from Mondoweiss
Even within its pre-1967 borders, Israel was never a democracy. Palestinian political expression was always persecuted. The first Palestinian political movement within the areas that were occupied by Israel in 1948, the Al-Ard (“The Land”) movement, was outlawed in 1964, and its leaders were arrested and exiled. Abna al-Bald, a leftist grassroots movement, succeeded in existing stubbornly on the margins, with its activists and leaders going in and out of prison. The most prominent Palestinian intellectual and political leader, Azmi Bishara, was forced into exile by trumped-up accusations of espionage. The most popular political movement over the last three decades, the “northern” Islamic movement, led by Sheikh Raed Salah, was outlawed in November 2015, and its activists were arrested for such actions as organizing travel to pray in al-Aqsa Mosque.
With all this repression, Israel tried to keep a semblance of democracy, mostly for international public relations. For this purpose, they allowed the participation of some Arab or Arab-Jewish parties in the Knesset under the election law, which obliges every party willing to take part to support the nature of Israel as a Jewish state. With the strengthening of overtly fascist parties and their prominent role in Israeli-Jewish politics, public opinion, and the state apparatus, many ask how thin margins for “tolerated” Palestinian political activity may survive.
We are now finding out. The latest war on Gaza has provided an opportunity for the police, under ultra-rightist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, to launch an all-out repressive campaign against the Arab population and against any expression of opposition to the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza. While ten days ago, I reported on how there is some disagreement within the regime concerning how far to go with this oppression, the last week showed that the push to destroy the small democratic margins that remain is still in full swing...
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