March, 18 2015, 09:30am EDT
Likud's Win Bolstered by Netanyahu's Racism and Opposition Towards Peace With the Palestinians
A last minute appeal to racist fear-mongering and a unequivocal rejection of any compromise towards peace with Palestinians seems to have succeeded in securing an unexpectedly sound victory for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud party. While the kind of coalition that will result is still unclear, it is unlikely that Israel's policies of expanding expanding settlements, the ongoing siege of Gaza, periodic aggressive warfare, and systematic discrimination will change.
WASHINGTON
A last minute appeal to racist fear-mongering and a unequivocal rejection of any compromise towards peace with Palestinians seems to have succeeded in securing an unexpectedly sound victory for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud party. While the kind of coalition that will result is still unclear, it is unlikely that Israel's policies of expanding expanding settlements, the ongoing siege of Gaza, periodic aggressive warfare, and systematic discrimination will change.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who is running for reelection, emphatically confirmed that he has no intention of withdrawing from any territory nor working towards a two-state solution. On election day, he urged his supporters to the polls with race-baiting rhetoric that cast Palestinians citizens of Israel, who are his constituents, as the 'enemy.'
Naomi Dann, Media Coordinator: "Between the two leading parties, there was little choice for those who want to see a just peace and equality for all Israelis and Palestinians. Should either party form the next government, either separately or in unity, the occupation and military rule over Palestinians will continue. The vote for Netanyahu was a vote of approval for his racism and war-mongering."
The formation of the Joint List, a coalition of political parties comprised mainly of Palestinian citizens of Israel, including Balad, Ta'al ("Arab Movement for Renewal"), the Islamic movement, and the mixed Arab-Jewish Hadash party, and its 3rd place showing was a potentially promising shift to force Israelis to face the inequalities at the heart of its laws and governance. Though given the expectation of a center-right government, they won't be in a position to have a strong impact on the government's policies. However, while Israel calls itself "the only democracy in the Middle East," 4.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza (over 36% of the people living under Israeli rule) do not have the right to vote for the government that ultimately decides their fate.
Given the racist war-mongering and rejection of the two-state solution, American Jews who express support for peace will need to rethink their relationship to a Israeli government that is explicitly anti-peace. As Israeli journalist Noam Sheizaf wrote yesterday, "For years we have been hearing that Israel will either end the occupation or cease to be a democracy. Could it be that the Jewish public has made its choice?"
While election results offer little hope for immediate change to Israeli policies, a government lead by Netanyahu again will likely increase Israel's growing global isolation, and prompt increasing pressure from outside forces including the United States and the grassroots, global movement for justice and equality to hold Israel accountable for its continued occupation, violations of international law, and human rights abuses.
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 200,000 online supporters, over 70 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Council, an Artist Council, an Academic Advisory Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.
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Privacy Defenders Decry 'Spy Draft' in Section 702 Renewal Advanced by Senate
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Civil liberties defenders on Thursday decried the U.S. Senate's advancement of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which critics say lawmakers are trying to ram through without protection against warrantless surveillance and with a provision that would effectively make every American a spy whether they like it or not.
Senators voted 67-32 in favor of a cloture motion to begin voting on RISAA, a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on Friday. FISA—a highly controversial law that has been abused hundreds of thousands of times—allows warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens but also often sweeps up Americans' communication data in the process.
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This so-called "Make Everyone a Spy" clause would allow the attorney general or director of national intelligence to force electronic communication service providers to "immediately provide... all information, facilities, or assistance" the government deems necessary.
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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)—who
said earlier this week that the bill would dragoon the American people into becoming "an agent for Big Brother"—on Thursday argued that "this issue demands a debate about meaningful reforms, not a rushed vote to rubber-stamp more warrantless government surveillance powers."
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However, the amendment contains exceptions to the warrant requirement in the event of unspecified emergencies and cyberattacks.
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The Biden administration and U.S. intelligence agencies vehemently oppose the Durbin-Cramer amendment. The White House called the measure "a reckless policy choice contrary to the key lessons of 9/11 and not grounded in any constitutional requirement or statute."
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Since Israel launched what the International Court of Justice has said is a "plausibly" genocidal assault of the Gaza Strip in response to a Hamas-led October attack, the Biden administration has blocked three cease-fire resolutions at the Security Council. Under mounting global pressure, the U.S. finally abstained last month, allowing a cease-fire measure to pass.
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"We came to the Security Council today as an important historic moment, regionally and internationally, so that we could salvage what can be saved. We place you before a historic responsibility to establish the foundations of a just and comprehensive peace in our region."
Council members were given the opportunity "to revive the hope that has been lost among our people" and to translate their commitment towards a two-state solution into firm action "that cannot be maneuvered or retracted," and the majority of council members "have risen to the level of this historic moment, and they have stood on the side of justice and freedom and hope, in line with the ethical and humanitarian and legal principles that must govern our world and in line with simple logic."
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Columbia President Minouche Shafik informed the campus community on Thursday that she had authorized the police to clear the encampment.
As it has been in the past, the school has become a center of anti-war protests—and crackdowns by school officials and the police—since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October.
Pro-Palestinian students and alumni have demanded that Columbia divest from companies that profit from Israel's apartheid policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and cancel its dual degree program with Tel Aviv University.
In response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Columbia in November suspended the campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine—an action that pushed the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal to file a lawsuit on behalf of the students last month.
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"Correct," replied Shafik.
On Thursday, Omar posted on social media two images of protesters at Columbia: one from the encampment this week, and one from 1968, when students protested the U.S. war in Vietnam.
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