In letters to senior EU officials, including foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the 15 Joint List MKs wrote that “the traditional approach based on providing incentives to Israel has thus far failed to achieve our shared legitimate positions.” According to Hadash MK Youssef Jabareen, “We requested that top EU officials act to prevent annexation including re-evaluating the EU-Israel partnership agreement, recognizing a Palestinian state according to the ’67 borders and labeling goods from the occupied Palestinian territories. Palestinians deserve independence and freedom.”
Archiv: the Israeli Left
Palestinian-Israeli Joint List urges US Democrats to stop annexation
(25.06.2020)
So far, the party has only verbally denounced Israel’s plans. The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has categorically ruled out setting conditions on US aid to Israel.
In the Senate, a letter warning that annexation would „erode the strong support among the American people for the special relationship and diplomatic partnership with the United States that Israel currently enjoys“ only gained the support of 21 legislators.
‚Israel Has Been Seized by a Crime Organization‘: Meet the Activists Leading the Charge Against Netanyahu’s Rule
Some are veteran protesters, some are newcomers, but all of them agree that the younger generation – that they say takes no interest in politics – must be enlisted to bring about change
15 members of the Israeli Knesset’s Joint List sent a letter to Democrats, calling on them to oppose annexation: „Democrats have a decision to make. Will they keep wringing their hands and expressing ‘concern,’ or are they going to do something about it?“
Coronavirus Israel Live: Public Gatherings Capped Amid Fears of Second Wave
Palestinian Authority to lock down all areas with confirmed cases
Joint List MKs to Democrats in the US Congress: Stop the Annexation
Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List), who initiated the letter, said about the appeal to Congress: “The annexation and the occupation are international issues. The US administration constantly intervenes in the region and gives backing to the oppression of Palestinians. The administration can give the green light or put the brakes on annexation. Therefore, we have asked members of the Democratic Party, who might assume power soon, to express their clear objection to Israel’s annexation plans, to denounce the entire Trump plan, and to clarify that, if such plans are implemented, future administrations will not recognize their legitimacy. Annexation is illegal according to international law and is a crime against the Palestinian people. The entire international community must stand against it.”
Palestinian Members of Israeli Parliament Call on Democrats to Oppose Annexation
House Democrats are currently circulating a letter opposing annexation, but its wording is based around concerns for Israel’s security and there’s no mention of holding the country accountable for any of its actions towards Palestinians. A letter developed by Senate Democrats earlier this year implied that the United States/Israel relationship could be threatened by annexation, but any mention of this possibility was quickly removed.
This letter was sent to democratic members of US congress. The Joint List calls on Democrats to state loudly and clearly that they oppose Israel’s illegitimate annexation plans and the occupation.
(26.06.2020)
‚He’s Disabled,‘ the Caregiver Screamed. ‚I’m With Her,‘ Eyad Cried. The Cop Opened Fire Anyway
Eyad Hallaq was shot to death in a roofless garbage room. According to the testimony of his caregiver, who was by his side and tried to protect him, he was executed. For long minutes she stood next to him and pleaded for his life, trying to explain to the police officers, in Hebrew and in Arabic, that he suffered from a disability. They shot him three times from close range with a rifle, directly into the center of his body, as he lay on his back, wounded and terrified, on the floor of the room.
Israeli Leftists, Apologizing for Your Beliefs Won’t Spare You. Get Off the Defensive
Even if you say “Jewish left” instead of “Israeli left” because it sounds more patriotic, they’ll always have another loyalty test on the way. Because groveling, stammering and apologizing for what you believe in won’t spare you.
The right is ready to go on television, on radio, online, wherever necessary, to defend an apartheid plan, to defend billions being spent at a time of deep recession and to defend a corrupt prime minister. They’re ready to defend the most galling things, and you’re not ready to defend the truth? Try it sometime. Believe me, it’s easier.
How Bernie Sanders Came to Address an Anti-annexation Rally in Tel Aviv
Odeh and Sanders first met in February 2017, when the Odeh visited Washington to attend that year’s J Street conference.
Israeli Left’s Show of Strength Highlights Weakness of Anti-annexation Protest
One can argue about whether the disparate 100-year history of confrontation and occupation between Israelis and Palestinians totally negates parallels to white America’s 400 years of African American subjugation and discrimination. But one glaring gap is undeniable: The majority of U.S. public opinion now acknowledges the legitimacy of black grievances, while the majority of Israelis ‒ including most of the Jewish center-left ‒ continues to view Palestinians, at least those beyond the former Green Line, as a mortal enemy bent on their country’s destruction
‚We Are at a Crossroads‘: Thousands Protest West Bank Annexation in Tel Aviv
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressed the rally via video conference, expressing his support for the protesters and condemnation of Israel’s annexation plans. The senator said that he was “heartened” to see Arabs and Jews demonstrating together.
After Losing Hope for Change, Top Left-wing Activists and Scholars Leave Israel Behind
They founded anti-occupation movements and fought for the soul of Israeli society, but ultimately decided to emigrate. The new exiles tell Haaretz how they were harassed and silenced, until they had almost no choice but to leave
Despite Despair, Israel’s Left Must Pick Up and Move On
The left put former generals at its helm and failed (they joined the right), as well as civilian personalities, who also failed to deliver the goods. It tried a decentralized model, with Labor and Meretz running separately, and hit a wall. It learned its lesson and ran as a united front of multiple parties (Labor and Meretz, Kahol Lavan), also meeting no success. It flirted with a post-Zionist concept and a state of all its citizens (Meretz) or, alternatively, highlighting its Zionist image (the Zionist Union), failing both times in garnering public support. …
Rallies against the Far-Right Gov’t Follow May Day Events Nationwide
Thousands of workers, unemployed, self-employed and small business owners took part in demonstrations throughout the country Saturday night, May 2, against the economic and social policy of the far-right government, while demanding support in the wake of the economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Saturday night, rallies were held in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Eilat, Kiryat Shmone and Kufr Qassim, with demonstrators condemning as woefully inadequate the government’s limited economic support by means of unemployment stipends and grants.
Tel Aviv: Thousands of Israelis Protest to Safeguard Democracy Amid COVID19 Crisis
Owen Alterman reports from a ‚Black Flag‘ protest in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, where Israelis are protesting against Benjamin Netanyahu.
הפגנת הדגלים השחורים להצלת הדמוקרטיה – הערב בכיכר הבימה – מבט על וידאו:
(16.04.2020)
Israelis demonstrating under corona restrictions in Tel Aviv. The black flag demonstration to save democracy.
Israelis demonstrate over ‚loss of democracy‘ during pandemic crisis
Some thousands of Israelis participated on Thursday night in a Tel Aviv demonstration against the interim government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the “loss of democracy.”
Israeli Labor Party Leader Mulls Joining Netanyahu Government
Peretz’s decision to join the government does not dramatically alter the political balance, as there are only three Labor lawmakers in the new Knesset, and one of them, Merav Michaeli, might decide to defect to Meretz, which sits further left on the political specturm, if Labor joins Netanyahu.
The Joint List in a gesture towards Gantz: MK @AidaTuma says „I think there’s no need for a law of return. Whoever [Palestinian Arab citizens] wanted to return are already here.“ #boom
#BOOM: Gantz in message to Ayman Odeh: „We would never dare to say that the votes of 20% of Israeli citizens are worth less.“ The Joint List chairman has demanded Gantz retract his statement, copied from Netanyahu, about forming a government with a majority.
Israel Election Results: Gantz Vows to Form a Government, Says Voters ‚Want an End to Netanyahu’s Rule‘
Joint List MK and Balad Chairman Mtanes Shehadeh said Saturday following Gantz and Netenyahu’s statements that „the arab community has spoken, they want a change in their position and aim for an end to discrimination and racism. Netanyahu would die to disqualify them but could not, and Gantz would have liked to ignore them but he couldn’t.“
Refugees From the Zionist Left: How the Jewish Vote for Arab Party Spiked in Israel’s Election
Meital, 31, also from Tel Aviv, had been a lifelong Likud voter. But this week, she voted for the Joint List. “I voted Likud thinking that [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is a leader with experience who can be relied on. I didn’t see anyone who could replace him,” she says. “But recently I started thinking about it differently – not to vote according to the question of who would be prime minister, but who would best reflect my values and my desire for a more tolerant society.”
Palestinian voters are the new power brokers in Israel, much to Netanyahu’s chagrin
Will the Blue and White opposition abandon this racist logic of a “Jewish majority”, and form an alliance with the Joint List in order to oust Netanyahu? This remains to be seen. The stakes could not be higher, not only for Netanyahu personally, but for Israel’s future: whether it will continue its slide towards a “democracy” for Jews only, or instead choose a path that could lead to meaningful equal citizenship and democracy.
Israel Election: Arab Alliance Eyes Record Gains in Seats and Female Lawmakers
Two women occupy the 14th and 15th spots: Sundus Saleh and Iman Khatib, from the Ta’al and Ra’am factions respectively.
Disillusioned and Angry, These Israeli Jews Plan to Vote for Arab Party
Ravid and Yavin are among a growing number of Israeli Jews, longtime supporters of Zionist parties such as Labor and Meretz, who plan to break rank and, for the first time in their lives, vote for an Arab or mainly Arab list in the next election. In the past, Arab parties could count on Jewish voters to hand them the equivalent of a single Knesset seat. According to various internal polls that were shared with Haaretz, on March 2 the Joint List could win as many as two seats thanks to disillusioned and angry left-wing Jewish voters.
Arabs of Israel: Enough Begging
Only a major and impressive show of force by Israel’s Arabs will persuade Israel’s Jews that they have no choice but to partner with you. Only a show of force in the election will overcome Zionism. Only a show of force will stop racism. The ball is in your court, Arabs of Israel, at the polling stations between Tarshiha and Hura.
בצלם עם פרסום תוכנית טראמפ: לא שלום – אפרטהייד
תוכנית הממשל האמריקאי הממותגת כ“דיל המאה“ היא גבינה שוויצרית במסגרתה מציע הנשיא טראמפ להעניק לישראלים את הגבינה ולפלסטינים את החורים. ישנן דרכים רבות לסיים את הכיבוש, אבל האפשרויות הלגיטימיות היחידות הן אלו המבוססות על שוויון וזכויות אדם לכולם. לכן, התוכנית הנוכחית – שמכשירה, מקבעת ואף מרחיבה את היקף הפרות זכויות האדם שביצעה ישראל ב-52 השנים האחרונות – אינה חלופה מתקבלת על הדעת.
B’Tselem on President Trump’s „peace“ plan: not peace, Apartheid
The American administration’s plan branded as the “Deal of the Century” is more like Swiss cheese, with the cheese being offered to the Israelis and the holes to the Palestinians. There are many ways to end the occupation, but the only legitimate options are those based on equality and human rights for all. This is why the current plan which legitimizes, entrenches and even expands the scope of Israel’s human rights abuses, perpetuated now for over 52 years, is utterly unacceptable.
Israeli human rights group @btselem describes the Trump administration plan as „apartheid“, rather than „peace“. „The Trump plan drains the principles of international law of any meaning and completely neuters the concept of accountability for breaching them.“
CPI Rejects Any Imperialistic Steps by US Violating International Law
The CPI observed that “The true ‘Deal of the Century’ is a prime minister accused of corruption and a president under an impeachment trial attempting to save each other through a dangerous political maneuver that will set military rule over the Palestinian people in the occupied territories for generations.” The CPI reiterated its consistent and well-known position that “Only recognition of a Palestinian state, its people and its borders, and the end of the occupation is a long-overdue international obligation and a positive step towards peace. All states must now formally recognize a sustainable Palestinian state being established contiguous with the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, demanding the end of the settlements policy and a just resolution of the Palestinian refugee question.”
The Zionist Left Has Paved the Way to the Rise of the Extreme Right
“The disappearance of Labor and Meretz would mean the elimination of the only alternative on the left side of the political map,” writes my contemporary Uzi Baram (“Don’t be so quick to toss out the Zionist left,” Haaretz, January 20). And I ask him: Where were you and your friends during all those years when your camp held power in the country and paved the way for the extreme right that holds power today? They are only continuing the path you began, and doing so openly and also openly saying: “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us.” But you did and you lied, you did and you deceived.
Ayman Odeh, the Israeli Left’s Natural Leader
Now that Meretz and Labor have banded together and don’t face any real danger, Odeh wants to take a small bite out of its electorate, not to swallow them, just a little bite to complete a 15-seat slate and carry out his vision to define the Joint List as the real social-political left.
And he’s doing so the same way left-wing leaders have worked through the generations, using the right quote and the right moment, and from the right poem.
For Israel’s Left, Jewish-Arab Partnership ‚Unwanted,‘ Activists Charge After Merger
In contrast, the Joint List of Arab-majority parties did not conceal its satisfaction over the move. They sent their blessing to Meretz and Labor over the union, taking into account Israel’s larger political context, but also for probably boosting participation in the Arab electorate. “Members of the Zionist left who believe in Jewish-Arab partnership and in social justice are welcome to join the Joint List,” said Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman.
Barak: Leaving Shaffir out is a ’serious mistake‘
Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday welcomed the expected union between the Labor and Meretz parties, but expressed concern over the fact that Green Movement chairwoman Stav Shaffir was left out of the alliance.
Israel’s two historic left-wing parties announce merger
Leaders of the Labor-Gesher and Meretz parties, Amir Peretz and Nitzan Horowitz, stood alongside each other as they announced their merger at a press conference held in Beit Sokolov in Tel Aviv on Monday evening.
“If you want to vote Right you can vote for Likud or Blue and White,” Horowitz said in a tongue-in-cheek manner, placing Benny Gantz’s alliance together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing base.
Israel’s Left Is Acting Like It Really Doesn’t Want Any Votes
It seems as if our leftist politicians have simply given up all hope, or pretense, of getting their act together.
Now they are looking to Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz, hoping he will be so kind as to stick his hand into the wading pool in which they are drowning, pull them out and sit them down nicely one next to the other.
Despite Doubts, Israeli Left-wing Parties Due to Discuss Election Merger
Israeli Labor and Meretz parties are expected to discuss the possibility of running together in the upcoming Knesset election, say sources familiar with talks between the two parties.
Negotiating teams on their behalf – or the two leaders themselves – are expected to meet in the next few days, in advance of the deadline for formal submission of party slates to the Central Elections Committee, in nine days‘ time.
Israelis Hailing Trump for Killing Soleimani Forget the Destructive Consequences of Past Assassinations
The killing of Ayyash enraged Palestinians and pushed Hamas to carry out four suicide bombings within eight days, in which 59 Israelis were killed. The shock and fear that gripped Israeli public opinion turned Peres from valiant hero to impotent loser paved the way for Benjamin Netanyahu’s sensational victory in the May 1996 elections – and changed Israel forever.
Labor, Meretz, Come Down to Earth
Meretz is even more vulnerable in the polls and is liable to pay the price. That’s why Peretz has allowed himself to stand on the sidelines and insist on realizing his dream. And therefore, he is the one who must pay the price for this reckless gamble.
The Left Must Unite Now
The danger is clear and present. If either Labor or Meretz (in its present wrapping as the Democratic Union) do not make it into the next Knesset, the right will enjoy a crushing victory, with Netanyahu forming a coalition that will grant him immunity from facing trial while destroying the judicial system and annexing the West Bank.
The results of the last two elections, as well as recent opinion polls, show that these two parties, especially Meretz, face the risk of collapsing.
The Israeli Center-left Must Open Its Eyes
The leader, who has been indicted for bribery, is hysterically yet soberly and determinedly pulling out all the stops to save himself from having to face justice. In so doing, he continues endlessly to incite, to divide, to threaten to take credit for others’ achievements and to lie. He and his family are prepared to burn down the house, and with it the norms of public life in Israel. A century ago, the Irish poet W. B. Yeats bewailed the blindness of leaders who brought on the apocalypse of World War I:
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
Sounds familiar?
Israeli Patriots and Justice Seekers Should Look to the Hague With Hope
Israel has done everything to reach The Hague. That’s what happens when the prosecution is a cemetery for war crimes, the High Court whitewashes them and the media hides them and covers for them. That’s the way it is when international law is disparaged for decades. There’s probably no other country that thumbs its nose at international law this way and pays no price for it. Perhaps now the moment of truth is approaching, the moment of penalty. It will be very good for Israel. It might clean out its stables, stained with blood and stolen land. Every Israeli patriot and seeker of justice should now look to The Hague with hope.
Third Israeli Election in 11 months; Joint List Aiming to Win 15 Seats
Joint List chairman, MK Odeh (Hadash) said that the four parties comprising the list will remain united in the upcoming March 2020 election. “We played an important role in preventing Netanyahu from forming a government and in averting his receiving immunity. We have made it half way there. Now we have another election. We promise our public to stay united as the Joint List,” Odeh says in a statement.
“The upcoming election will be the swan song of the indicted resident of Balfour Street,” added Odeh on Twitter, referring to the prime minister, whose residence is on Balfour Street in Jerusalem. “We will conclude them with an historic achievement of 15 seats,” he said.
Israel’s Left-wing Meretz Party to Keep Chairman, Mulls Future of Merger
“Politicians who continue to behave like politicos who try all day long to disband camps and to make deals in closed rooms won’t receive a mandate from the public. That’s the reason why the left was weakened in the past and those are the people who threaten to finish it off.” She went on to say, “Our public deserves to decide in a quick and open primary who will represent it in the Knesset. We established the Democratic Camp and we deserve a democratic leadership like that all over the world.”
Israel’s Left Has Forgotten What It Means to Be Leftist
Belonging to the left means holding a wide-ranging worldview, based on the belief that all humans are born equal, worthy of equal and fair treatment. This is why the left fights for weaker segments of society, for laborers and for migrants. This is why a true left must fight for people who are living under an occupation that deprives them of the most fundamental rights while preventing them from fulfilling their national aspirations of living in a state of their own, alongside Israel.
Arab Joint List Welcomes Election, Center-left Alliance Fears Failure as Parties Prepare for Third Round
The Joint List, the Arab alliance of four parties, emerged as the third-largest party after the September election. It remains optimistic ahead of the March 2 ballot, and its members hope to gain somewhere between 15 to 16 seats in the Knesset – three more than they had garnered in the previous election. Part of their strategy to achieve this increase in votes is to turn directly to potential Jewish voters.
Poll: Joint List Would Remain 3rd Largest Faction in the 23rd Knesset
According to the poll, if elections were held today, Blue & White would lead the field winning 34 seats in the 120 Knesset, with the Likud just behind it with 33 seats. These poll results gives each of the two large parties one more seat than they respectively won in the September election. According to the poll, the Joint List will remain the third largest parliamentary faction in the Knesset with 13 seats (its current representation), while Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu will also retains its present strength, 8 seats.
Arab party reconsiders support of Gantz over Jordan Valley annexation
Jabareen added that if that is the case, Gantz and his faction will not be able to count on the support of the Joint List — an option seriously discussed following the September elections. “There was talk all along the way of our external support to enable the formation of a different kind of government, but this will not happen given the annexation intention and masquerading as Likud II,” Jabareen said.
He reminded us that the Joint List — the Knesset’s third-largest faction — wields significant power both in the domestic political arena and in the international one.
Netanyahu’s End: A Frightful Spectacle
Like an obstinate commander who refuses to internalize his terminal condition, he manufactures in his feverish mind divisions and squadrons and sends them to the front. The force commanders surrounding him, whether for fear of his wrath or out of empathy and pity, play along with him. They come and go, pretending to be doing things, pretending that as long as he’s there, there’s hope. He looks at their faces and wonders what’s going through their heads. Who will defect, who will betray. Who will rise against him. …
Thousands gathered in #TelAviv to demand @Netanyahu #resign. „Let #Democracy win!“ and „#Crime Minister“ were popular signs.
נתניהו חסר המוסר והאחריות קרא לאוהדיו להבעיר כאן את הכל. אנחנו יצאנו מולם אמש באלפים, לדרוש בהתפטרותו ובניקוי אורוות מלא במערכות השלטון. כמו שיצאנו שבוע אחרי שבוע כדי לדרוש שהצדק ייעשה. גם כשאיימו עלינו, גם כשהתקשורת התעלמה. הציבור הישראלי ינצח גם את התקופה האפלה הזו. ראו- תקווה.
2500 people protest against Netanyahu in Habima square.
Protesters chanted „Bibi go home,“ and waved signs reading: „Netanyahu, let go already,“ „Netanyahu, you should quit“, and „The corrupt should go home“. MK Stav Shapir of the Democratic Camp, who was one of the organizers, said that protests will continue throughout the week in other cities as well, such as Be’er Sheva and Jerusalem.
Poll: 49% of Israeli-Arabs back minority gov’t led by Benny Gantz
The survey, commissioned by Army Radio, showed 49% of Israeli-Arab citizens supporting the Joint List, made up of four separate Arab parties, backing Gantz from outside a coalition government even if it includes secular right-wing politician Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party.
Joint List leader says Netanyahu has ’sealed his legacy as a bitter criminal‘
The head of the Joint List, the political alliance made up of four separate Arab parties, responded to Netanyahu’s speech, saying “All of us, Arabs and our Jewish partners, will breathe a sigh of relief the day he goes.”
Ayman Odeh further attacked the premier by stating that „This evening he sealed his legacy as a bitter criminal who doesn’t know how to lose, only to harm and incite against those he was supposed to serve.”
Arab Israeli Leader Ayman Odeh Makes It Into Time’s List of ‚100 Rising Stars‘
“Ordinarily, it’s difficult for a non-Jewish politician to break through in Israeli politics,” Time wrote. “Arab Israelis may account for every fifth resident of the country, but in its parliament, the Knesset, they are routinely relegated to a corner. All of which makes Ayman Odeh, the head of Israel’s Arab parliamentarians, all the more extraordinary. As the contest for leadership of the self-declared Jewish state teetered between right-wing and centrist factions, Odeh emerged not only as a possible kingmaker but also as a stirring new voice for equality and inclusion.”
One Netanyahu and 19 Years of Incitement
The Rabin assassination will always be like a stab in the heart. I know every frame of the footage that was shot in the days before the murder and remember who was there and what they said, who went up on the balcony at Jerusalem’s Zion Square and who left it, who shouted and who remained silent.
If Center-left Forms Gov’t With Haredis, We May Support It, Arab Israeli MK Says
MK Ofer Shelah of Kahol Lavan, who was interviewed after Tibi, said he did not rule out such a proposal.
Close Ranks and Don’t Be Tempted
Less than six months ago Netanyahu was given the opportunity to form a government and failed to do so. He even refused to return the mandate to the president and allow another candidate to try to form a government. Nevertheless, he has been given another opportunity now. Hopefully he will fail again. To that end, the left-wing bloc must close ranks and persist in its refusal to be part of a government led by a criminal defendant (subject to a hearing), even if the price is another election. It’s time for Netanyahu to leave the stage.
Rivlin, President of the Jews – Not Israelis
Yes, this initiative of yours, Mr. President, is very grave indeed! You are dividing the country on an ethnic basis, you are placing one people above another, one public above another, one group above another, when your job is to say loud and clear: They are all my sons. And for this you do not have a mandate. You do not have a mandate to divide the country between Jews and Arabs. You do not have a mandate to exclude a fifth of the population.
Ayman Odeh: We Are Ending Netanyahu’s Grip on Israel
The Israeli government has done everything in its power to reject those of us who are Arab Palestinian citizens, but our influence has only grown. We will be the cornerstone of democracy.
Israel Election Results: Arab Alliance Endorses Gantz for PM, Lieberman Won’t Back Anyone
Rare move by Joint List in bid to ‚end the Netanyahu era‘ could give Kahol Lavan leader first chance at forming coalition ■ Lieberman: ‚Joint List members are enemies‘
Israel Election Results: Three-quarters of Israeli Arabs Support Joining Ruling Coalition, Poll Shows
The survey, conducted by the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute, found that more than three out of every four Arab citizens were in favor of Arab parties joining the ruling coalition and their members serving as ministers in the government, but that nearly half of all Jewish citizens (49 percent) were resistant to the idea.
Israel Election Results: President to Start Consultations With Party Leaders to Designate Next PM
All eyes are on Yisrael Beiteinu’s Avigdor Lieberman and the Joint List, comprised of four Arab-majority parties, in order to gauge Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz’s chances at unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither parties have announced officially whether they would recommend Gantz to the president, and are expected to make their decisions public later Sunday.
Israel Election Results: Arab Party Must Recommend Gantz, or Netanyahu Will Be Back
In 1992, Knesset members from Hadash and the United Arab List backed Yitzhak Rabin, who wasn’t their cup of tea, as prime minister. This eventually led to the allocation of significant funds for the benefit of the Arab community – without mentioning the mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, and the Oslo Accords.
Joint List chairman says he could recommend Gantz as PM
Parliamentarian Aymen Odeh told Army Radio Wednesday morning he would consider supporting Netanyahu’s chief political rival as official results trickling in continued to solidify a strong showing for the coalition of Arab parties.
Head of Arab faction mulls backing Gantz to form next coalition
The chairman of the Joint List of Arab parties, Ayman Odeh, said Wednesday that he may recommend Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as the next prime minister when he meets with President Reuven Rivlin.
Gantz has already reached out to him, Odeh said, adding that “on Wednesday afternoon, we will decide which path to take.”
Israel Election Results: Netanyahu Suffered Defeat Despite the Center-left’s Abysmal Campaign Flop
It could have ended far worse. If Netanyahu had won a few more Knesset seats, he would have secured immunity from prosecution, set up the most extreme government in Israeli history and finished his demolition derby of the country’s democracy. A rare convergence of favorable circumstances – chiefly the uptick in Arab voter participation, the failure of Kahanist Otzma Yehudit and the indifference of Likud voters – combined to spare Israel from a disaster that would have changed the country forever.
The Joint-Arab list will maintain and be the third largest party in the Israeli government, according to the initial exit polls, @emilyarielrose reports. #IsraElex19v2
You are an Arab-Israeli? (hint: Barack Obama ist not an African. He is an Afro-American) You are thinking about not to vote today? Take this sad song and make it better. GO OUT NOW AND BOOT NETANYAHU! (share this video / thanks: Tamer Nafar)
Tamer Must Vote – (تامر مجبور يصوت (الفاشي ماشي
(03.04.2019)
Lyrics & performance: Tamer Nafar
Script: Tamer Nafar & Udi Aloni
Special Guest Appearance: Lamis Ammar
Producers: Reut Mor, Udi Aloni, Tamer Nafar
Director and Editor: Eliav Lilti
Line Producer: Ruty Klein
Right-Wing Settlers behind Ads Calling on Arabs to Boycott Vote
During the campaign before the last general elections in April, billboards went up throughout Arab communities and towns in the Galilee urging voters to boycott the vote. Many residents assumed the ads, which did not identify their sponsors, were an initiative of political forces in the Arab community such the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch, which traditionally boycotts Israel’s national elections.
However, a Channel 12 news inquiry broadcast on Friday, September 6, revealed that the campaign was very likely commissioned and financed by right-wing Jewish settlers who hoped to significantly decrease Arab turnout at the polls.
On Election Day, It’s the Prince of Darkness vs. Israel’s Very Soul
Netanyahu’s unbridled and untethered election campaign outlined the shape of things to come if he wins: The slow and agonizing death of Israeli democracy
Two Days to Election: Netanyahu Goes to DEFCON 1, Guns Blazing, in Last-ditch Effort to Sway Voters
In the process, Netanyahu has successfully relegated what was supposed to be the central issue of this election – his alleged corruption and prospects of indictment – to the sidelines. He has deftly shifted the focus of the campaign to his fortes in national security and foreign affairs. Come what may, he has proven once again that he is the undisputed heavyweight champion of Israeli election campaigns, making his rivals look like clueless amateurs in comparison.
Gregor Gysi smears @maxblumenthal & @davidsheen then locks himself in Bundestag toilet
(11.11.2014)
Max Blumenthal, an US-American writer of Jewish origin, and the son of Sidney Blumenthal, the former advisor of President Bill Clinton and now a close adviser to potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, says in this video that he wants to sit down with German parliament member Gregor Gysi (The Left) in order to see if Gysi can explain the allegations against Blumenthal and if Gysi can explain why Blumenthal and Sheen should be silenced.
The Israeli friends of Volker Beck, Gregor Gysi and Petra Pau send their favorite German lawmakers a message of love at the entrance to the EU’s offices here
This is a big deal and a big win for Netanyahu – and a vehemently anti-Democratic act, affirming Israeli disenfranchisement of Palestinian citizens. It shows the Right has permeated every institution in the country, and that legality has no meaning.
Central election committee rules „Zazim“ initiative illegal
The injunction came after the Likud party submitted a petition arguing that Zazim, which is heavily funded by the US-based New Israel Fund, an organization that has butted heads with the Likud party before, was violating election laws with its initiative.
In 2017 the V15 law was passed in order to prevent foreign funded non-party political organizations from interfering with the elections.
Standing Up to Likud’s Voter Suppression
(12.09.2019)
Two days before the last Israeli election in April, Israel’s ruling Likud Party petitioned the Central Elections Committee to shut down a get out the vote operation by an Israeli campaigning organization called Zazim — an organization that Online Progressive Engagement Network (OPEN) and I co-founded with activist Raluca Ganea four years ago, which functions very much like an Israeli version of MoveOn.org. The government’s efforts were unsuccessful, and Zazim’s campaign went ahead as planned, bringing thousands of Arab Bedouin voters from unrecognized villages in southern Israel to their polling places.
Last week, the Likud Party once again petitioned the Central Elections Committee to prevent Zazim from helping citizens exercise their right to vote. Today, Israel’s Attorney General confirmed that Zazim’s activity is fully legal. Zazim’s organizers plan to help some 15,000 Arab voters cast their ballots next Tuesday.
‚If Netanyahu Wins, Turn Out the Lights‘: Meet the Most Die-hard Opponents of Israel’s ‚Crime Minister‘
As a young Israeli studying abroad, I recently came home for a visit eager to discuss the upcoming elections with family and friends – but found an atmosphere of utter apathy. So I decided to go find people who were actually getting involved, and that’s how I ended up meeting Elisheva and her fellow protestors.
The Israeli Left Is Talking About Palestinians Only in English
Many of the burning issues that are facing Israel barely got a look-in during the election campaign that’s mercifully drawing to a close: the ballooning deficit, the rising housing prices, the climbing cost of living, the burning need to integrate the ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities into the job market, to name just a few. And then of course, the lack of any prospect for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to the occupation got nary a mention, but you knew that already because you’ve been paying attention and that has become a cliché.
פתאום יש לו בעיה עם מצלמות
(11.09.2019)
Hadash Lawmaker Ejected from Plenum for Videoing Netanyahu
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein had Joint List leader MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) forcibly removed from the Knesset chamber on Wednesday, September 11, during the debate before a vote on the contentious bill that would have allowed cameras to be deployed in polling stations during the general elections on Tuesday, September 17.
Palestinian Citizens of Israel, Please Go Out and Vote the Joint List
The importance and value of the Joint List at the present political-historical junction are greater than the sum of all the human traits, mistakes and flaws of its representatives.
Casting a ballot does not mean recognition of the state that was forced on you, but just the opposite: By voting you are forcing it and its institutions to acknowledge you, as natives of this country.
Yitzhak Rabin – The Last Speech (English Subtitles)
The last speech of prime minister and minister of defense Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by right-wing Israeli radical on November 4th 1995 in Tel Aviv.
Slain Prime Minister Rabin Is Suddenly the Star of Israel’s Mudslinging Election
“Rabin broke the law by delivering lectures in America while he was a public servant, earning a fortune,” and then “framed his wife,” Yair claimed, adding that “Rabin murdered Holocaust survivors on the Altalena” — a weapons ship of the pre-state, right-wing Irgun militia that the Israeli military shelled shortly after Israel announced its independence.
The young Netanyahu also accused Rabin of bringing PLO leader Yasser Arafat and tens of thousands of terrorists back to the West Bank, from Tunisia, causing “the deaths of 2,000 Israelis.”
After a firestorm of criticism, the tweets were deleted.
Hadash MK Ofer Cassif: Netanyahu Deliberately Leading Israel to War
Hadash MK Ofer Cassif placed responsibility for the escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday, September 1, at the doorstep of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him “the serial criminal from Balfour Street.”
Cassif said “Netanyahu and his servants are responsible” for the recent clash, adding they mean to “occupy the seat of power with blood and to ensure the criminal [Netanyahu] will escape prison.”
Joint List leader, MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) agreed saying, “We will not be silent when the cannons roar” and warned that a further war “will not bring security, only death, destruction and victims on both sides.”
Poll: 78% of Arab Voters Support the Joint List Entering a Coalition
A large majority (76%) of those surveyed supported Hadash MK Ayman Odeh’s declaration last Friday, August 23, that he would join a moderate-center government; 65% of those asked expressed their full support for the Joint List joining a coalition headed by Kahol-Lavan (Blue & White); and 20% responded they neither support nor oppose the such a move.
Youssef Makladeh, the CEO of Statnet, told Maariv: “This isn’t new; past surveys have indicated that the Arab community in Israel is more interested in more pragmatic leadership that will work towards solving more acute issues, such as curbing the spread of violence, [achieving] building permits [for Arab towns], [developing local] infrastructure and sewage management [for their places of residence].” Makladeh added, “For the first time in a decade, an Arab leader has thrown the ball into the court of the Jewish parties.”
Israel’s Democratic Union Fails to Take Off
Hunting gender-segregated events robs time and energy from the left’s two fundamental raisons d’etre. The first is the struggle against the occupation and racism and the second – safeguarding citizens’ welfare and survival with dignity. As long as the Democratic Union is preoccupied with smoking out religious coercion and fires in the Amazon, it will remain solely within the esoteric borders of its current sector.
I Can Barely Feel Israel’s Democracy, but I’m Still Going to Vote in Its Election
There are basically two regimes: a democratic regime for Jews and a fascist regime for Arabs; a democratic regime that promises someone like the racist rapper „The Shadow“ unlimited freedom of expression and makes a lawmaker like Hazan into a superstar of incitement.
Nor do we see the public or law enforcement get worked up when some Jews shamelessly permit our killing and literally define us as their slaves. Do I really need to explain how the state treats us?
Fighting to Get Out the Arab Vote: A Grassroots Movement in Israel Is Gaining Steam
According to an internal poll commissioned by Coalition 17/9, were the election held today, 56 percent of eligible Arab voters would cast their ballot. That’s a considerable improvement over the last election but still a long way to go.
Swaid believes the reunification of the Joint List is the main factor behind this positive trend.
Zionist Blue & White Rejects Joint List Participation in Any Coalition
Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh is prepared to recommend that Kahol Lavan’s Benny Gantz form a government, and that the united slate of Joint List would be willing to join a center-left coalition, he told in a long interview published by the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper Friday morning.
MK Odeh’s comments drew ire from across the Zionist political spectrum, ranging from Kahol Lavan to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud. In the interview, Odeh formulated a list of demands with regard to the end of the occupation of the Palestinian territories, welfare issues and Arab public needs. If Kahol Lavan accepts these terms, it would prepare the grounds for Joint List to join the government, for the first time in Israeli history.
Joint List Says It Doesn’t Outright Reject Joining Government After Arab Israeli Leader’s Overture
The Joint List slammed the other political parties, made up of Jewish lawmakers, for not taking an interest in the opinions of Arab lawmakers. „It’s pretty clear that the Zionist parties that make up governments do not acknowledge our natural right to influence decision-making. This was apparent after Ayman Odeh made his declarations and put the political arena to the test.“
Odeh said in an interview with Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonot that he would be willing to recommend Gantz to President Reuven Rivlin as the candidate for making up the coalition, and that he would also be open to joining a center-left governing coalition.
מאבק משותף | עתיד משותף | רשימה משותפת דברים שאמרתי היום בהשקת הקמפיין שלנו בתל אביב. לא תהיה תחליף לממשלת הימין בלי הכוח
Top Arab lawmaker says he is willing to join a center-left government
On Thursday, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily published a preview of an interview with Odeh that will be published in full on Friday, leading with a quote of him saying he was “willing to join a center-left government.”
However, he laid out several conditions for joining such a coalition.
Israeli Arab Party Leader Signals Historic Shift – and Brews a Political Storm
Ayman Odeh says he’s willing to sit in center-left coalition, demands establishing Palestinian state, ending occupation – but other leaders in his party say they were not consulted on this deal, and Kahol Lavan were quick to rebuff
‚We Can’t Do It Alone‘: Arab Slate Launches Campaign to Win Over Jewish Votes
They had come to launch a new campaign to get Jews to vote for the Joint List.
The event was held under the slogan “A joint struggle, a joint future.” In an unusual move, all the speakers were asked to speak in Hebrew.
In Netanyahu’s Israel, Democracy Is Dying in Broad Daylight
(13.08.2019)
Ominous pre-election right-wing purges inspired by Trump’s brazenness have been met with apathy and impotence on the center-left