Bibi Netanyahu showed his true colors today with the following statement:
Israel “is the national state, not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people.”
For those of us who know Israel know that the vast majority of Israelis know this to be true. Whether Jewish or Palestinian, this is the reality of daily life in Israel and even more so in the West Bank and Gaza. The impediments to daily life are significant if one is Palestinian. It starts with vastly different levels of state funding to schools serving Jewish neighborhoods vs Palestinian neighborhoods. It extends to discrimination in getting jobs, securing a building permit or a license to start a business etc. Like our own “Jim Crow” south daily discrimination is a fact of life even though voting rights may have been secured.
Like some areas in America, there are nowhere near as many voting stations in Palestinian area as in Jewish areas. Even though Palestinians vote for members of the Arab parties in the Knesset those politicians are not allowed to affiliate with Jewish parties to pass any kind of legislation. In effect they are frozen out of any governing acts. Thus it is Democracy, but without a voice.
The current election process in Israel is a zoo with Netanyahu supporting the far right political parties in hopes of building a governing coalition. All the far right parties are trying to win a few seats in hopes of joining the Likud party in having some say in the future of Israel. Even the so called Centrists have joined the right wing in denouncing Palestinians and foreclosing leaving any land between the river and the sea for a Palestinian state. In short, Israel is a Democracy in name only.