In this thread and in others.No they haven't. You saying they have, does not make it true. In this thread you have denied them, but not refuted them. I posted quotes from an Israeli Law School Professor that proved that Israel does indeed descriminate against Palestinians both in law and deed. You just denied it and said that it had been refuted. By whom? And if it has been refuted, why did the Israeli Supreme Court rule that it was true?
I also posted that other Middle Eastern countries are democratic (well at least as democratic as Israel), and that Israel denies full "democratic" rights to Palestinians. You just denied it and said it had been refuted. By whom? And considering the CIA says Egypt is democratic, and considering the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Palestinians are descriminated against, what was their argument?
The information you present about Egypt doesn't counter my claim. The people in Egypt do not pick their leader: as noted in your citation above, the president is picked by an assmebly, not the people themselves. They get to validate the selection, but they don't get to choose. Under the country's 20+ years of military emergency, most democratic rights have been curtailed or eliminated.
Oh come on!!!! Really what a lame excuse! The people elect the assembly (the last such election was in 2000), the assaembly chooses a President, the people approve the selection via referendum (the last such referendum was in 1999). That's one more step of democracy than Israel now has:
Country name: conventional long form: State of Israel
...
Executive branch: chief of state: President Moshe KATSAV (since 31 July 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ariel SHARON (since 2 March 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset
elections: president elected by the Knesset for a five-year term; election last held 31 July 2000 (next to be held NA July 2005); prime minister elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 6 February 2001 (next to be held NA 2005); note - in March 1992, the Knesset approved legislation, effective in 1996, which allowed for the direct election of the prime minister, but in 2001 the Knesset voted to restore the previous method under which the legislators will choose the next prime minister after the next legislative elections in 2003
election results: Moshe KATSAV elected president by the 120-member Knesset with a total of 60 votes, other candidate, Shimon PERES, received 57 votes (there were three abstentions); Ariel SHARON elected prime minister; percent of vote - Ariel SHARON 62.5%, Ehud BARAK 37.4%; note - after the next legislative elections scheduled for 2003, the prime minister will be elected by the Knesset
Legislative branch: unicameral Knesset or parliament (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 May 1999 (next to be held NA November 2003)
election results: percent of vote by party - One Israel 20.2%, Likud Party 14.1%, Shas 13%, MERETZ 7.6%, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya 5.1%, Shinui 5%, Center Party 5%, National Religious Party 4.2%, United Torah Judaism 3.7%, United Arab List 3.4%, National Union 3%, Hadash 2.6%, Yisra'el Beiteinu 2.6%, Balad 1.9%, One Nation 1.9%, Democratic Movement NA (party formed after election, members elected under Yisra'el Ba'Aliya list); seats by party - One Israel 26, Likud Party 19, Shas 17, MERETZ 10, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya 4, Shinui 6, Center Party 6, National Religious Party 5, United Torah Judaism 5, United Arab List 5, National Union 4, Hadash 3, Yisra'el Beiteinu 4, Democratic Movement 2 (party formed after election, members elected under Yisra'el Ba'Aliya list), Balad 2, One Nation 2
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html
Notice the bolded sentences? What do they say? They say that as of 2003 both the Prime Minister and the President of Israel will be selected by the Knesset. No mention of a referendum to approve the selection... in other words in 2003 Israel will be less democratic than Egypt!
Israel is not an apartheid state, and no overwhelming evidence to the contrary has been presented. (One professor's short article is not over overwhelming evidence.)
I suppose you consider an Israeli Supreme Court decision to not be overwhelming evidence? The court decided in March 2000 that the Israeli Government was descriminating against Palestinians in Israel, and then proceeded to let the Government decide whether or not to stop doing so! Can there be any evidence any more overwhelming than that?
De omnibus est dubitandum. (Everything should be questioned) - René DescartesA conservative government is an organized hypocrisy. - Benjamin Disraeli
The Devil's Advocate
Email this topic to a friend
Printer-friendly version of this topic
Bookmark this topic (Registered users only)
