Here is first of all a historic brief reminder :
1896 >> Theodor Herzl proposed a solution aimed at bringing an end to the antisemitism which had been going on for centuries in Europe & Russia : a lot of discriminations, humiliations, murders and pogroms.
The essay he wrote was called ‘’Der Judenstaat’’’ which means « The State for the Jews » = a Democratic Refuge State for the Jews from all over the world, a Jewish homeland for the Jewish People. He initially did not think of Palestine.
Herzl did not call his essay ‘’Der Jüdische Staat’’ (The Jewish State) which would imply a religious state (a religious State cannot be democratic).
Theodor Herzl was not a religious person. We also understand it when we read his essay.
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1917 >> The Balfour Declaration said : « (…) it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine (…) »
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1947 >> The United Nations Resolution. As regards the State of Israel, the U.N. resolution delivered the Democratic Refuge State proposed by Theodor Herzl.
Extracts from the N°181 (II) ‘’ Future Government of Palestine’’ resolution :
« The Constituent Assembly of each State shall draft a democratic constitution for its State (…) »
« The constitutions of the States shall embody chapters 1 and 2 of the Declaration provided for in section C below and include inter alia provisions for:
(…)
(d) Guaranteeing to all persons equal and nondiscriminatory rights in civil, political, economic and religious matters and the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion, language, speech and publication, education, assembly and association; (…) »
« The stipulations contained in the declaration are recognized as fundamental laws of the State and no law, regulation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations, nor shall any law, regulation or official action prevall over them. »
« No discrimination of any kind shall be made between the inhabitants on the ground of race, religion, language or sex. All persons within the jurisdiction of the State shall be entitled to equal protection of the laws. »
« The State shall ensure adequate primary and secondary education for the Arab and Jewish minority, respectively, in its own language and its cultural traditions. »
« No expropriation of land owned by an Arab in the Jewish State (by a Jew in the Arab State) shall be allowed except for public purposes. In aIl cases of expropriation full compensation as fixed by the Supreme Court shall be paid previous to dispossession. »
I support my title « A dummy democratic state » with a Communication prepared by Adalah (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel ) (<adalah@adalah.org>) :
« Israel’s new discriminatory & anti-democratic legislation »
« This short report collects newly-enacted Israeli laws and pending bills in 2016 and 2017 that contain discriminatory and/or anti-democratic provisions which are liable to violate the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians living in the 1967 Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), as well as impose restrictions on those who seek to defend them. »
« (These Laws & pending bills) undermine the most basic legal protections, rights and freedoms, including the rights to land, housing, and property ownership, and the rights to vote and stand for election; and the rights to freedom of political expression and association. While the discrimination inherent in some of these laws is clear and explicit, other legislation has been drafted using neutral language in order to obscure the discriminatory intentions of its drafters, but stands to have a disparate impact on Palestinians. »
« These laws, which undermine the most basic legal protections, rights and freedoms, include the law banning BDS supporters from entering Israel, the NGO “Foreign Funding” Law, and the “Anti-Terror” Law. The report also includes examples of an alarming wave of bills that aim to annex settlements in East Jerusalem and the wider West Bank to Israel, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. »
« These bills are being promoted alongside other discriminatory and antidemocratic bills, such as the Basic Law: Jewish Nation State Bill, which denies Palestinians in Israel the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel, by explicitly limiting that right to the Jewish people, and demotes the official status of the Arabic language in Israel. Members of the current Knesset have produced a plethora of discriminatory and anti-democratic bills, and the sample below is indicative rather than exhaustive of new legislation covering three main themes: (1) land use and ownership; (2) freedom of opinion, speech and association; and (3) civil and political rights. »
Here is the link to the « short report » :
Democracy, International Law & Human Rights must prevail !
Or maybe not ? Maybe ourselves & our friends are exempted ?
