An occupying power cannot be a beacon of democracy

No matter how the battle over judicial reforms in Israel ends, whether through reaching an agreement between the opposition and the Netanyahu government, or through the latter imposing its will, or leaving the status quo unhindered, Israel is not and will not be a true democracy as long as it remains in power. occupation.

I cannot applaud and admire enough the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have protested for nine consecutive weeks against the Netanyahu government's plan to subvert the Israeli judiciary under the pretext of necessary "reforms". Indeed, Netanyahu and Justice Minister Levin were determined to subject the Israeli Supreme Court to the whims of the simple majority in the Knesset, appointing judges to an increasingly representative panel handpicked by his government. If such legislation were passed, it would be tantamount to giving the government unlimited power without any checks and balances, and destroying the foundation of democracy on which the state was founded and of which Israelis are particularly proud.

The irony here is that while the majority of Israelis believe their country is a democracy and take to the streets enthusiastically to preserve it, often referring to it as the only democracy in the Middle East, what they miss is that no country can claim to be democratic and be an occupying power. At the same time. Implementing in reality two different sets of laws and rules, one that governs Israeli citizens and grants them social, economic and political protection and freedoms, as opposed to the other set of military laws and regulations that govern Palestinians under occupation and denies them their basic human rights, is completely inconsistent with democracy by any definition and in any form. of forms.

The question is, why did the Israelis become so comfortably numb to the brutal occupation and not once protested against its continuation, as if it were a normal condition that had no effect or repercussions on the occupying power or the occupier?

Public Harshness: To begin with, successive Israeli governments, especially since the second intifada in 2000, during which very conservative governments were largely in power, have systematically engaged in harsh public narratives against the Palestinians and portrayed them as irredeemable enemies. The portrayal of the Palestinians in this way was deliberate, even though every Israeli government knew very well that the Palestinians would never be in a position to pose a real existential threat against their country.

Yet they continue to promote their denunciations of the Palestinians for public consumption, knowing that they are feeding the hatred and sowing hostility against the Palestinians, which is now defining the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. It is clear that acrimonious public narratives pitting one people against another promote conflict rather than cooperation, which is essential to a functioning democracy.

Lack of awareness: Most Israelis have very little first-hand knowledge of the harshness of the occupation and the pain and suffering Palestinians endure day in and day out. If Israelis had witnessed nightly raids terrifying young and old, arbitrary confinement, home demolitions, forced evictions, confiscation of private land, uprooting of trees, humiliating checkpoints, vandalism by settlers, and cheering soldiers shooting to kill, they would certainly have a better understanding of why. In that the occupation is not and cannot be sustainable, but it is contrary to every human value that they hold dear.

Even if some of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who stood tall to fight to preserve their democracy had for one day experienced what the Palestinians endure every day under occupation, they would understand the extent of the collapse of Israel's democracy and the shamelessness of claiming it. They are entitled to live in a free society while the Palestinians live in slavery.

Normalization of Occupation: To understand the gravity of how occupation has become a normal state for most Israelis, one statistic tells the story: 80 percent of all Israelis have been born since the occupation began in 1967. Occupation is for every Israeli citizen under the age of 56 – whether soldier, student or researcher Or a military leader, a doctor, a construction worker, a carpenter, a secretary, a businessman, an engineer or a government official - naturally. Those who wanted to end it were greatly numb. Many are afraid to talk about it publicly, let alone advocate publicly for the absolute necessity of creating an independent Palestinian state to end the conflict.

The killing of Palestinians has become almost daily routine and many Israelis only temporarily wake up when a Palestinian gunman kills a Jewish Israeli. Immediately you hear calls for revenge, especially from far-right Israelis, security forces gather immediately to search for the perpetrators, gun battles often break out, Palestinian militants are often killed, and unfortunately innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the crossfire. And they end up paying with their lives. And, of course, leave it to the settlers to carry out their atrocities by taking revenge on any Palestinian - guilty or innocent they don't care. After a day or two, Israeli Jews forget everything, but the vicious circle continues. This is Israeli-style democracy.

Living with the status quo: After 56 years of occupation, an increasing number of Israelis have given up on resolving the conflict with the Palestinians and come to accept the status quo as a permanent state in which they live comfortably. Successive right-wing governments led by Netanyahu have stated publicly that there will be no Palestinian state under their rule, preferring to maintain the status quo regardless of frequent outbreaks of violence that Israel has learned to control at reasonable cost.

The notion that the status quo can continue indefinitely is completely misleading, as there is absolutely no sign and no reason to believe that the Palestinians will give up their right to a state of their own. In recent years, the oppressive occupation has become increasingly unbearable, the resentment and hatred against Israelis piercing, violence targeting Israelis on the rise, and despair and despondency all-consuming Palestinians, leaving them with little to lose. The Israelis helped create this volatile environment. And now it's only a matter of time when the next explosion will happen. This is not how democracy works and Israelis must face this grim reality sooner rather than later.

Palestinian Ambition to Destroy Israel: Successive Israeli governments have brainwashed the public by promoting the idea that even if the Palestinians establish their own state, it will only be the first stage in their ultimate goal of eliminating Israel completely. But then not a single Israeli leader who opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state has provided any evidence or argument to substantiate his claims, other than using the empty rhetoric of some Palestinian fighters who say that this is in fact their national goal. One might ask, however, by what means, military or otherwise, the Palestinians will one day be in a position to realize such a delusion against Israel's formidable military machine capable of crushing any violent provocation deemed a threat to Israel's existence?

By promoting such an absurd narrative, the Israeli government can “justify” not only the occupation but its endeavors to annex more land, expand and legalize existing illegal settlements, uproot Palestinians, and clear vast areas of its Palestinian population for military training. These activities are carried out systematically in the name of national security, and unfortunately more and more Israelis are coming to terms with this sinister scheme.

None of the above suggests that the Palestinians are innocent by any standard. They made many mistakes and missed many opportunities in the past to make peace because they wanted it all and ended up with nothing. However, it is now up to Israel, as the dominant power, to change the dynamic of the conflict by pursuing peace based on the two-state solution. Otherwise, the Israeli social fabric will continue to disintegrate, its violent regional conflicts will intensify, and its international standing will diminish. Israel will only be a shell for itself, a pariah state that destroys the Jewish dream of establishing an independent, free, strong and just state that every Jew can be proud of, loved by its friends and envied by its enemies.

The beacon of Israeli democracy began to fade with the start of the occupation. It is time for the hundreds of thousands of Israeli protesters who poured into the streets to protect their democracy and face the truth: the occupation is depriving three million Palestinians in the West Bank of everything the protesters want for themselves.

Even if protesters triumph over Netanyahu's horrific scheme, they will not save Israel's democracy unless they relentlessly take to the streets and demand an end to the occupation and once again make Israel a beacon of democracy in the Middle East and beyond.