"Even though there are Israeli elections, that is not enough for Israel to be considered a democracy. Palestinian parties within Israel have always been excluded from meaningful participation in government. There is little reason to believe that as Israel escalates its military expansion, and ethnic cleansing of Indigenous populations that stand in its way, that Palestinian parties will be able to meaningfully participate in the future."
Dear Telegram editorial newsroom,
I am writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) regarding the article “How the Arab vote changed Israel’s election.”
In his thoughtful piece, Gwynne Dyer cautions against despair, despite the fact that “most Israelis are stuck in their tribal trenches.” He argues that the emergence of a significant bloc of Arab parties in the Knesset, necessary to forming a government without Netanyahu, may change the math of Israeli government coalitions.
Unfortunately, I think the pessimism of Aluf Benn, editor of Ha’aretz, is probably more warranted.
Dyer writes that the Palestinian parties are “loyal to the democratic values that Israel still embodies (just).” Palestinian parties may be loyal to democratic values, but it is a stretch to argue that Israel, a state that has established an apartheid system and embarked on the genocide of millions of Palestinians under its military control, still embodies such values, even “just.”
According to Amnesty International, Israel imposes an “apartheid system of domination and oppression against all areas under its control: in Israel and OPT, and against Palestinian refugees, in order to benefit Jewish Israel.”
In fact, numerous organizations reached this conclusion from Human Rights Watch, the United Nations to the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
In its landmark 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice specified that Israel’s legislative and policy measures violate the international prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid.
This is notwithstanding Israel’s administrative detention policy, which enables the detention of Palestinians for renewable periods of up to six months on the basis of secret evidence that is disclosed neither to the detainee nor their lawyer, and where, if Israeli authorities claim there are “reasonable grounds,” detention orders can be repeatedly renewed for additional six-month periods.
This is also notwithstanding the fact that Palestinians brought before Israeli military courts face a discriminatory system, with conviction rates reportedly reaching approximately 99 per cent.
Even though there are Israeli elections, that is not enough for Israel to be considered a democracy. Palestinian parties within Israel have always been excluded from meaningful participation in government. There is little reason to believe that as Israel escalates its military expansion, and ethnic cleansing of Indigenous populations that stand in its way, that Palestinian parties will be able to meaningfully participate in the future.
Tim McCaskell
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