10 thoughts on “Nations Dither in Face of Israeli Fascism – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. The Palestinian Left hasn’t been ‘decimated’ – there has only ever been only Palestinian Left wing party, hadash, which, together with its nationalist partner taal (the joint list), keeps its 4-5 seats. Abbas’s raam party is also not left but Islamic nationalist and also retained its 4-5 seats.
    Balad is also nationalist, far from left, and lost its seats by an unfortunate decision not to run on the joint list with hadash-taal.

    There may still be a vague possibility of Israel saving itself from itself by forming a centre right coalition without the fascists, seeing that even Bibi sees Ben Gvir as a danger to his hegemony and to his party.

    1. @ Shai: You have no idea what you’re talking about. Hadash is one of four Palestinian parties: Balad, Taal and Raam. All of them, including Raam are FAR to the left of any Israeli party, including Meretz. It is ridiculous to claim Balad is not leftist because it is “nationalist.” And WTF do you know about Balad? Don’t pretend you know anything. Do you think nationalists can’t be leftists? Balad supports a one-state solution. A position anathema among Israeli Jews, hence, leftist.

      As for forming a “center right” coalition, that’s ridiculous for 2 reasons. First, Bibi is not a centrists and will never form a coalition with any center-right parties. Besides, who would have him? Lapid? Gantz? Saar? You must be joking. Second, Jewish Power is the party which brought him to power. As the saying goes: you dance with the guy who brought you. It is his natural ally. The idea he would go in any other direction is foolish.

      1. We are not defining ‘left’ in the same terms – left to me means communist or socialist ideology, anti capitalist economy, fighting for the working classes, social justice, and separation of religion from state.
        Meretz and Labour ceased to be left years ago when they adopted social democratic values and a free economy. Hadash us the only ‘left’ party by that definition which is the usual universal definition.
        In Israel left is sometimes used as what one’s peace plans (or lack of) are. This complicates the situation.
        Apart from hadash, none of the other Palestinian/Arab parties espouse socialism, all are strongly religious in their outlook.

        1. Once again, wrong. “Left is an inclusive term, not exclusive as you have portrayed it. Under the definition here, all the Palestinian parties may be considered left. Of course Rasm’s Islamic opposition to gay rights is not “left,” but most of the rest of it’s platform is.

  2. Richard,

    I don’t agree with your analysis because I don’t agree that Israel is going fascist. Fascism is being used as a term of abuse. Fascist regimes usually come to power in order to crush the working class or popular movements.

    Israel is a settler colonial state in which the Jewish ruling class has allied with the Israeli Jewish working class against the Palestinians. It is a different creature. That doesn’t make it better for the Palestinians. Indeed it may make it worse.

    The Deep South is a better example than say Nazi Germany or Mussolini’s Italy.

    But my major point is this. Ben Gvir is the logical outcome of Zionism. A Jewish state was always flawed from the start. What is a Jewish state if not a state to discriminate against those who are not Jewish. States have certain dynamics, which are class based. All states seek to scapegoat different minorities but usually there are countervailing pressures, such as unions, civil society etc. We have a government trying to whip up hatred against refugees here at the moment but there is also a counter pressure.

    In Israel there is none because the whole Zionist spectrum from left to right agrees on a Jewish state and the need for separation from ‘the Arabs’. This is the platform of the ‘left’ as well as the right Zionists.

    Gvir is a Kahanist. Of that we are clear. But if we go back to his mentor, Meir Kahane, then he was an honest Zionist. He said that Israel could be a democratic state or a Jewish state but it couldn’t be both. And he was right. It is the hypocrites of the left Zionists who pretended that you could have both. A democratic state in which Jewish would inevitably be superior.

    We should also remember that Kahane was stopped from restanding for the Knesset in 1988. Why? Not because he was a racist but because he was tipped to get 8-9 seat s. There has always been the potential for this Kahanism to come to the surface because it is inherent in the logic of a Jewish state.

    Today with a critical mass of settlers in the West Bank, which we didn’t have in 1988, there is a far greater potential for Kahanism to grow still further.

    It remains to be seen how this plays out in the USA. I suspect the Zionists will argue that Gvir only got 14 seats barely 10% and compare it to Italy etc. Of course Israel is vastly different to Italy, Hungary etc. because none of those countries occupies another people.

    However we should celebrate one result. The disappearance of the hypocrites of Meretz. These advocates of 2 states etc. couldn’t even bring themselves to oppose the outlawing of 6 human rights groups on the West Bank. I shall drink a toast to that if nothing else.

  3. What a shame to see Israel go down the toilet like this so blatantly. It’s the people ultimately, the voters. Netanyahu is a force for ill, as he has always been but his head will grow even bigger.This result will have its repercussions and the story is not over.The pretense about Israel being a democracy, against the use of the term apartheid and the deception of “two states for two peoples” may finally be no sell even with governments abroad that formally turned away from the truth for convenience, including the US. Israel is exposed more than ever. Now we will see justifications for that smell( at least) of fascism, for this rightward turn. Netanyahu,dishonest/two faced, craven, power hungry, opportunistic, shameful, will have his hands full. It’s not over despite the despair of the moment, which also may not be over, but you never know. If Israelis want something better they will have to get over their fears and fight for it. Otherwise, it’s really on them what Israel has become.

  4. Mr Silverstein, I honestly do not understand your claim that Israel is not a democracy.
    Free elections took place. After the previous election, right wing parties joined left parties and formed a government. This week’s election has reversed those results.
    From what I have read, the left lost the election because they refused to unify their parties. Had they done so, the results would have been very different.
    I understand that you dislike the people elected, but over one million people voted for them. Not all of these people can be defined as fascist.
    I would suggest that rather than complain about the results, that you instruct the parties that lost to correct their errors next time around.

    1. @Efrat: Let’s compare Israel to the pricniples of a genuine democracy:

      secularism: not really; Israel is a theocracy and will be moreso in the new government.

      Multi-ethnic/minority rights and full participation:not really–Israeli Palestinians face 50 separate laws and de jure practices discriminating against them.
      Religious freedom & tolerance:not really. Judaism is the state religion. Muslim worship is routinely restricted.

      Peace:Not really; Israel is a garrison state

      Rule of law: Not really; the poewrful can get away with virtually anything; not to mention the army and security forces.

      Free and fair elections: Not really. Germany had “free and fair elections” in 1933. How did that go? Lots of countries who are fascist have elections. But they’re no democracies.

      Media: Not really. Israel Hayom, country’s largest daily, is funded by $40/yr from oligarch Sheldon Adelson (presumably now from his wife, Miriam). Bibi closed the country’s main national TV channel because he didn’t like its coverage.

      Further, filming Palestinian polling places to intimidate voters is the opposite of free and fair elections.

      Not to mention the repeated efforts to disqualify participation of Palestinian candidates in elections.

      the left lost the election because they refused to unify their parties

      The “left” did not “lose the eldection.” They were never going to win the election. What they did was to self-destruct in the way you mentioned. But Ayelet Shaked did the same. The difference is that right-wing extremists still won the election without her. Stupid mistakes do not excuse the outcome–which is an exterminatist criminal government.

      I understand that you dislike the people elected, but over one million people voted for them. Not all of these people can be defined as fascist.

      It doesn’t matter what their intent was in voting. Their intent may have been pure as the driven snow (it wasn’t). What matters is who the candidate is and what he plans to do. Ben Gvir & Smotrich are ex-terorists. They plan to ignite war between Jews and Muslims. If that’s the country you want to defend, be my guest. But don’t come crying to me when these clowns turn the Middle East (or at least their corner of it) into a war zone with thousands of dead and mass expulsion.

      I would suggest that rather than complain about the results, that you instruct the parties that lost to correct their errors next time around.

      How condescending of you: first to advise me who and what I should “instruct” (I don’t instruct anyone about anything); and to assume the left parties want instruction from me or advice from you. Finally, Iwould suggest that you “instruct” Israel not to walk off a cliff into the abyss. THough it is hell-bent on doing just that and no instruction from you would matter.

  5. The Rubicon has been crossed. The accelerationists are gleeful. Professor Liebowitz z”l has been proven correct in his predictions. Oy va voy lanu!

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