- Disturbing signs are ominous. On November 8, Israel demolished
and ransacked a Negev Bedouin Arab mosque in Rahat, removing it for Jewish
development. Professor Yousef Salamah called it "a criminal act,"
done on the pretext that it was unlicensed. "These are not new acts
but were preceded by many incidents and attacks, when the Israeli authorities
demolished dozens of mosques inside Israel, turning some into museums,
barns, restaurants, synagogues and parking lots."
-
- Five Bedouins, Israeli citizens, were arrested for protesting.
Others were attacked. On November 8, Haaretz writers Jack Khoury and Yanir
Yagnar headlined, "Defiant Bedouin(s) rebuild Rahat mosque razed by
state," saying:
-
- Along with a one-day general strike, residents laid a
foundation to rebuild. Yusuf Abu Jama, local leader of the Northern Branch
of the Islamic Movement said: "If they continue to destroy it, we
will rebuild the mosque over and over again."
-
- Southern District commander Yohanan Danino said: "The
mosque was born in crime and as a symbol of the radicalization and escalation
of the members of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement within Rahat...."
-
- Look for another demolition and more confrontation, denying
Israeli Arabs equal rights with Jews, but even theirs are eroding. Israel
is now unsafe for anyone challenging state authority, no matter how repressive
its policies.
-
- On November 8, Haaretz writer Noah Kosharek headlined,
"Supreme Court okays Jewish-only buildings in Jaffa," saying:
-
- The Court approved three apartment buildings solely for
Jews in the mixed Ajami neighborhood, "even as it implied that such
a project could constitute discrimination." Most modern states reject
segregation out of hand. Israel practices it as policy.
-
- On November 9, at 3:00AM, Israeli soldiers stormed Bil'in
village, targeting two homes, looking for Ashraf al-Khatib, a wounded demonstrator,
shot in the leg weeks earlier, protesting for village rights. In recent
years, Bil'in has been repeatedly raided, its residents arrested for peacefully
resisting occupation and Israel's Separation Wall, systematically destroying
the village.
-
- On November 11, Haaretz writers Nir Hasson and Shlomo
Papirblatt headlined, "Gang suspected of attacks on Arabs in Jerusalem,"
saying:
-
- "Young (Jewish) men have reportedly been roaming
in and around Independence Park seeking Arabs to attack, trying to identify
them by their accent." Two already were assaulted. Also a Chilean
tourist mistaken for an Arab. In July, another Arab was stabbed.
-
- Other incidents occur regularly, too numerous to list,
both in Israel and the Territories. Besides wars, repeated incursions,
lawless land seizures, killings, arrests and torture, they include middle-of-the-night
home raids, assaults against nonviolent protestors, farmers, fishermen,
women and children. Their crime: being Muslims in a Jewish state or on
land Israel occupies, systematically stealing it dunum by dunum as well
as depriving non-Jewish citizens of their rights. Where this ends worries
many, including Uri Avnery, founder of Gush Shalom, "The Peace Bloc."
-
- In his October 25 article titled, "Weimar in Jerusalem:
Israel on the Footsteps of Nazi Germany," he said as a young boy he
witnessed firsthand:
-
- "the collapse of German democracy and the ascent
of the Nazis to power. The pictures are engraved in my memory - the election
campaigns following each other, the uniforms in the street, the debates
around the table, the teacher who greeted us for the first time with "Heil
Hitler."
-
- For Averny and many others, the "all-important question
in Israel with growing concern (is whether) the Israeli republic is collapsing.
For the first time, this question is being asked in all seriousness."
-
- Netanyahu's Welfare Minister, Yirzhak Herzog, worries
that "fascism is touching the margins of our society." He's wrong,
says Averny. It's "not only touching the margins, it is touching the
government in which he is serving, and the Knesset, of which he is a member."
-
- Almost daily, Knesset members introduce new repressive
bills, including the Law of Citizenship's Loyalty Oath amendment, requiring
non-Jews to pledge it to "the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic
state." Otherwise, their citizenship and residency rights may be revoked.
Perhaps also their freedom.
-
- Dozens of other repressive laws have been tabled. Many
more are coming, measures real democracies won't tolerate. Avery said MKs
have been "act(ing) like sharks in a feeding frenzy," competing
"to see who can devise the most racist bill."
-
- It's not a uniquely Israeli phenomenon. It's surfacing
across Europe and in America, its recent election sending a legion of extremist
bigots to Congress, joining many others already there from both parties.
-
- Avery "always worried that (Israeli) democracy was
hanging by a thin thread, that we must be on our guard every hour, every
minute." As in America, it's now "facing an unprecedented test."
Failing it leaves the door open to fascism.
-
- Again, like in America, the choice is "peace or
eternal war" and accompanying repression. Peace requires equal rights
for non-Jewish citizens and Palestinians, notions Israel won't countenance.
As a result, Avery worries that "For the second time in my life, I
may have to witness the collapse of a republic." Only an aroused public
can stop it.
-
- In a November 9 Haaretz op-ed, Haifa University Professor
Daniel Gutwein headlined, "Israel needs a Leftist revolution to stop
the fascism," saying:
-
- "A social revolution on the left is the necessary
condition to stop (what's) seep(ing) into the halls of government..."
-
- The Loyalty Oath, repressive occupation, and denial of
non-Jewish citizens equal rights are most evident, but also much more.
Eroding social benefits and growing privatizations for example. Combined
they show "the transformation of fascism from scattered, isolated
'weeds' to an official policy."
-
- Neoliberal privatizations turn "social services
from citizens' rights into merchandise which is gained via the merchandising
of citizenship itself," beside matters of equity and affordability.
Gutwein calls fascism "occupation by other means, and as such it imports
the logic of occupation rule into Israel itself....At the same time, in
light of deepened social gaps caused by privitization(s), fascism becomes
an internal Israeli mechanism of compensation, through which the privatizing
regime strengthens its hold on society." Change requires a "social-democratic
revolution on the left" in time to stop it, one nowhere so far in
sight.
-
- Haaretz writer Gideon Levy worries about issues reflecting
growing repression and fascism, including in his November 7 article titled,
"Dear American Jews, if you love Israel - criticize it," saying:
-
- Criticize its "policy of force and occupation....someone
has to wean it from these addictions. Like any other junkie, it is incapable
of helping itself. Thus the job falls to you" and Israeli citizens.
Israel's "arrogant behavior (makes) it despised....The town is burning....Israeli
democracy is being torn apart; soon, it will no longer be possible to talk
about 'the only democracy in the Middle East,' " no matter how nonsensical
it is now. Act, "Criticize it as it deserves." It's the first
step to change.
-
- In a September interview, Levy commented on the political
climate in Israel and prospects for peace, saying that recent events showed
that "nothing was left of the Israeli Left, except for some small,
devoted, courageous groups which are still active. Unfortunately, they
are not very influential."
-
- Why so? Because people believe "there is no 'Palestinian
partner' " when, in fact, the opposite is true. It made him doubt
the existence of Israeli leftists. His main concern is extremist governance
under Netanyahu and a supportive Knesset.
-
- "(I)t's going to destroy Israel from within. I think
that Israeli democracy is now facing its biggest challenge ever: a systematic
campaign against any kind of alternative voices." So far, parts of
the media operate freely, "because most of (it) collaborate(s) with
the occupation project, and those of us - the very few - who go against
the stream, until now we were untouched, but this I don't take for granted."
-
- Repressive laws have targeted human rights NGOs and dissident
academics. Conditions are "deteriorating day after day. It might touch
me personally very soon but so far" not yet. Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's
largest circulation daily, fired writer B. Michael (Michael Berizon), known
for attacking Israeli politicians and the occupation satirically.
-
- An epilogue in his last column said he'd "been fired.
Good-bye." Without explaining further, his political views left him
vulnerable. For example, his denunciation of Cast Lead, saying:
-
- "There it is again, the cyclical 'deja vu war.'
The same ceremonial bloodshed that again is being poured into the hot lava
that has been leading the entire region to misery for dozens of years now."
-
- With that type writing, it's surprising Yediot Achronot
kept him on for 15 years, calling Gaza "a giant prison," saying
years of Israeli aggression reflects "one great butcher shop,"
and much more just as harsh. Few mainstream journalists anywhere approach
that honesty or courage.
-
- Levy does it for Haaretz, calling it Israel's most influential
paper because it impacts politicians, business leaders, and other parts
of the media, though less now than earlier. It's also read globally, "but
(don't) exaggerate" its importance.
-
- Calling Israel a racist state, Levy said his views hardened
over time. "(T)he more Israel becomes nationalistic, the more the
government becomes violent and aggressive," the more radicalized he's
become. In his recent book, "The Punishment of Gaza," he called
Cast Lead a "wild onslaught upon the most helpless population in the
world."
-
- As for the current round of peace talks, he unequivocally
negative, seeing no hope in them whatever, calling them "another
scene in this ongoing masquerade, another photo opportunity." Their
failure, in fact, may "lead to another bloodshed." Commenting
on how he persists, he responded saying "do I have a choice? I can't
change my mind. I will not stop raising my voice as long as (I) have a
platform" to do it.
-
- Israel's lurch toward Gomorrah jeopardizes everyone challenging
state policy, especially vocal journalists, academics, and human rights
activists, the very people authorities want silenced.
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at <mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net>lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
-
-
- Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive
Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central
time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy
listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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