Surprise? Guardian op-ed on Israeli elections ignores anti-Zionist elephant in the room - by Adam levick

Wallach’s insistence on framing the complex Arab-Israeli political divide through the facile lens of the Palestinian (progressive) David battling the Israel (far-right) Goliath, rather than engaging in a sober analysis of the ideological fissures which separate Jewish and Arab parties, serves to reinforce Guardian readers’ immense misunderstanding of Israel’s messy but undeniably democratic reality.

Adam Levick..
UK Media Watch..
08 March '20..

Yair Wallach, a senior lecturer in Israeli studies and head of the Centre for Jewish Studies at SOAS, the University of London, published an op-ed in the Guardian on March 5 (“Palestinian voters are the new power brokers in Israel, much to Netanyahu’s chagrin”)

Wallach argues that Arab citizens of Israel who voted for the Joint List helped keep Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a majority in the Israeli elections (Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc has 58 seats, 3 shy of a majority). He also claims that the “refusal to strike an alliance with Palestinian citizens [the four Arab parties which make up the Joint List] remains the primary reason for the failure of the centre-left parties” to form a government, which he characterises as “racist”.

The racist logic of a “Jewish majority” still forms the basis of mainstream politics. As recently as last month, Blue and White pledged not to include the Joint List in its future government, despite its endorsement of Gantz. Some members of Blue and White are ideologically opposed to the inclusion of Palestinians; others are fearful that it would drive Jewish voters away.

However, racism isn’t the reason why Blue and White won’t include Joint List in its future government.

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Reflections on Quebec Terrorists, the Israeli Joint Arab List and Democracy - by Sheri Oz

The terrorists who attack Israel from within and without are not demanding separation from the country as the FLQ was but, rather, its elimination. The Palestinian flag is raised by Israeli Arab demonstrators in the streets of Tel Aviv and Haifa, a highly provocative act hinting at a desire for the end of the Jewish state. In view of this, it is perhaps surprising that Israeli democracy is as healthy as it is.

Sheri Oz..
Israel Diaries..
31 February '20..

Just before the third round of elections in 11 months, I reflect upon the fact that we have in our Knesset legislators who seem to work against the best interests of our Jewish nation. Some praise terrorists and some seem to be working more for the Palestinian Authority (PA) than for the local electorate that put them into office. What does this say about Israeli democracy?

My mind wanders back to that day long ago when I watched from the observers’ balcony as Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau defended before Parliament the need to pass the War Measures Act to deal with a terrorist threat.

The only time I ever visited the Canadian Parliament was on that auspicious day. After my first month as an undergraduate student of political science and journalism at Carleton University in Canada, I woke up on October 16, 1970 and decided to ride my bike to Parliament to see what was doing in my nation’s capital.

For someone aspiring to be the first female ambassador of Canada to anywhere, I was remarkably unaware of the drama taking place under my own nose. Cycling gaily along the Rideau Canal that winds itself through town between the campus and Parliament, I was surprised to see army trucks plying the tree-lined elegant streets. I had not yet been to Israel so the sight of the army was totally new to me. Other than a small question mark that ruffled my brow at the sight of soldiers standing guard in front of some houses, I gave it no thought.

I parked and locked my bike next to the steps going up to the Parliament Building. Inside, guards directed me to the observer gallery and I got the last available seat. Sitting in the front row, next to a Parliamentary aide, I got a running commentary. I heard Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau defend the reasons for imposing military law on the entire nation and Tommy Douglas, head of New Democratic Party, oppose it. It passed.

A bit of background: For about seven years, the French separatist movement, the FLQ (Front for the Liberation of Quebec), had been bombing public buildings and mailboxes. They killed six people and injured many more. Twenty-three FLQ members were in prison. Suddenly, in October 1970, the FLQ kidnapped Deputy Premier of Quebec Pierre Laporte and British Diplomat James Cross, threatening to kill them if their demands for release of the prisoners and a money ransom were not met.

The government response to this escalation of terrorism was to pass the War Measures Act that gave the government unprecedented powers during peacetime. The army patrolled the streets of Ottawa and towns in Quebec. The police were able to arrest and hold suspects under administrative detention and I remember the fuss made about the arrest of a teacher in British Columbia because he expressed support for the FLQ.

At the time, there was almost unanimous support for the War Measures Act across the country and even in Quebec. The crisis was resolved three months later, with Cross released but Laporte found murdered. All those involved in the kidnapping and murder were apprehended and eventually deported to Cuba with Castro’s “blessing”. Canada went back to normal.

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Joint Arab List’s not so ‘historic’ recommendation of Gantz on its way to history’s dust bin - by Alex Trainman

The announcement is neither historic, influential, or practical. The 10 Arab Knesset members who went ahead and recommended Gantz over Netanyahu have no intention of joining a coalition led by either candidate.

Alex Traiman..
JNS.org..
23 September '19..

Israeli and international media have been making a lead story out of the Joint Arab List’s recommendation of Benny Gantz for prime minister, calling the recommendation “historic.” In regard to Israel’s current election deadlock, the announcement isn’t historic, influential or practical. And while the recommendation is important on some levels, it is so for reasons other than coalition-building.

For weeks leading up to Israel’s elections and in the days since, media have been counting Arab parties within the left-wing bloc led by the Blue and White Party’s Gantz. The purpose of this addition was to give Israelis the perception that Gantz’s bloc could establish a majority coalition government.

Since recommending Yitzhak Rabin the early 1990s to help promote the now-failed Oslo Accords, which were meant to facilitate the creation of a Palestinian state on lands which Israel liberated from Jordan and Egypt in 1967, Arab parties have not recommended any candidate to Israel’s president to become prime minister following an election.

The Arab parties made it perfectly clear why they were recommending Gantz: because they want to push out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For 10 years, Netanyahu has been a beacon of strength and has emerged at the very front of the global fight against radical Islam. Under his watch, the Jewish state has transformed into a regional military and economic superpower, as neighboring Gulf nations have seen oil revenues plummet and other Mideast States have descended into complete chaos.

Until proven otherwise, Gantz has yet to earn the respect of Israel’s allies, let alone its enemies. Furthermore, in both the April and September election campaigns, Netanyahu has singled out the Arab parties for anti-Zionist values.

With Netanyahu now fighting for his political career, the Arab parties now are hoping they can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and help usher out the prime minister’s decade-long tenure.

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Israel’s PM has no plans to include Arabs determined to undermine or destroy the state into the government. It’s common sense.

The argument between the prime minister and a reality-show host over whether Israel is “a state of all its citizens” or a Jewish state is not a test of tolerance.

Jonathan S. Tobin..
JNS.org..
11 March '19..

He’s done it again. After being called out for allegedly employing racist incitement against Israeli Arabs during election campaigns, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being attacked again for saying things that hurt the feelings of Israel’s non-Jewish citizens and offend the sensibilities of some Jews. This has led to renewed charges that he is guilty of denigrating Arabs and trashing the democratic nature of the state. But as with past claims, there’s less to this allegation than the anguished criticism directed at Netanyahu would lead one to believe.

This latest kerfuffle stems from Netanyahu’s Likud Party’s attack on its Blue and White Party rivals. Likud is asserting that the only way that Blue and White Party leader and former Israel Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff Benny Gantz will be able to form a government, even if he finishes first, will be to reach out to Arab political parties. The shorthand for this argument is “Bibi or Tibi,” meaning that the real choice voters face is not between Netanyahu and Gantz, but between a government led by the incumbent or one that will include Ahmed Tibi, the leader of the Ta’al Party, which is running on a joint list this year with Hadash, the Israeli Communist Party.

This attack is part of the Likud’s effort to portray Blue and White as leftists in centrist clothing, but the charge is pretty far-fetched. All four of the Arab parties, which ran on one Joint List in previous elections but have split into two for the April vote, have made it clear that—as has been their stated policy in the past—they won’t join any government formed by a Zionist political party. And Blue and White and every other party, other than the hard-left Meretz, have stated in turn that they won’t invite Arab anti-Zionists or Communists into any coalition to govern Israel. Blue and White doesn’t currently have a path to a majority coalition without doing the unthinkable unless current members of the Likud-led coalition defect to them.

This will be sorted out after the voters render their verdict on April 9. But the current controversy stems from the fact that some people have taken offense at Likud’s mention of the facts of Israeli political life.

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To the Attention of MK Aida Touma-Sliman: The Palestinians incite to rape, too - by Dr. Reuven Berko

...There might be normative moral laws that mostly apply to regular citizens in functioning countries but in the incitement-ridden Palestinian territories, the victims – like Ori – are never the Arab or Muslim neighbors' daughters but rather Jews or other minorities.

Dr. Reuven Berko..
Israel Hayom..
13 February '19..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-palestinians-incite-to-rape-too/

In response to the horrifying rape and murder of Ori Ansbacher by a Palestinian terrorist, MK Aida Touma-Sliman, chairwoman of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, claimed that "the crime should be called what it is: The rape and murder of Ori Ansbacher is a gender-based crime. The criminal being Palestinian doesn't make the crime less horrifying and it cannot be part of the struggle for [Palestinian] national liberation."

The Palestinians Knesset member and Israeli citizens, like her friends in the various Palestinian terrorist organizations, were prepared for a public relations battle to characterize the rape and murder of Ori as another woman being murdered. In other words, some nameless killer with a knife just raped her for the heck of it on a chilly morning, just because she was a woman – not because she was Jewish. Why did the Palestinian criminal arm himself with a knife, cross the security barrier, rape and fatally stab Ori, rather than some random Palestinian woman?

The reason is simple: Every Palestinian who is exposed to incitement in some mosque, on social media, or in speeches by Palestinian leaders, knows that the enemy's blood can be shed. But if he rapes a Palestinian woman (a gender crime) or even secretly has his way with her in private, he'll be slaughtered and his immediate family members will follow him to hell.

After all, Muslims have honor and they are permitted to commit murder to uphold it. So whom are they allowed to rape and murder on the basis of their gender? Jews and Christians, who are defined as weak and out of bounds of the Arab code of vengeance.

Israeli MK Ayman Odeh Asks For Unity In Israel - by Sheri Oz

...So, MK Ayman Odeh — are you only in the Knesset as a means to try to undermine Israel and replace it with a Palestine that never existed (not even in the Arab dreams of yore). And this is the kind of peace, equality and brotherhood we Jews are supposed to get behind? You fooled us during the last national election campaign; you continue to fool some of us even today. I hope that number continues to fall.

Sheri Oz..
Israeli Diaries..
05 October '17..

Does Israeli Member of Knesset Ayman Odeh talk out one side of his mouth in Arabic and the other side of his mouth in Hebrew? He put up a special post on Facebook, apparently for Jewish eyes only. You see, he usually posts in his mother tongue, with Hebrew beneath the Arabic. In that way, we Jews can read what he means to write (I hope his translation is not misleading) and not have to rely on the FB translate feature. Does he not mean for Arabs to read the post he put up for Rosh Ha-Shana? I will translate it into English below.

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Israeli Arab MKs’ War on Israel - by Evelyn Gordon

...Far from being the solution, existing Arab parties are a huge part of the problem, and endlessly calling them “moderates” won’t make them so. What Israel desperately needs is a truly moderate Arab political leadership. But it will never have one as long as people who favor coexistence insist on embracing radicals rather than shunning them.

Evelyn Gordon..
Analysis from Israel..
07 August '16..

Note: Because this piece was posted belatedly, events referred to as “last week” actually happened two weeks ago, and those referred to as “this week” happened last week

It’s unclear why, 16 months after the election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly decided last week to apologize for his Election Day warning that Arabs were “going to the polls in droves,” especially since his explanation – that he was referring to “a specific political party” rather than Arabs as a whole – may seem like a distinction without a difference: The vast majority of Arabs vote for that specific party, and the vast majority of that party’s voters are Arabs. Nevertheless, in one sense, his remarks proved very timely: The previous few weeks had provided ample evidence of just how right he was to warn against that party, the Joint List, and this week, even more evidence arrived.

This week’s news was that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had actively worked to turn out the vote for the Joint List. That isn’t actually surprising, since the party’s own voters have long complained that its primary concern is the Palestinian cause rather than the welfare of Israel’s Arab citizens. But given Abbas’s energetic campaign against Israel in international forums, Israelis are understandably unhappy that he effectively also has representatives in Israel’s parliament.

Even more outrageous, however, is what happened during the two weeks preceding Netanyahu’s apology. Twice during those weeks, one of three parties that ran together as the Joint List took the unprecedented step of publicly condemning a leading Arab state for forging warmer relations with its own country, the one in whose parliament it serves. Then, not content with trying to undermine Israel’s foreign relations, it even voiced support for anti-Israel terrorist groups. And these statements were made not by the Joint List’s radical fringe, but by Hadash, the party generally considered the most moderate of the three – the one whose chairman, who also heads the Joint List as a whole, likes to compare himself to Martin Luther King, Jr.

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We Will Not Accept a Jewish Israel - by Khaled Abu Toameh

...It is as if Bahloul and the other Arab Knesset members have solved all the problems of the Arab community inside Israel and all that is left is to make sure that no one calls a Palestinian stabber a terrorist. Needless to say, this issue does not top the agenda of the Arab citizens of Israel. The betrayal thus runs wide and deep. Israeli Arab leaders are betraying their constituencies by privileging the perceived interests of Palestinian Arabs, while Palestinian Arab leaders are betraying their constituencies by continuing to deny any link between Jews and the land. This is a stance that makes peace a non-starter in the Middle East. When the international community is presented with settlement complaints and the like, it might wish to ponder these small but critical points.

Khaled Abu Toameh..
Gatestone Institute..
15 April '16..

Israel as a Jewish state remains anathema to the Palestinian community. This is a top-down attitude, communicated on a constant basis by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is based on the argument that such a move would mean giving up the "right of return" for millions of "refugees" into Israel. This refusal is also based on the continued denial of any historic Jewish connection to the land.

In recent weeks, the PA president has once again reiterated his strong opposition to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.

The Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is one of the main obstacles to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Settlement construction complaints are nothing more than a Palestinian Authority smokescreen.

There is much talk these days about the Palestinian Authority's intention to ask the United Nations Security Council to issue a resolution condemning Israel for construction in the settlements. It is not yet clear whether the PA will carry out its threat. What is clear, however, is that this obsession with the settlements is certain to divert attention from core issues, such as Palestinian recognition of a Jewish Israel. Many Palestinians continue to regard Israel as one big settlement that needs to be removed from the Middle East.

Why, in fact, do the Palestinians refuse to accept Israel as a Jewish state?

Abbas has consistently failed to state his reasons for his total rejection of Israel as a Jewish state. In January 2014, the PA president declared:

"The Palestinians won't recognize the Jewishness of the State of Israel and won't accept it. The Israelis say that if we don't recognize the Jewishness of Israel there would be no solution. And we say that we won't recognize or accept the Jewishness of Israel and we have many reasons for this rejection."

On another occasion that same year, Abbas stated: "No one can force us to recognize Israel as Jewish state. If they [Israel] want, they can go to the UN and ask to change their name to whatever they want -- even if they want to be called The Jewish Zionist State." Again, Abbas failed to explain the vehement Palestinian opposition to this demand.

The Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has shed some light on the matter. "We have already recognized Israel's existence on the 1948 borders of Occupied Palestine," Erekat explained. He added that he made it clear to former Israeli Foreign Minister Tipi Livni during a meeting in Munich that the Palestinians "won't change their history and religion and culture by recognizing Israel as a Jewish state."

While Palestinian leaders have been rather reluctant to elaborate on the reasons behind their rejectionism, other Palestinians have been more generous about the issue.

Sorry, but Ayman Odeh is not a man of peace

...Ayman Odeh is not a man of peace. He is far from accomplishing the mission described in Foreign Policy. To Odeh, Israel is a temporary colonial entity. He does not condemn terrorism against Israel and even legitimizes it, and in the internal Israeli-Arab debate, he represents the side that prefers to leave the Arabs alienated from and hostile to the Jewish state. Odeh is a nationalist politician who exploits the openness of Israeli democracy in order to divide, cause friction, and incite. Peace will not come as long as people like Odeh are viewed as moderates deserving of honor and respect.

Image by © ALAA BADARNEH/epa/Corbis

Akiva Bigman..
Commentary Magazine..
14 December '15..

The standing ovation given to Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint Arab List party in Israel, at the Haaretz conference yesterday is a clear demonstration of how he is seen by Western elites. The hundreds of journalist and intellectuals who packed the hall in New York see him as a leader who promotes peace and equality, the embodiment of the progressive dream for the small Jewish-Arab state. His critique of the “establishment that occupies two nations” excited the crowd, and his vision of social justice no doubt touched the hearts of the wealthy Jewish liberals in the audience. The standing ovation for Odeh was a standing ovation for a shared goal: coexistence and equality in a multi-national welfare state.

Foreign Policy has chosen Odeh, an Israeli Arab Member of the Knesset, for its list of 100 leading global thinkers for 2015. In explaining their choice, the editors note that “Middle East peace talks may be all but dead, but Ayman Odeh still dreams of resolving the world’s most intractable conflict,” adding that he “heads the Joint List, a coalition of Arab political parties that united for the first time ever to run in Israel’s March elections.” According to Foreign Policy, Odeh has “yoked diverse leaders — Islamists, secular feminists, socialists,” and his party “is now the Knesset’s third largest and the biggest Arab legislative faction in Israeli history.”

It is difficult to argue with success, but nearly every one of these sentences misrepresents the facts.

MK Odeh has not “united” the Arab parties or “yoked” Arab leaders. In order to understand this, we need a bit of background. In the Israeli political system, many parties run in Knesset elections. In the last elections, no fewer than 25 parties ran, only ten of which won seats. A party must receive a certain minimal percentage of the vote to enter the Knesset. Any party receiving less than this percentage — the “electoral threshold” — will remain outside, even if has received tens of thousands of votes.

The electoral threshold is occasionally changed through legislation, with the aim usually being to neutralize small parties in order to stabilize the political system around medium-size and large parties. In the previous Knesset, right-wing MKs, led by Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beitenu, initiated a relatively dramatic increase in the electoral threshold, from 2 to 3.25 percent. This provided an immediate incentive for small parties with three to four MKs to join together.

The Arab parties, which have a rich record of rivalries and internal conflicts, have received 2 to 4 percent in recent years, placing them on the border of the electoral threshold. A higher threshold endangered their existence, and the decision to undertake a “historic union” was meant to enable them to survive. It was not Odeh who united the Arab parties, but Avigdor Lieberman.

That’s if there was any union at all. The parties that make up the Joint List preserved their organizational and ideological independence, and aside from the fact that all are in the opposition (which is nothing new), they do not operate as one list. The “Joint List” is daily riven by disputes over how to approach the Arab League, cooperation with the Zionist parties, and various draft bills. Even the name of the list shows this: it is only “joint” and not “united.” In Hebrew, this difference indicates technical but not substantive cooperation.

What about Odeh’s goals and policies? Is he a man of peace and conflict resolution? Not if one looks at the evidence. Odeh habitually attacks Israel in a way that leaves no hope for either negotiations or a settlement that includes compromises by both sides; he also consistently walks a fine line between the legitimate and the illegitimate in his support for terrorism.

Excellent Question. Who Is Damaging Relations Between Arabs and Jews?

...It is time for Arab Israelis to distance themselves from those representatives who are acting against their interests and damaging relations between Jews and Arabs. If there are some Knesset members who wish to devote their time and energy to helping the Palestinians, they should consider moving to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But if they want to stay in Israel, they need to start addressing the problems facing their constituents and refrain from causing further damage to Arab-Jewish relations.

Haneen Zoabi (L) and Basel Ghattas (R),
Arab members of Israel's parliament, both
participated in flotillas attempting to break
Israel's legal naval blockade of the Gaza strip.

Khaled Abu Toameh..
Gatestone Institute..
03 July '15..

Once again, it is time to remind the representatives of the Arab citizens of Israel in the Knesset (parliament) who their real constituents are.

It is time to remind these representatives that they were elected by Arab citizens of Israel, and not by Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The reason why the Arab Knesset members need to be reminded of who their real constituents are is because some of them seem to have forgotten that the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have their own leaders, spokesmen and representatives.

In recent years, some of the Arab Knesset members have devoted much of their time and efforts to helping the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, at the expense of their own constituents in Israel.

The actions and rhetoric of some of the Arab Knesset members have also caused huge damage to relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel. The biggest losers are the Israeli Arabs, whose representatives in the Knesset have done little to improve their living conditions.

Arab Knesset member Basel Ghattas of the Joint List is the latest example of how the Arab representatives continue to act against the interests of their real constituents, the Israeli Arabs.

Yes to tolerance - No to those who wish our destruction

...Yes to tolerance and mutual respect of those who are different whether Jewish or not - but never to allowing enemies to right to endanger us - neither verbally nor physically.

Yehudit Tayar..
Zion's Corner..
01 December '14

B"H

I am blessed to be a simple person- not political- just what we know as a small person who is blessed to be involved with our integral right to protect our Torah, our Land and people. We are blessed to be living where we do in our Land and we who are living in the heartland of Israel- Jerusalem, Hevron-Yesha are especially blessed.

When my beloved husband Ami and I moved up to the community of Bet Horon it was after serious deliberations of which community to make our home in- Hevron, Bet El - the Jordan Valley? We chose Bet Horon which was a very new and young community 34 years ago when we moved up, because of what it symbolizes. It is a community which is religiously observant publicly, but a mixed community of more and less observant Jews.

Why is this so important to us? Because we believe in the importance of unity, mutual respect and love of one another even though there are differences in how someone believes or observes as a Jew. We are one people and like a mosaic fit together each in his own way to complete the picture .

Tolerance is one of the most important facts of life. Not only tolerance for differences in our own personal families- but tolerances for one another in our Nation and Land.

I have the privilege of working in security and rescue and serving as one of our spokespeople. Yes, I am observant but I cannot even begin to count the times when either at work or in an interview with someone who has not seen me yet I am met with a look of total surprise and usually comments such as, "are you a radical religious settler? You don't look like one!"

The stereotype of what we are supposed to look and sound like is one of the barriers that we must overcome. Mutual respect albeit the differences is another obstacle that we must overcome. The symbol of our community is the four species- each different but in order to make the blessing you must have all of them.

The same goes for our lives here in Israel- each of us is different whether in habits, dress or any other difference. How much more difficult is it for those who are sitting in our Knesset - each certain that they are right and their way is the best whether for political reasons or actual belief in what they represent.

Sedition by parliamentarians – bankrolled by Israeli taxpayers

...Inflammatory harangues in these contentious contexts are akin to tossing a primed grenade into a powder keg. Not only does Tibi do so with undisguised relish but he and fellow Israeli-Arab politicians compete fiercely with each other for the title of most abusive and abrasive. That distinction is worth political gold in Israel’s ominously radicalized Arab sector where it becomes a prime vote-getting asset.

Sarah Honig..
Another Tack..
11 November '14..

“I am not a contractor for calming operations,” proclaimed MK Ahmad Tibi (Ta’al) when asked in a host of interviews, following the Kafr Kana shooting and ensuing countrywide riots, what he might do to cool passions.

With in-your-face bluntness Tibi proceeded to do quite the opposite and to pour oil on the flames. In breathless succession he accused the officers who shot 22-year-old Khair-a-din Hamadan of pre-meditated homicide, deliberate execution mafia-style, committing racist murder and altogether being “bloodthirsty animals.”

Shouting down other speakers, Tibi railed and vituperated. He charged that the policemen were out to “intentionally terminate Hamadan” rather than neutralize him when he attacked them with a knife. Tibi belittled Hamadan’s actions as “an understandable expression of anger.”

He insisted on stiff punishment for the individual cops, their commanders and government ministers.

As a legislator, Tibi of course ought to be adequately familiar with the principle that punishment isn’t made-to-order or on-demand according to the moods and/or interests of any given sector in the population.

In a democracy sentences are only handed down after exhaustive legal due process, which includes investigation of forensic evidence, formal indictment and, if it comes to that, trial in open court.

By announcing his verdict a priori and hectoring for prohibitive penalties throughout all law-enforcement ranks as well as in the executive branch of government, Tibi knows he’s doing nothing but engaging in outright incitement.

By agitating for non-starters Tibi builds up impossible expectations, which inevitably breed frustration that’s then perceived as another searing grievance and as another casus belli.

And the Day After? How About 'Occupied Territory' in the Galilee?

...Certainly, the eleven Arab Knesset representatives do not necessarily express the views of the entire Israeli Arab population, who have become accustomed to living at the not-so-unpleasant rhythm of a modern developed state. However, it is obvious that they are working in the background and with the help of the Palestinian Authority to hammer home the notion that any Jewish presence in "Palestine" is illegal, and they are thereby also encouraging the rise of future Arab-Israeli independence and separatist movements. All this even with the existence of a potential Palestinian state… or rather, perhaps because of it!

Shraga Blum..
I24 News..
15 February '14..

The most important question one should ask oneself on the subject of a prospective peace deal with the Palestinian Arabs is that of the "day after." We should seriously consider the more than plausible scenario of a painful awakening of the Israeli population who would realize, only too late, that the Palestinian Arabs, despite the agreements they had signed, never had the intention of changing their good ways.

The definitive cessation of hostilities and demands, one of the prerequisites set by Israel to the signature of any agreement, may well not be worth the paper it will be signed on. Just consider the intense anti-Israeli propaganda in the media and the education system under the Palestinian Authority. A system where teachers never tire of hammering home the point that Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, Safed and Lod are Palestinian cities waiting to be "liberated."

Another legitimate demand voiced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, equally important but less frequently discussed, is that Israeli Arabs waiver any nationalistic claims they have. These two conditions are inconceivable to the Palestinian Authority and the other Palestinian factions, as they strip Palestinian Arab nationalism, made up for the sole purpose of eliminating the State of Israel one way or another, of its raison d'etre.

In this regard one should look at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of the Interior Ministry recently held in the Knesset, and during which Arab MKs - among others - made surreal propositions that were totally ignored by the major Israeli media.

The agenda focused on the declared will of the government to beef up the Jewish population in the Galilee region, which does not seem to be politically disputed in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is certainly what most Israelis think.

Hanna Sueid, initiator of the debate, started by denouncing Construction Minister Uri Ariel's alleged "obsession" with building "settlements" in Galilee. The term Hebrew word for "settlement" generally only refers to the villages erected by Jews in Judea and Samaria, and now an Arab representative used the term to refer to Jewish villages in Galilee. The deputy found a staunch ally in MK Tamar Zandberg, of the extreme leftist Meretz party, who vocally stated she too was categorically opposed to the establishment of new Jewish villages in Galilee! Taken aback, Yifat Kariv, of Yair Lapid's centrist party "Yesh Atid," became the sole voice of dissent, asking: "Is the Galilee region not a part of Israel?" This "insolent" question brought about a barrage of verbal abuse from Arab MKs.

Not to forget Israeli Knesset member Haneen Zoabi’s hasbara

Petra Marquadt-Bigman..
The Warped Mirror..
20 December '12..

Yesterday’s decision to disqualify the controversial Balad MK Haneen Zoabi from running in Israel’s upcoming elections is sure to be condemned by Israel’s liberal critics at home and abroad – particularly if the disqualification is upheld by the High Court of Justice.

However, it seems that Zoabi has some critics even within her own extended family: as Israeli media reported some two months ago, the petition to disqualify her was signed by a cousin of Zoabi who argued that instead of working for the interests of Israeli Arabs, she “represents the Palestinians in Ramallah – so she should move there.”

No doubt many Israelis will share this sentiment – but ironically, Zoabi’s hostility to Israel has been so extreme that it sometimes had a completely unintended hasbara effect. In July 2011, I wrote a post on this for my JPost blog, which I republish below.

The good old times: Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi (center, of course!) flanked by Israeli MKs Zoabi and Tibi in 2010

* * *

There is no question that Haneen Zoabi would be horrified at the idea that she is in any way engaging in “hasbara” for Israel – after all, she is a member of Knesset representing the Balad party which is fiercely opposed to Israel’s status as a Jewish state. Zoabi herself regards the Knesset as “a citadel of inequality” and some of her fellow Knesset members, including Binyamin Netanyahu, Tzipi Livni and Avigdor Lieberman, are in her view just “a bunch of fascists.”

But Zoabi’s openly hostile views of the state where she serves as a member of parliament sometimes seem to have a curious “hasbara” effect. Consider the reader comments in response to a recent article published by the Guardian’s “Comment is Free” site where Zoabi furiously objected to a British decision to ban the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, from entering Britain.

Under fire over desire to enlist in IDF

Danny Brenner..
Israel Hayom..
01 November '12..




The Arab media is waging an unrestrained and vicious campaign against a small group of Christian Arab youth who wish to serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

Two weeks ago, a conference was held at an Upper Nazareth community center for 121 Christian 11th and 12th grade high school students, all residents of Nazareth, Upper Nazareth, and Arab villages in the Lower Galilee region, who had expressed their desire to enlist in the IDF, even in combat units. Israel Hayom has learned that every year, some 50 youths from the Christian Israeli-Arab sector enlist for military duty.

However, after the recent conference, problems began for the youths. Photographs of some of them at the conference and at IDF preparatory meetings were published on various Facebook pages, and some Arabic print newspapers and online news sites began a smear campaign against them, including implied threats. Some of those in the media attacks were Arab members of Knesset.

The youngsters were depicted as traitors, and journalists wrote articles promising to "take care of them" and hunt them down. One writer said, "We will uproot you from the source. The mission that failed 50 years ago will fail now, too."

The Arab Knesset members who joined the chorus of incitement condemned the conference and enlistment to the IDF, and distorted and twisted what was said there by claiming that the conference’s goal had been to slander and attack Islam. In addition, the Arab Orthodox local council in Nazareth announced that priest Jobrail Nadaf, who took part in the event and supports IDF enlistment among Christian Arab-Israeli youth, had been suspended from his duties as priest and excommunicated from his church for what was called "cooperating with the enemy." Nadaf was also the target of extreme threats and quickly complained to the Nazareth police, who opened an investigation.

Knesset Member Haneen Zoabi's Incitement

Sarah Honig..
Another Tack..
02 August '12..

It sounded quite unthinkable, but Knesset member Haneen Zoabi (Balad) blamed Israel for the recent slaying of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. “Israel is not a victim, not even when civilians are killed,” she declared in an interview with Channel 10.

Zoabi elaborated: “Israel’s policy of occupation is at fault. If there was no occupation, no repression and no blockade, then this wouldn’t have happened.”

Her comments failed to rouse furor among the Israeli public, which has grown inured to brazen provocation from Arab MKs bankrolled by Israeli taxpayers. Our local media reported the story, but on the whole abstained from comment.

Zoabi’s rationalization of mass murder went right under the radar of the international community. We need only imagine the ferocious maelstrom had an Israeli parliamentarian dared hint that indiscriminately murdering Palestinian tots, their mothers, fathers and all other Arab civilians is tolerable because they have it coming.

The pandemonium would be nothing less than horrific, as would the bad press tarnishing the Israeli collective.

But this sentiment sounded by an Arab Israeli not only excites no censure, it is probably received sympathetically abroad. It is the very spurious narrative that overseas opinion-molders accept, cultivate and disseminate.

MEMRI - Israeli Arab Leadership Jockeys for Central Role in Palestinian Leadership

L. Barkan
MEMRI
Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.721
11 August '11

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5559.htm

Introduction

Since the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, the Palestinian leadership has weakened. Another factor in that weakening is the political crisis that it has experienced in recent years – as a result, inter alia, of the stalemate in negotiations with Israel, the ongoing intra-Palestinian schism even after Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement, and Al-Jazeera TV's accusation that the Palestinian leadership has compromised on the Palestinian issue. In light of this, the leadership of the Israeli Arabs – dubbed the "inside Palestinians" or "the '48 Palestinians" by this leadership – is now striving to become an integral part of the Palestinian people, and particularly to join the national Palestinian leadership, while challenging the Palestinian Authority (PA) over concessions it accuses it of having made in the negotiations with Israel.

This shift is evident in statements and articles by Israeli Arab public figures – a number of which have been translated and published by MEMRI – and in events they have held over the past year. For instance, on July 28, 2011, MKs Muhammad Baraka, of Hadash, and Taleb Al-Sane', of the United Arab List-Arab Movement for Renewal (Ra'am-Ta'al), took part in a session of the PLO's Central Committee in Ramallah to discuss plans for the Palestinians' bid in the U.N. for recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. Addressing the committee, Baraka expressed support for the move and criticized the "racist discrimination" to which the Israeli Arabs were subjected. PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas praised Baraka for his "firm positions on, activities for, and positiveness regarding the national cause."[1]

At a November 2010 rally in Umm Al-Fahm, held by the Balad (National Democratic Assembly) party on the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, speakers underlined the status of the Arab Israelis as an integral part of the Palestinian people and as the "strategic reserves" of the Palestinian enterprise. They also criticized the PA's political and security management and lavished praise on "the heroic leader, the shahid Yasser Arafat."[2] Following the announcement of renewed negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel in September 2010, members of various Arab parties and movements in Israel voiced similar views, discussing their positions on the Permanent Status Agreement with Israel, calling for the Palestinians to withdraw from negotiations under the present circumstances, and challenging the continued existence of the PA.[3]

In August 2010, Israeli Arab MK Hanin Zou'bi (Balad) called "to rebuild the PLO so that it includes us [the Israeli Arabs] as a source of authority in everything having to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict. We are an integral part of the Palestinian people, and as such, an integral part of the general source of national authority."[4] The Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, which is not active in Israeli political life, has developed in a similar direction; from its traditional focus on defending Jerusalem against "Judaization," it has expanded its activity to include a broader political discourse of the overall Palestinian cause, while identifying itself with Hamas and criticizing the PA.[5]

Who Got Ha'aretz's Tongue on Libya?

TS
CAMERA/Snapshots
27 February '11

http://blog.camera.org/archives/2011/02/post_70.html

Have you noticed how Ha'aretz has published very few editorials or Op-Eds concerning events in Libya? In contrast to the revolution in Egypt, about which Ha'aretz published dozens of opinion pieces and analyses, including editorials, the vast majority in support of Egyptian citizens, Ha'aretz has been largely mum on Libya.

Why the reticence to speak out in this case?

Perhaps editors are embarrassed by last year's editorial in defense of the delegation of Israeli Arab Knesset members who traveled to Libya and paid homage to Muammar Gadhafi.In the wake of the torrent of criticism of the trip, Ha'aretz wrote (April 30, 2010):

Hysteria gripped the right wing in the Knesset after an Arab delegation of MKs and dignitaries visited Libya. . . .The tongues of Habayit Hayehudi and National Union, two parties that could unite under the name "the Racist Union," were abruptly unleashed as though they were dealing with an unparalleled act of treason. . .

Libya is not on the list of enemy states. . . Libya signed the Arab League's peace initiative, holds the League's rotating presidency, and its ruler Muammar Gadhafi maintains excellent relations with the U.S. administration.

At the time, Snapshots noted that Ha'aretz's apologist editorial stood in stark contrast to criticism by Israeli Arabs including Salman Masalha and Ahmed Feead Mahameed, who wrote, among other things:

This week's visit to Libya by an Israeli Arab delegation signifies a loss of both political and moral orientation. . .

The visit did nothing to gain respect for either the delegation members or their constituency. . . .

Not only are such trips by Arab representatives to kowtow before Arab despots an insult to the intelligence, they also harm the just struggle of this country's Arab minority. . . .

[W]hat is the logic behind the Arab MK's trip to Libya?

Indeed, Ha'aretz's embarrassing flattery of Libya's insane leader who is now massacring his own people is surpassed only by the paper's support for the grovelling delegation of Arab MKs. Ha'aretz is now in no position to excoriate Gadhafi after having vilified "the Racist Union" for saying things a year ago which today the whole world understands.

So Ha'aretz faces a tricky dilemma, which it chose finally today to address with a single Op-Ed by Salman Masalha ("Arab MKs must beg for forgiveness for Libya visit"), in which he writes:

All the Arab public figures who went to Libya were as political mercenaries in the service of Gadhafi the tyrant. They should now publicly express remorse and beg forgiveness, first from the Libyan people and next from the Arab citizens they purport to represent.

A public accounting is not only necessary but would also show that they have learned their lesson and intend to mend their ways. If not, Israel's Arab citizens should turn their backs on them and toss them in the garbage, just as Arab nations are rising up against their corrupt leaders. And the sooner, the better.

-- By Yishai Goldflam. For the Hebrew version of this blog entry, visit CAMERA's Israeli site.

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The Latest Trend in Delegitimizing Israel

Evelyn Gordon
Contentions/Commentary
03 November '10

The ongoing delegitimization campaign against Israel has recently started featuring a bizarre new argument: Israel isn’t really a democracy, because its Arab citizens lack basic civil rights. Good examples include last month’s New York Times column by Ahmad Tibi and today’s Jerusalem Post column by Ray Hanania.

Tibi urged the international community to demand that “in any political agreement, Israel would be required to grant full political and civil equality to Palestinian citizens of Israel. American mediators such as George Mitchell and Dennis Ross, rather than pushing the supremacist notion of a Jewish state, should be pressing Israel to provide equal rights and fair treatment to the Palestinian minority in its midst.” The obvious conclusion is that currently, Israeli Arabs lack civil rights.

That conclusion is somewhat marred by the final line: “Ahmad Tibi, an Arab Israeli, is deputy speaker of the Israeli Parliament.” Neither Tibi nor the Times bothers explaining how a country that denies its Arab citizens “political and civil equality” has an Arab as deputy speaker of its parliament — let alone one who uses this prestigious position mainly to slander his country.

But anyone who didn’t read this tagline, or missed its implications, would come away thinking that Israeli Arabs don’t enjoy “political and civil equality.”

(Read full post)

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Ha'aretz Flubs the Facts on Arabs in the Knesset

Yishai Goldflam
CAMERA Media Analysis
10 March '10

The charge that Arabs suffer inequitable treatment in Israeli society — usually simmering on a back burner — flares up anew from time to time.

There is certainly a place for newspaper articles and opinion columns that address concerns within Israeli society, not only between Arabs and Jews but also amongst Jews themselves — between native Israelis and newcomers, between men and women, between Ashkenazi and Sepharadi Jews, and in general, between different groups of people. It is a phenomenon that is certainly not unique to the state of Israel, but which exists in every Western democratic society and even more so in non-democratic societies and countries — one that is, and should be, covered in newspaper columns.

But such media commentary should distinguish between legitimate perceptions based on fact and those based on incorrect information. And no respectable newspaper should lend its pages to a polemic founded on fiction.
This, however, is exactly what the Israeli daily, Ha'aretz, did when it provided a platform to Salman Masalha – "a researcher of Arab culture, a poet and a translator," according to the newspaper blurb – to spread false allegations against the State of Israel. ("Israel's apartheid doesn't stop at the West Bank," March 3, 2010)

The writer begins his column with the observation that "poetry and lies have much in common." But while Masalha uses the comment to denigrate Israel's Declaration of Independence as a disingenuous document, the observation is much more relevant as a description of how he, as a poet, crafted a thoroughly dishonest Op-Ed.

For example, Masalha outrageously asserts in the middle of his column:

The alienation is also evident with regard to the central government. This is the only democratic country in the world where one-fifth of the citizens - who are declared to have equal rights, at least on paper – have no representation in the government or in "provisional and permanent institutions...." [emphasis added]

One would expect a respectable writer and intellectual — and even more so, a respectable newspaper editor — to think twice before publishing such an overtly false statement. The inclusion of such an assertion indicates an overall disrespect toward readers who are apparently deemed ignorant of basic and obvious facts – namely, that Arabs are represented not only in government but in nearly every profession in Israeli society.

(Read full article)
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