Fascism Wins Big in Israel
by Stephen Lendman
Israeli election results hardened fascist rule. Dominant right-wing parties control 102 of 120 Knesset seats.
Israelis have themselves to blame. They elected Israel's most extremist government in history. Militarism, belligerence, state-sponsored terrorism, occupation ruthlessness, settlement expansions, and neoliberal harshness reflect official policy.
Peace is a non-starter. A so-called process never existed and doesn't now. Israel won't tolerate it. Netanyahu scorns it. He calls it a waste of time.
Palestinians and Israeli Arabs have the greatest cross to bear. They're marginalized, denied, persecuted and brutalized.
Institutionalized racism terrorizes them. Their rights are off the table. Israeli Arabs are enfranchised in name only.
Millions of Occupied Palestinians are entirely denied. They're disenfranchised. They had no say in Tuesday's election. Around 600,000 West Bank/East Jerusalem settlers alone got to vote.
Imagine holding an election excluding millions. Imagine calling fascism, colonization, apartheid and militarized occupation democratic. Imagine extolling the results. Imagine ignoring police state terror.
Imagine coverup and denial. Imagine the world community and scoundrel media turning a blind eye. Imagine ignoring what demands headlines.
Don't expect media scoundrels to explain. They spurn journalistic ethics. They mock truth and full disclosure. They’re pro-Israeli apologists. They sanitize and conceal its worst crimes. They call hardline fascism “centrist.”
On January 23, a New York Times [3] editorial headlined "Israel's Election," saying:
Netanyahu was weakened. He'll remain prime minister. "Centrist" partners will join him. Doing so will "temper his hard-right line" rule.
"The rejection of religious parties by an overwhelming majority of voters sends a signal that Israelis are tired of sectarian divisiveness and the often-oppressive policies that religious leaders have championed."
Fact check
So-called Israeli centrism doesn't exist. Hardline right-wing rule dominates. Religious parties are involved. Results showed they largely matched their 2009 performance.
The Times expressed "hope that the new government could be more receptive to a peace initiative. The vote suggests that if it is not, Israelis may give even more support next time to a centrist coalition not led by Mr. Netanyahu."
Fact check
Israelis care more about quality of life, economic well-being, and security than international politics and peace negotiations. According to Israel Today [4]:
"Compared to previous elections when the peace process was still one of, if not the primary topic, the 2013 election is further evidence that the land-for-peace process is dead in the eyes of most Israelis."
Peace process politics reflects hypocrisy. It was stillborn from inception. It's no exaggeration calling it the most specular deception in modern diplomatic history.
It never existed and doesn't now. Former IDF chief/defense minister Moshe Dayan called occupation "permanent."
Former prime minster Yitzhak Shamir said he wanted to drag out talks for a decade. Doing so would facilitate settlement expansions, he explained.
Netanyahu and likeminded hardliners spurn peace. They prioritize militarized occupation, settlement construction, brutalized repression, Jerusalem as Israel's exclusive capital, and unchallenged dominance.
Decades of so-called peace talks used slogans and deception to buy time. Israel took full advantage. It doesn't negotiate. It demands.
Oslo reflected unilateral Palestinian surrender. Land theft accelerated. Settlements expanded. From 1993 to today, population numbers grew from 200,000 - 600,000.
Apartheid is policy. So is colonization. Israel wants all valued Judea and Samaria areas Judaized. It claims Jerusalem as its exclusive capital. Ethnic cleansing is policy. At most, Palestinians will get worthless cantonized scrubland.
They got nothing for renouncing armed struggle, recognizing Israel's right to exist, and leaving major unresolved issues for later final status talks. They're still waiting.
Major issues include sovereign Palestine free from occupation, the right of return, settlements, borders, water rights, and East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory and future capital.
"The Israeli Center Lives [5]," said Times contributor Roger Cohen. Netanyahu has "himself to blame." He "had no new ideas."
"The price of his survival….will almost certainly be a pivot away from the right toward a centrist coalition."
"The Israel that emerged from (Tuesday's) vote is not the rightward-drifting, annexationist-tending, religious-lurching nation it has become fashionable to portray."
Fact check
Rose-colored glasses obscure reality. Calling Israel centrist turns truth on its head. Dominant parties spurn democracy. They reflect Zionist extremism. They claim Jewish supremacy.
They deplore peace. They embrace violence, not peaceful coexistence. They endorse confrontation over diplomacy.
They believe in strength through militarism, intimidation, and naked aggression. They menace Jews and Arabs alike. They threaten neighboring states and humanity.
The Wall Street Journal [6] headlined “Israel’s New Political Center,” saying:
Netanyahu remains prime minister with “different partners.” Israel’s "center" held. “Conventional wisdom” was wrong.
The Washington Post [7] said Netanyahu's "weakened" position "raised the prospect of a more centrist government that could ease strained relations with Washington and signal more flexibility in peace efforts with the Palestinians."
The Los Angeles Times [8] said Netanyahu's "disappointing performance will require him to reach out to the center in order to form a governing coalition."
Haaretz contributor Ari Shavit [9] highlighted "The dramatic headline of this election: Israel is not right wing."
He's Haaretz's resident hawk. He claims King Bibi's reign ended. He'll remain prime minister but won't rule. "His life will not be easy, not politically and not in terms of policy."
Israel is more centrist, says Shavit. Imagine calling a dog a cat. Israel is more rightwing than ever. Election results left no doubt.
Haaretz's Chemi Shalev [10] said they showed voters "elected a government that is bound to be more centrist, more moderate, more secular, more pluralistic and more inclusive than its predecessor or any of the alternatives that seemed plausible just a few short days ago."
Hardline fascist rule is policy. Worse than ever times loom. Events eventually awaken people to reality. Perhaps Israelis will realize they've been had. It bears repeating. They've got themselves to blame.
A Final Comment
Alan Dershowitz is a notorious bigot. He's a longstanding Islamophobe. He believes in unique Jewish suffering. He's mindless of all others.
He's a committed Zionist and Israeli apologist. He legitimizes its crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. He believes waging war achieves peace.
He advocates torture and targeted assassinations. Francis Boyle once called him an "infamous self-incriminating war criminal."
He "publicly acknowledged being a member of a Mossad Committee for approving the murder and assassination of Palestinians, which violates the Geneva Conventions and is thus a grave war crime."
He's "unfit" to educate aspiring lawyers. He got prominent Haaretz [11] op-ed space. He turned truth on its head. He said election results shifted Israeli politics "toward the center and away from the extremes."
It's more likely to "have more flexibility in dealing with the Palestinian Authority and in moving toward a two-state solution."
Two states were once possible. No longer. Israel controls over half the West Bank and much of East Jerusalem. More is added daily. Peaceful resolution requires one state for all its people. Nothing else works.
Dershowitz is hardline. He believes only Jewish rights matter. He wants Palestinians marginalized and denied. He favors accelerated settlement construction.
Resume peace talks, he says. Tolerate no preconditions. He blames Palestinians for Israeli crimes.
He claims Netanyahu "very much wants to be the person who brings about peace…." He spuriously calls Iran an existential threat.
He says Israel reflects real democracy. Its "people and (their) leaders (will) prove to the world that (they) know (their) own best interests and (are) in the best position to implement them."
"That is what democracy is all about, and Israel's recent elections display democracy at its best."
He teaches this stuff to law students. His pedagogy subverts truth. He's best avoided. He's part of Harvard Law's school for torturers.
Don't send your children there, urges Francis Boyle [10]. Dershowitz, other notorious faculty members, and deans "are no longer fit to educate lawyers. They are a sick joke and a demented fraud."
"Harvard is to Law School as Torture is to Law." It's a "Neo-Con cesspool." Dershowitz's presence bears much responsibility. He gives higher education a bad name. Avoid him at all costs.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected].
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html
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.
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