Opinion Editorials, November 2010

How the Middle East's So-Called "Only Democracy” Crushes Dissent

By Tammy Obeidallah

Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, November 22, 2010

Ever since becoming an activist on behalf of Palestine some ten years ago, I have found ironic humor in the so-called label of “The Middle East’s Only Democracy,” used by American policymakers and media in describing the Zionist Jewish State of Israel. This statement is erroneous on two counts. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of a democracy knows that Israelis overwhelmingly shun the values associated with such a system; furthermore quite a few countries in the Middle East hold elections regularly. Most recently, Jordan elected a new parliament

Of course there are those who argue that a democracy simply means “majority rule,” or that government leaders are elected, so technically Israel would qualify. “Democracy” is defined by www.thefreedictionary.com, “government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.”  So in the purely political sense, as Israeli leaders are elected, they have democracy. However, the fifth definition of democracy reads “the principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community,” a concept diametrically opposed to Israel’s inherently racist establishment.

Not only is Israel content merely to expand settlements on stolen land and deny Arab citizens the basic rights of religious freedom, education, health care and mobility, any form of dissent is quashed. Arab Israeli Knesset member Haneen Zoabi was stripped of her parliamentary privileges for participating in the Gaza freedom flotilla. In addition to receiving numerous death threats, Zoabi was recently shot in the back and neck with rubber bullets during a protest against a march by militant settlers in the town of Umm al-Fahm. Under Zionism, there is no such thing as freedom of assembly or free speech.

Take for instance a recent haiku contest on Facebook sponsored by El Al Airlines. Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry requiring three non-rhyming lines:  the first and third line consisting of five syllables, the second line containing seven. I swallowed my pride and became a fan of the page; the possible temporary damage to my reputation seemed well worth it when considering the unwitting audience I would have. However, shortly after I began posting the haiku, a chorus of “she has to be banned” ensued.

I found out that indeed, I had been blocked from posting comments on the site after an hour or so. The El Al fan page administrator deleted all my haiku. I should not have been surprised.

This is the modus operandi of the Zionist machine. Dissent is not tolerated and must be completely obliterated, as in the case of Congressmen and women who dare try and stand up to it:  Paul Findley (re-districted out), Cynthia McKinney (trumped up charge assaulting a guard who was harassing her; victim of a smear campaign and voted out), Dennis Kucinich (marginalized and belittled), Jim Traficant (jailed). Prominent figures in the media are silenced, most recently the legendary Helen Thomas and Rick Sanchez, formerly of CNN. Numerous Israeli youth sit in jails for refusing to military duty in the West Bank. The most sinister, however is the way activists Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall, Furkan Dogan and 8 other flotilla participants were silenced, along with the untold thousands of Palestinians who have been murdered since 1948 for the “crime” of resisting occupation or while merely trying to live out their daily lives in their homeland.

Yet the legacies of these brave individuals continue, and to honor them, I put forth the haiku again in a place where the hasbara machine cannot penetrate.

Ignorant tourists:
Celebrate sixty-plus years
Of ethnic cleansing.
 
Bustling Tel Aviv
Welcoming occupiers
Atop Lydda's graves.
 
Stealing Holy Land
As amid scorched olive trees
More settlements rise.
 
Arrogant squatters
Frolic on stolen beaches
Kids in Gaza die.
 
El Al transporting
Still more and more invaders
to dear Palestine.
 
Flight attendants' thobes
Food service is falafel
Theft of a culture.
 
Big jet engines scream
Not unlike those that have rained
Hell upon Gaza.
 
And then there was my daughter’s contribution:
El Al carrying
"Israeli" stowaways to
Steal from Palestine 
 
El Al's jet engines
Cannot drown out the screams of
White phosphorus wounds.
 
Airline of the blind
You see touristy mudbaths
Not Gaza's bloodbath.
 

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