be about 24 Arab members – so that suggests that the “full citizenship rights” of Israeli Arabs have been suppressed. Of course, banning the Arab lists altogether is just further suppression of these “full” rights.

[The_Second_Stone]

So its not a democracy. Duh. And they are going to do it regardless of what the court says. They have to or in the long run these parties will control the country.

[Mr.Excellent]

Wow. That’s - pretty bad. Honestly, I can understand the reasons behind the Israeli incursion into Gaza - the rocket attacks have to stop. But stifling domestic dissent in this way? That’s wholly unacceptable. It’s akin to our own internment of Japanese-Americans in WW2, on the theory that, because of their ethnicity, they must be disloyal. If individual Arab lawmakers have broken the law, then by all means bar them from the Knesset - but to bar entire parties? That’s unacceptable.

I should note that, technically, this is not a move to bar all Arabs from the Knesset - there are Arabs in the Israeli Communist Party, and I think there may be some in Labor. And I’m not a fan of parties based along ethnic lines in any event. But still - this is pretty clearly an effort to minimize Arab participation in the Knesset. Bad stuff.

[WF_Tomba]

I don’t like the way this is going.

Pordes remarked that the last time a party was banned it was the late Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach Party, a list from the 1980s that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from Israel.

Now suddenly they’re just banning whole groups of parties for having a certain ethnic/religious makeup? Very dangerous.

[WF_Tomba]

On the other hand, read this editorial from the same paper:

Don’t disqualify the Arab lists

In recent years it has turned into an indecent ceremony on election eve: Right-wing parties try to ban Balad or United Arab List-Ta’al, as part of their efforts to get headlines.
. . .
In the spirit of the High Court’s past rulings, we can assume that even if the Central Elections Committee disqualifies the election lists of Balad and United Arab List-Ta’al, the Court will approve their participation. Nonetheless, the elections committee should spare us this unnecessary battle. The decision on which party lists can take part in elections is one of the committee’s most important tasks. The committee should take its work seriously, exercise the necessary open-mindedness, and prove that Israeli democracy includes the Arab parties, even if it is sometimes very difficult for us to accept them.

Evidently the right-wing parties have tried to have this done before, with no success. If the editorialist is right, it may come to nothing.

[Dolukhanova]

@WF_Tomba

I don’t like the way this is going.

Now suddenly they’re just banning whole groups of parties for having a certain ethnic/religious makeup? Very dangerous.

Well, no, the article says that the parties support terrorists and refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist. One may still disagree with the banning, but that is not the same thing as banning then for “having a certain ethnic/religious makeup”

[WF_Tomba]

@Dolukhanova

Well, no, the article says that the parties support terrorists and refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist. One may still disagree with the banning, but that is not the same thing as banning then for “having a certain ethnic/religious makeup”

Actually, it says that the committee accused them of those things. I frankly have no idea whether they really do hold such positions. Anyway, I concede your point: the committee has at least claimed a basis for the banning other than the parties being Arab-affiliated.