- #1
damgo
[SOLVED] What's wrong in Israel...
The role of the far right in Israel came up in an earlier thread, and I just saw this related bit in the news -- I think it's fairly illustrative.
The Israeli Tourism Minister, Benny Elon, is in Washington this week opposing the roadmap. His preferred plan is for Israel to annex the West Bank and Gaza Strip and "transfer" the Palestinians to Jordan. "Transfer" is the far right's preferred euphemism for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians via forcible expulsion, otherwise known as "genocide."
Now, this is not Sharon's position; it is rather a deliberate attempt to undermine it. And no one in the upper echelons of the Bush administration is giving Elon the time of day. But the point is, despite the admirable fact that the Israeli government is not letting these wackos dictate major policy, there are a significant number of them in Israel, with a bunch of Knesset seats and even Cabinet-level positions. While they don't get their say on serious issues, they do wield disproportionate influence on less visible ones, like settlement funding for example, which can have a significant effect over the long run.
I'm not sure what my point is exactly, I suppose I just think these are important things for those who are quick to blame one "side" or the other for a complex conflict to think about.
This is a really good background article, below.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/p...2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/p...2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=42869
The role of the far right in Israel came up in an earlier thread, and I just saw this related bit in the news -- I think it's fairly illustrative.
The Israeli Tourism Minister, Benny Elon, is in Washington this week opposing the roadmap. His preferred plan is for Israel to annex the West Bank and Gaza Strip and "transfer" the Palestinians to Jordan. "Transfer" is the far right's preferred euphemism for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians via forcible expulsion, otherwise known as "genocide."
Now, this is not Sharon's position; it is rather a deliberate attempt to undermine it. And no one in the upper echelons of the Bush administration is giving Elon the time of day. But the point is, despite the admirable fact that the Israeli government is not letting these wackos dictate major policy, there are a significant number of them in Israel, with a bunch of Knesset seats and even Cabinet-level positions. While they don't get their say on serious issues, they do wield disproportionate influence on less visible ones, like settlement funding for example, which can have a significant effect over the long run.
I'm not sure what my point is exactly, I suppose I just think these are important things for those who are quick to blame one "side" or the other for a complex conflict to think about.
This is a really good background article, below.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/p...2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/p...2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=42869