Israeli Elections

[Dean]

Current Results from Haaretz (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063105.html)

Kadima is slightly more liberal - Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu are extrem right wing - all three support the expulsion of Israeli Arabs. Note that Hadash has gained a seat, despite the right-wing revolution in this election.

AlJazeera - "Rival Parties Claim Victory" (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/02/20092110226591860.html)

AlJazeera - "Israel Moves to the Right" (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/02/200921102434127368.html)

AlJazeera - "Israel's Arab Parties" (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/israelvotes/2009/02/2009288126323834.html)

Haaretz - "Neither Kadima nor Likud can make peace with Palestinians" (http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063104.html)

What do you think this means? The popularity of racist parties is chilling, to say the least.

[GPDP]

This means Palestinians and Arabs are up for some rough times ahead. I wonder what has caused the Israeli electorate to act in this manner.

[Revulero]

Both canidates are reactionary bigot scum. I read somewhere that Livni will most likely make Likud's Netanyahu her defense minister. The only thing to expect from this election is more suffering for the Palestinian people. :(

[Comrade B]

Israel is brewing up a genocide.
Someone is going to do something radically evil soon. When such crazies begin to realize their views are popular, they become bigger crazies, as to see just how far the limits of their crazy can be brought.

[il Commie]

Israeli elections results, after 99% of the votes were counted:

Knesset (israeli parliament): 120 seats

Kadima (center): 28
Likud (right): 27
Yisrael Beytenu (secular extreme right): 15
Avoda (Labor): 13
Shas (spharadic orthodoxs): 11
Yahadut Hatora (ashkenazi orthodoxs): 5
Ra'am-Ta'al (religious muslims): 4
Ha'ikhud Haleumi (religios extreme right): 4
Hadash (communists & radical left): 4
Meretz (zionist liberals): 3
Habayit Hayehudi (religios right): 3
Balad (arab liberals): 3

Although nobody knows yet who is our new prime minister, it's obvious that this is a victory for the right. Hadash has grown since previous elections, and we have more voters and activists than we ever had since the 80's. Yet the israeli public is generaly more rightist, for several reasons:

1) Livni (Kadima) has presented herself as the only way to stop Netanyahu (Likud), which attracted many left wing voters to give her their votes, even though they don't agree with her.

2) Gaza war, and the way it was discussed in the israeli media, caused and explosion of racism against arabs. This is the reason Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) got so many votes.

3) Kadima-Labor goverment generally failed. They got us into 2 wars, destroyed the welfare state and were very corrupted. Many israelis wanted to throw the corrupted goverment away, and voting for the right was an act of protest for them.

4) There were 4 green parties in this elections. They were not elected, but many leftists wasted their vote on them.

The face of israeli politics does not look good today. But this picture is not as worse as the polls predicted, so I am optimistic. I hope all the left will be in the opposition from this day forward, and that Hadash will join as many struggles as we can, in order to form a strong leftist alternative. May be some day we will lead this nation to peace.

[scarletghoul]

Wow, what a disappointment. Ah well. At least there is a radical left party with some success.

[Rjevan]

An expected but very disappointing and dangerous development. I can see a hard time lying ahead of the Palestinian people. :(

[Tzonteyotl]

With so many right/extreme-right members, and a center that's hardly better, what exactly can the Hadash pull off through their involvement in the knesset?


1) Livni (Kadima) has presented herself as the only way to stop Netanyahu (Likud), which attracted many left wing voters to give her their votes, even though they don't agree with her.

2) Gaza war, and the way it was discussed in the israeli media, caused and explosion of racism against arabs. This is the reason Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) got so many votes.

3) Kadima-Labor goverment generally failed. They got us into 2 wars, destroyed the welfare state and were very corrupted. Many israelis wanted to throw the corrupted goverment away, and voting for the right was an act of protest for them.

4) There were 4 green parties in this elections. They were not elected, but many leftists wasted their vote on them.Quite depressing. Number three in particular; definitely not the kind of protest we need to have happening. Especially on the heels of such an atrocity as the recent attack on Gaza.


But this picture is not as worse as the polls predicted, so I am optimistic. I hope all the left will be in the opposition from this day forward, and that Hadash will join as many struggles as we can, in order to form a strong leftist alternative. May be some day we will lead this nation to peace.I hope so.

[Yehuda Stern]

The brutal war on Gaza sent the majority of Jews and Palestinians in two opposite directions - the majority of Jews to the radical right, and the majority of Palestinians and some left-wing Jews to an anti-Israeli position. The task of revolutionaries in Israel is to recruit from among the workers moving in this direction, and show them that the only way to free Palestine is through a working class revolution, not by participation in the racist Knesset elections. In fact, all participation in these elections probably does is help Israel get some credit with its 'liberal' European and American supporters.

As for Hadash, it is not a radical left party. It is a reformist party which supports Israel, Zionism and the two-state solution.

[Crux]

The brutal war on Gaza sent the majority of Jews and Palestinians in two opposite directions - the majority of Jews to the radical right, and the majority of Palestinians and some left-wing Jews to an anti-Israeli position. The task of revolutionaries in Israel is to recruit from among the workers moving in this direction, and show them that the only way to free Palestine is through a working class revolution, not by participation in the racist Knesset elections. In fact, all participation in these elections probably does is help Israel get some credit with its 'liberal' European and American supporters.

As for Hadash, it is not a radical left party. It is a reformist party which supports Israel, Zionism and the two-state solution.
Hadash, while I would agree about the reformist part, is hardly "zionist".

[Yehuda Stern]

I never said Hadash is Zionist, I said it supports Zionism, something which should be quite clear to any left-winger. However, Hadash does have a Zionist wing, represented by Gozansky and Makhoul, which is often at odds with the more liberal nationalist wing represented by Barakeh.

[Coggeh]

I don't think their is another person right now I hate more than Tzipi Livni , though apparently she's a vegetarian .. aww .... she values the life of a cow more than a Palestinian kid ... Lovely .

[jake williams]

The only thing that's irksome about the coverage is that I haven't heard anyone mention that Livni is an "ex"-Likudnik anyway.

[Jamal]

I don't think their is another person right now I hate more than Tzipi Livni , though apparently she's a vegetarian .. aww .... she values the life of a cow more than a Palestinian kid ... Lovely

hahahahahaha
good one :P

[Jay Rothermel]

Is there a Zionist movement today?

Below is an article from the latest issue of the _Militant_. It contains some interesting comments on Zionism, and I wonder what your thoughts on them might be. I have been thinking about the thesis expressed here for several days, and would be interested in the thoughts of others who are activists opposed to Israeli rule.

Here are the pertinent paragraphs:

"....Democratic, secular Palestine *
The CL leader explained how the perspective of struggle for a democratic and secular Palestine, uniting workers and other toilers, both Jewish and Arab, in a common revolutionary struggle—within Israel as well as the Palestinian territories and across the region—is more decisive and gains more of a hearing today.

“Class-conscious workers should drop the term Zionism,” in the current context, Sandler added. “There is no Zionist movement today. The reality is, it has become an epithet, not a scientific description; a synonym for ‘Jew’ that helps fuel Jew-hatred, which will rise as the capitalist crisis deepens.”"

Below you will find the entire article.

http://www.themilitant.com/2009/7308/730857.html (http://www.themilitant.com/2009/7308/730857.html)

*‘Working people need to see our self-worth’
*UK conference discusses impact of capitalist
crisis, transformation of working class

*BY ÖGMUNDUR JÓNSSON *
LONDON—“For people in this room, born and bred in the UK, we are, for the first time, living through years when building toward proletarian revolution is a question of practical politics,” said Jonathan Silberman, the main speaker at a January 31 meeting here entitled “World Capitalist Crisis Has Barely Begun! … and Workers’ Fight to End the Wages System Is Posed.”

Speaking on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist League (CL) in the United Kingdom, Silberman explained, “Proletarian revolution is about the political conditions and struggles that lead toward the revolutionary transformation of the proletariat… . Today the biggest obstacle working people have is not recognizing our own self-worth—understanding that we’re capable of taking political power and organizing society anew.”

Fifty-five people attended the meeting, sponsored by the CL and the Young Socialists. It was the centerpiece of a weekend of political activity drawing participants from London, Edinburgh, and elsewhere in the United Kingdom, as well as from Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States.

The following day, young socialists and contacts of the communist movement here met to continue the political discussion.

Organized supporters of the communist movement also reviewed their recent accomplishments in helping step up production of Pathfinder books as part of their work in the Printing Project. These supporters also discussed their work to place Pathfinder books in shops and libraries and to help finance the communist movement.

In the afternoon, communist workers attended two workshops to enhance the skills they need to hold jobs in the meat and garment industries and be part of developing working-class resistance.

*Communist response to crisis *
“Communist propaganda is extremely important today. We can be more bold in presenting a revolutionary perspective than has been open to us for decades,” said Norton Sandler, a member of the Socialist Workers Party National Committee in the United States, at the meeting.

Commenting on the inauguration of Barack Obama as U.S. president, Sandler said, “There will be no equality of sacrifice,” as Obama claimed in his inauguration speech. “Those who are today bearing the brunt of the crisis in the U.S. will continue to do so, except our conditions will worsen,” he said.

The rulers will eventually attempt to resolve this crisis the way they always have in the imperialist epoch,” Sandler said, “through massive military spending.”

The meeting celebrated the publication of two new Pathfinder titles: an expanded edition of /Is Socialist Revolution in the U.S. Possible?/ by Mary-Alice Waters and /Capitalism and the Transformation of Africa: Reports from Equatorial Guinea/ by Waters and Martín Koppel. It was also a send-off for volunteers in the Pathfinder team at the Havana International Book Fair February 12-22. One of those is Andrés Mendoza, a meat worker and member of the Young Socialists in London.

Mendoza reported that Pathfinder would be presenting a broad range of titles, both at the book fair and other events, working with Cuban trade unionists, academics, and youth leaders.

*Oppose reactionary strikes *
“Communist workers oppose the reactionary, anti-foreign worker strikes and protests that have been taking place in the UK in recent days,” Silberman said. He was referring to actions calling for “British Jobs for British Workers” which began January 28 at the Total oil refinery in Lindsey, Lincolnshire, in northern England.

Even as the “union bureaucracy is doing its best to dampen mass resistance,” Silberman said, “struggles will break out.” The more than 200 workers occupying Waterford Crystal’s factory in Ireland after 480 job cuts were announced “is a glimpse of the future in the present,” he said.

“The working class here—as it is throughout the world—is being strengthened by mass immigration,” Silberman stressed. Given the international character of both the working class and the capitalist crisis, Silberman pointed out, there is a “convergence of experience which lays the foundation for proletarian internationalism practiced by millions. Isn’t it easier after the collapse in Iceland for workers in the Philippines and Thailand—where many of the immigrant workers in Iceland come from—to see workers there as their brothers?”

*Democratic, secular Palestine *
The CL leader explained how the perspective of struggle for a democratic and secular Palestine, uniting workers and other toilers, both Jewish and Arab, in a common revolutionary struggle—within Israel as well as the Palestinian territories and across the region—is more decisive and gains more of a hearing today.

“Class-conscious workers should drop the term Zionism,” in the current context, Sandler added. “There is no Zionist movement today. The reality is, it has become an epithet, not a scientific description; a synonym for ‘Jew’ that helps fuel Jew-hatred, which will rise as the capitalist crisis deepens.”

The meeting was held in a bright attractive hall, a short walk from the Communist League and Young Socialists headquarters in London. Participants enjoyed a fine catered dinner where the political discussion was continued in a relaxed atmosphere.

A fund appeal netted a total of £1,160 ($1,680) in donations and pledges, which will be added to some £4,000 ($5,800) already raised for a Party Building Fund. This fund will help the CL respond to political openings and developments in the world.

[Yehuda Stern]

Oh, there's no Zionist movement today? Then who's expropriating and murdering Palestinians today? Is dropping the term 'Zionist' really motivated by not wanting to sound anti-Semitic, or is it motivated by wanting to make nice with Zionist workers, who might be offended if their state's right to ethnically cleanse the native people of the land is challenged?