The USA, as many other countries, herald that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.
A group of Palestinians - academics from various backgrounds - put the oft-repeated assertion to the test recently. Perhaps not surprisingly they found the so-called democracy in Israel sorely missing, certainly so far as it relates to Palestinians and Arabs. Their report appears on The Electronic Intifada.
"US President Barack Obama, in a recent interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, reaffirmed his support and love for Israel because, as he claims, “it is a genuine democracy and you can express your opinions.”
He further expressed his commitment to protecting Israel as a “Jewish state” by ensuring a “Jewish majority.”
The US government’s support for the “Jewish state” has always been far more than rhetorical, backed by billions of dollars of military funding and consistent pro-Israel vetoes at the UN Security Council.
We are a group of US-based academics, representing diverse ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds, as well as a range of national origins, who recently visited Palestine. We were able to gain firsthand exposure to what Obama described in the interview as Israel’s “Jewish democracy” and to what kinds of infrastructure our tax dollars help to support — walls, checkpoints and modern weaponry."
Continue reading here.
A group of Palestinians - academics from various backgrounds - put the oft-repeated assertion to the test recently. Perhaps not surprisingly they found the so-called democracy in Israel sorely missing, certainly so far as it relates to Palestinians and Arabs. Their report appears on The Electronic Intifada.
"US President Barack Obama, in a recent interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, reaffirmed his support and love for Israel because, as he claims, “it is a genuine democracy and you can express your opinions.”
He further expressed his commitment to protecting Israel as a “Jewish state” by ensuring a “Jewish majority.”
The US government’s support for the “Jewish state” has always been far more than rhetorical, backed by billions of dollars of military funding and consistent pro-Israel vetoes at the UN Security Council.
We are a group of US-based academics, representing diverse ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds, as well as a range of national origins, who recently visited Palestine. We were able to gain firsthand exposure to what Obama described in the interview as Israel’s “Jewish democracy” and to what kinds of infrastructure our tax dollars help to support — walls, checkpoints and modern weaponry."
Continue reading here.
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