Even Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League is worried about the rightwing trend inside Israel. It’s going to make his job incredibly hard, defending Israel in the United States. Here he is at Huffington Post, on the threats to Israel’s democracy from within.
When, however, laws are passed that stifle free expression, seek to undermine the independence of the judiciary and, in the name of defending a Jewish state, seek to undermine the rights of Arabs and other minorities, then the very democratic character of the state is being eroded…
What really ought to happen, however, is that more leaders from Israel rightist camps should be standing up against efforts to undermine Israel’s judicial, press and speech freedoms. They must assert that not only is democracy an essential component of Israel’s very being and a potent constructive force throughout Israel’s history, but that the defense of Israel’s vibrant democratic traditions are a core value for those on the political right.
I saw that when there were about 30 or so comments, and was amazed at how the policy over at HuffPo must have changed – the vast majority were anti the rabid right, and pro Palestine! But Foxman is so careful to blame furriners for Israel’s problems while stating the response is just a tad wrong.
“Israel’s vibrant democratic traditions ”
He just woke up, or is he still dreaming??
Israel/ Vibrant/ Democratic Traditions? A classic example of oxymoron.
Abraham Foxman is going to be labeled a Self Hating Jew any day now
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http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/u-s-jewish-groups-furious-over-campaign-to-bring-expat-israelis-back-home-1.399057
“We find these videos heavy-handed, and even demeaning,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL. “While we appreciate the rationale behind the Israeli government’s appeal to its citizens living in the U.S. to return to Israel, we are concerned that some may be offended by what the video implies about American Jewry.”
An Immigration and Absorption Ministry campaign in the United States to convince expatriate Israelis to return has raised the ire of American Jewish groups.
The campaign warns Israelis that if they continue to live in the United States, they or their children are likely to become assimilated.
The drive began at the end of September with billboards in cities with large concentrations of Israelis, including New York, Los Angeles and Palo Alto. The messages included “Before Hanukkah turns into Christmas, it’s time to come back to Israel,” and “Before Abba turns into Daddy, it’s time to come back to Israel.”
What Foxman is objecting to is Israel’s authoritarian trend, which is going to make his job much harder in promoting “The Only Democracy in the Middle East.” He goes out of his way to clarify that his objection is not to Likud or to its history of right-wing policies or ideology. While he does throw in concern for the rights of Arabs and other minorities as an aside, Israel has always managed to infringe these rights with impunity under the excuse of “security reasons” or maintaining “the Jewish character of Israel.” This concern mentioned in the cluster at the beginning isn’t repeated at the end, because what is being threatened by the recent laws that he’s having a hard time selling to his ADL constituents is that the rights of some of Israel’s Jewish citizens are being curtailed:
Somebody’s good comment from Huffington Post ,under Foxman’s article.
“democracies don’t surround areas of land , and refuse to allow the inhabitants to have any measurable trade or treat the people living there as virtual prisoners ,because they don’t happen to like the democratically elected government..
Gaza is a virtual prison camp/reservation and the West Bank is just like the U.S. in the early years of this country ,when the settlers (early europeans) would go into land that the natives claimed for their own, then steal the land, then have the nerve to get angry when the natives got angry ,and call in the military to slaughter the natives, who then were forced to go onto reservations…after which they turned around and stole that land too…sounds just like what the settlers do in Israel..of course with the govt turning a blind eye/helping.
so NO , Israel is not a true democracy .”