World silent as fascists join Israel government

[Tom Joad]

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5874.shtml

In a frightening but long expected move, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has brought the Yisrael Beitenu party into his coalition government. The party's leader, Avigdor Lieberman, is to be vice prime minister and, as "Minister for Strategic Threats," a key member of Israel's "security cabinet" in charge of the Iran portfolio.

Yisrael Beitenu is a dangerous extremist party with fascist tendencies that has openly advocated the "transfer" of Palestinians, including the transfer of Arab towns within Israel to a Bantustan-like future Palestinian entity. It has made clear that a Jewish supremacist state is more important than a democratic one. The party, whose strongest base is among Russian immigrants brought to Israel in the 1990s, surged at the Israeli election earlier this year, taking eleven seats in Israel's 120 seat Knesset.

Last summer, Israel launched a disastrous war of destruction against Lebanon, and continues its siege and onslaught against Palestinians in the occupied territories which has killed nearly three hundred people in three months and left hundreds of thousands without sufficient food, water and electricity. Lieberman has advocated even more harsh and criminal measures against the Palestinians and Israel's neighbors.

It is dismaying that the European Union, a key international actor, seems set to maintain warm, normal relations with this extremist government, thus giving it encouragement and legitimacy.
_______________________

It is very disturbing to see the deadly sanctions being used against the Palestinians (who are under military occupation) for their choice in leadership, and yet the world acts as if nothing happened here. Just another day of hypocrisy in Europe/United States.

[mike_c]

1. Israel strengthens it's commitment to apartheid....

Not surprising, but very distressing.

[Kagemusha]

2. Hamas doesn't have nukes.

Lesson ended.

[aquart]

5. Well, be sure to send them some.

Just what they need.

[Tom Joad]

11. It doesn't seem appropiate to send nuclear weapons to anyone

I don't see why you are advocting such a move.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. As my Jewish step-father says...

It is amazing how many people are incapable of learning from their own recent history.

Yisrael Beitenu is the Nazi Party without the swastikas, targeting the Palestinians rather than the Jews.

[Poll_Blind]

7. Not just Palestinians, even Israeli Arabs. Openly suggesting the...

..expulsion of a religious or ethnic group except those who pass loyalty tests/oaths. Executing the Arab MKs, that was another "bright idea".

And yet, Lieberman and his ideas are being accepted with little protest.

PB

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[frylock]

6. it's far more civilized to drop willy-pete on civilians..

it's much tidier.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[razors edge]

9. .

[breakaleg]

10. Things seem to be getting worse in Israel, not better.

[eyl]

12. Conversely

I didn't see many of the posters condemning this (and just to make it clear, I'm of the opinion Lieberman should be locked up) getting as hot and bothered when the Palestinians elected a terrorist group as their government (as opposed to a minority party in the coalition, mind you)....

[Marrah_G]

14. I would think the concern comes from

the fact that lieberman is being put in a security post within a government that has an extremely powerful military in a time where tensions in the middle eat is raging. WW3 would be very very bad. For everyone...

[Tom Joad]

15. Do you think there should be the same economic sanctions

imposed on Israel for the inclusion of this extremist party (that represents a larger share than Labor) similar to the ones imposed on the Palestinian government? That is, a total economic blockade. Should the world put the "Israelis on a diet" as the Olmert team laughed about when deciding what to do with Palestinians.
The issue is not just Lieberman, but how does the world respond?
It certainly is not accepting the Palestinian choice.
should it respond the same way here? If not, please explain. Please explain also if you think sanctions should be continued to be imposed on Palestinians, who, by the way, live under occupation.

[Marrah_G]

17. Honestly

I'm not sure what the best way to approach the entire region would be. I think there needs to be some serious talks with all players coming to the table. I can honestly say the whole situation scares the crap out of me. There are so many innocent people in harms way when the governments collide it is always they who suffer.

So no, I don't have an answer for you, I don't have the expertise to know what sort of response would work. Unfortunately it seems no one in power has the answers either and are unwilling to call on those who might. As long as the world looks the other way in this conflict more people will suffer and die everyday. Look how long it took for the world to say "Enough" in Lebanon. How many people's lives were destroyed because people refused, and still refuse to talk?

oops: I just realized your response wasn't to me, but I'll leave the answer anyway :)

[Tom Joad]

18. Thanks for your reply anyway, Marrah.

It just seems to me that while the world and Israel imposes a total embargo on the Palestinian people, that then results in malnutrition becoming the norm in Gaza, and incredible hardships felt in the West Bank, good people should say something. These are people who are under occupation, and have been under a brutal occupation for decades.

Yet when Israel allows this extremist party that openly talks of killing Arab members of the knesset into the government, there is hardly a whisper. At most, some talk. Not even a symbolic recalling of Ambassadors.

My suggestion: Read Jimmy Carter. "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" His new book due out November 14th.

[pelsar]

20. so who here defended hamas?

just out of curiosity, since i dont save posts,..do you remember which of the posters here defended the voting in of hamas as the "voice of the palestenain people"?

[IndianaGreen]

13. Meretz USA Alarmed over Avigdor Lieberman

Meretz USA Alarmed over Avigdor Lieberman's

Impending Incorporation into the Israeli Government
October 24, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On October 24, 2006, Meretz USA President Lilly Rivlin made the following statement:

"Meretz USA expresses deep concern and alarm regarding the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to incorporate MK Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party into the government coalition. Because we support an Israel that pursues both peace and equal rights, Meretz USA regards Lieberman’s impending entry as a potentially catastrophic step backward on both counts.

"This summer’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza demonstrated (yet again) that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict. But it also showed that the majority of the Arab League, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and even Syria, supports peace and normalization with Israel based on the 2002 Saudi plan. In recent weeks, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has begun demonstrating leadership, insisting that any Palestinian government recognize Israel. A small diplomatic opening exists, and Israel should be making every effort to utilize it.

"Avigdor Lieberman has consistently supported an aggressive militarism as an alternative to diplomacy. A ‘loose cannon’, he has publicly contemplated bombing Egypt’s Aswan Dam. Lieberman has implicitly endorsed the idea of ethnic cleansing, and his ‘diplomatic plan’ for Israeli-Palestinian territorial exchanges is a thinly disguised effort to revoke the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Israel’s Arab citizens.

"Meretz USA applauds the leaders of Israel’s Meretz party for speaking out against Prime Minister Olmert’s decision, and expresses hope that the leaders of the Labor Party will take a similar stand against Yisrael Beiteinu and act vigorously to prevent that party’s incorporation into Israel’s government."


Useful Links
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
web: http://www.meretzusa.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Tom Joad]

16. Why no call to action? There should at least be diplomatic sanctions.

like recalling ambassadors and such (such was the result when Austria included fascists in its govt) . I am glad this tiny party actually opposes the inclusion of Lieberman, but it seems like they are pretty much alone, and with no call to action, and words only, it really does not help much.

So they say... its not good to have this fascist party as part of the government, yet still expect the world to continue to treat Israel as a "liberal democracy"?

[Scurrilous]

19. It's not racism, it's just patriotism

<snip>

"A racist, a transferist, a hater of Arabs, an embarrassment to democracy; indict him, expel him from the Knesset - these are only a few of the curses hurled at Avigdor Lieberman by politicians and publicists. It is as if Lieberman were something the cat dragged home from the Lebanon war garbage dump and not the house cat itself.

Indeed, it seems that the anger is not about what Lieberman says or plans to do "with the Arabs in Israel," but is directed instead at Ehud Olmert and the Labor Party for being ready to sit with the abomination. What has not been said is that it is spin designed to help Olmert survive, that Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu are one and the same, that the Labor Party is a rag and that the left-wing parties will evaporate if they agree to sit with Lieberman.

The "spin" was annoying. Perhaps Lieberman, the man, was indeed hard to swallow. But no one said anything about the essence of the party, Yisrael Beiteinu. About the fact that a Kahanist offshoot was able to germinate in Jewish society, to develop branches and toxic fruits, and to take Israeli politics by storm. Not a single political party took to the streets to protest the very existence of a party based on a racist platform, not a peep was heard when the extreme right-wing, settler parties attacked Lieberman, claiming that he is lending legitimacy to the creep Olmert, the same "scoundrel" who championed the unilateral disengagement and planned, before fleeing back to his hole, to also carry out a unilateral realignment. Until just a moment ago, these law-flouting settlers believed Lieberman was a friend - and he turns out to be a traitor. They also have no problem with the Lieberman platform.

"Transfer? What's the big deal?" I remember a longtime settler from Neve Dekalim saying. "Just like they expel us from our land, we can also expel them, and it isn't even their land."

The fascist alliance between the settler-style right and the Lieberman-style right is, therefore, accepted as self-evident. After all, what is the difference between Effi Eitam, who spoke about expelling Arabs, and Lieberman? The political doctrine is identical, and so is the political path. Both sit in the Knesset spouting the slogan that Israel is for the Jews. Excuse me, Israel is for the patriots. And who else can be a patriot? This is the equation of identity that the extreme right has succeeded in planting: Your loyalty to the homeland is measured by how anti-Arab you are."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/780596.html

[Englander]

21. Far-right joins Israel coalition

The Israeli cabinet has approved the addition of an ultra-nationalist party into the governing coalition.

In a vote which correspondents described as a formality, ministers voted 22-1 to include Yisrael Beitenu, led by Avigdor Lieberman.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had agreed to bring the party into the government to strengthen its position ahead of a series of crucial votes.

>snip

One minister, the Labour Party's culture minister Ophir Pines-Paz, dissented.

He has argued that the going into coalition with Yisrael Beitenu would be "violation" of his party's commitment to its electorate because of some of Mr Lieberman's views.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6098310.stm

[Scurrilous]

23. Pines-Paz resigns from government

Culture, science and sports minister convenes special press conference in which he officially announces his resignation from government following inclusion of Israel Our Home. 'I can't resist my conscience,' he says; adds he will run for Labor chairmanship in next elections

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3321526,00.html

"Culture, Science and Sports Minister Ophir Pines-Paz said during a special press conference, in which he announces his resignation from the government, that "in spite of the great difficulty and my desire to be part of the circle of decision makers, I cannot resist my conscience."

As his associated predicted last week , Pines-Paz decided to take a move contradicting that of the rest of his fellow Labor Party ministers, who earlier voted in favor of Israel Our Home's inclusion into the government.

Apart from the resignation announcement, Pines-Paz also officially declared that he plans to run for the Labor Party chairmanship in the May 2007 elections.

"When the person standing at the top of the pyramid is not a leader – he must be replaced, Pines-Paz said, directing his words to Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz.

"Whoever cannot stand by his principles, whoever cannot give up on sitting in the government in any case, cannot reliably lead the party forward," he added."

[Scurrilous]

22. Lieberman sworn in as minister

Israel Our Home party becomes part of Olmert's coalition as 61 Knesset members vote in favor of Avigdor Lieberman's addition to government; 38 vote against, others fail to show up for voting

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3321633,00.html

<snip>

"The Knesset on Monday evening approved the appointment of Israel Our Home Chairman Avigdor Lieberman as a minister. The proposal, which was earlier approved by the government , passed with a majority of 61 in favor and 38 who voted against.

Several Knesset members from the Labor Party, Kadima and the Likud were absent from the voting.

After the Knesset's approval, Lieberman was sworn in and joined the government table."

[Englander]

24. Lieberman already set to visit US

>snip

Lieberman is already set for his first trip abroad as a minister. He will travel to the United States on December 8 to take part in the prestigious Saban Forum at the Saban Center For Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

Lieberman will speak about the future of the Middle East on a panel with Labor MK Ami Ayalon that will be chaired by former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger. Lieberman's event is scheduled between addresses by former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Officials at the Saban Center said they were honored to host Lieberman in his first address abroad since becoming a minister.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1161811238878