Democracy in Israel Under Attack
Byrnzie
Posts: 21,037
Seeing as the other thread was locked due to a troll having hijacked it with nothing but personal attacks I'll start another one, as I think this is an important subject.
Human Rights Organizations and other NGO's are under attack by the Israeli government for being critical of Israeli policies against the Palestinians.
Those who support the bills, which aim to cut foreign funding for organizations such as B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights and the Association for Civil Rights, say many NGOs are political groups working under the guise of human rights to "delegitimise Israel". In other words, if you are critical of ethnic cleansing, and racism, and support the international consensus for a two-state solution along the 1967 borders (or 1949 armistice lines), then you seek to delegitimise Israel. Does this mean that Israel is only legitimate as long as it's oppressing the Palestinians and building racist, Jewish-only settlements on stolen land?
I'm especially interested to hear what any Israeli's on this board think of this situation. Do most Israeli's support these bills, or are people speaking out against them?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/no ... go-funding
Israeli ministers accused of trying to muzzle critics with funding curbs
Senior cabinet members have approved a bill limiting foreign donations to political not-for-profit organisations
Phoebe Greenwood in Tel Aviv
Guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 November 2011
An Israeli cabinet committee has voted to pass legislation backed by the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, that would cut tens of millions of pounds in foreign funding to human rights organisations.
The ministerial committee for legislation passed two bills, one of which limits all funding for non-governmental organisations from foreign bodies, including the United Nations, to 20,000 shekels (£3,300) a year. The other seeks to tax all contributions to NGOs by foreign states. Those who support the bills say many NGOs are political groups working under the guise of human rights to "delegitimise Israel".
Last week, Matthew Gould, Britain's ambassador to Israel, added his voice to concerns from international diplomats. Gould met the bill's sponsor, Likud minister Ophir Akunis, to warn him that the passage of his legislation would reflect very badly on Israel in the international community.
On Sunday, embassy sources in Tel Aviv confirmed they would be monitoring the bill's progress carefully.
In 2010, the British embassy donated £300,000 to human rights organisations in Israel.
The EU's ambassador to Israel, Andrew Standley, is also reported to have contacted Netanyahu's national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, last Thursday to advise him that approving the bill would threaten Israel's standing as a democratic state.
Eleven ministers voted for the bill on Sunday, while five voted against. A senior Israeli official defended the government position: "It is not good for democracy to allow foreign governments to be directly involved in political activities.
"In Britain, you had a very open and democratic debate about the Iraq war. How would the British public feel if they discovered France or Russia had funded one side of that debate?"
Likud's Benny Begin, son of the former prime minister Menachem Begin, was among ministers who opposed the bill, which means it must now pass a second cabinet vote before it can be submitted to the Knesset. This vote is not expected to take place for several weeks.
The government has suggested the bill may be amended to distinguish between groups with a political agenda and those working genuinely to promote human rights.
The distinction has offered little comfort to activists who claim such a law would in effect criminalise political dissent. Among those groups in jeopardy is the leading Israeli rights organisation B'Tselem, which receives hundreds of thousands of pounds from the British embassy and UK charity Christian Aid each year. Sarit Michaeli, the group's spokeswoman, says it stands to lose half its annual budget if the law is passed, but it will continue its work regardless. Many smaller organisations, she says, will be worse off.
Christian Aid donates £200,000 annually to organisations in Israel, including B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights and the Association for Civil Rights.
It has expressed concern that Sunday's cabinet decision reflects a wider trend in Israeli legislation that compromises the country's treaties with the EU binding it to the defence of human rights.
"This is yet another blow to democracy in Israel," said William Bell, a Middle East expert at Christian Aid. "Whether this legislation is passed or not, it has succeeded in creating a great deal of insecurity and uncertainty among the Israeli NGO community, or anyone talking about issues it would seem the government doesn't want it to talk about."
There is recent precedent of the Knesset approving legislation to restrict activists. In February 2010, a bill proposing to withdraw the charitable status of organisations receiving money from foreign states was passed, increasing scrutiny of how NGOs are funded.
Human Rights Organizations and other NGO's are under attack by the Israeli government for being critical of Israeli policies against the Palestinians.
Those who support the bills, which aim to cut foreign funding for organizations such as B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights and the Association for Civil Rights, say many NGOs are political groups working under the guise of human rights to "delegitimise Israel". In other words, if you are critical of ethnic cleansing, and racism, and support the international consensus for a two-state solution along the 1967 borders (or 1949 armistice lines), then you seek to delegitimise Israel. Does this mean that Israel is only legitimate as long as it's oppressing the Palestinians and building racist, Jewish-only settlements on stolen land?
I'm especially interested to hear what any Israeli's on this board think of this situation. Do most Israeli's support these bills, or are people speaking out against them?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/no ... go-funding
Israeli ministers accused of trying to muzzle critics with funding curbs
Senior cabinet members have approved a bill limiting foreign donations to political not-for-profit organisations
Phoebe Greenwood in Tel Aviv
Guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 November 2011
An Israeli cabinet committee has voted to pass legislation backed by the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, that would cut tens of millions of pounds in foreign funding to human rights organisations.
The ministerial committee for legislation passed two bills, one of which limits all funding for non-governmental organisations from foreign bodies, including the United Nations, to 20,000 shekels (£3,300) a year. The other seeks to tax all contributions to NGOs by foreign states. Those who support the bills say many NGOs are political groups working under the guise of human rights to "delegitimise Israel".
Last week, Matthew Gould, Britain's ambassador to Israel, added his voice to concerns from international diplomats. Gould met the bill's sponsor, Likud minister Ophir Akunis, to warn him that the passage of his legislation would reflect very badly on Israel in the international community.
On Sunday, embassy sources in Tel Aviv confirmed they would be monitoring the bill's progress carefully.
In 2010, the British embassy donated £300,000 to human rights organisations in Israel.
The EU's ambassador to Israel, Andrew Standley, is also reported to have contacted Netanyahu's national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, last Thursday to advise him that approving the bill would threaten Israel's standing as a democratic state.
Eleven ministers voted for the bill on Sunday, while five voted against. A senior Israeli official defended the government position: "It is not good for democracy to allow foreign governments to be directly involved in political activities.
"In Britain, you had a very open and democratic debate about the Iraq war. How would the British public feel if they discovered France or Russia had funded one side of that debate?"
Likud's Benny Begin, son of the former prime minister Menachem Begin, was among ministers who opposed the bill, which means it must now pass a second cabinet vote before it can be submitted to the Knesset. This vote is not expected to take place for several weeks.
The government has suggested the bill may be amended to distinguish between groups with a political agenda and those working genuinely to promote human rights.
The distinction has offered little comfort to activists who claim such a law would in effect criminalise political dissent. Among those groups in jeopardy is the leading Israeli rights organisation B'Tselem, which receives hundreds of thousands of pounds from the British embassy and UK charity Christian Aid each year. Sarit Michaeli, the group's spokeswoman, says it stands to lose half its annual budget if the law is passed, but it will continue its work regardless. Many smaller organisations, she says, will be worse off.
Christian Aid donates £200,000 annually to organisations in Israel, including B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights and the Association for Civil Rights.
It has expressed concern that Sunday's cabinet decision reflects a wider trend in Israeli legislation that compromises the country's treaties with the EU binding it to the defence of human rights.
"This is yet another blow to democracy in Israel," said William Bell, a Middle East expert at Christian Aid. "Whether this legislation is passed or not, it has succeeded in creating a great deal of insecurity and uncertainty among the Israeli NGO community, or anyone talking about issues it would seem the government doesn't want it to talk about."
There is recent precedent of the Knesset approving legislation to restrict activists. In February 2010, a bill proposing to withdraw the charitable status of organisations receiving money from foreign states was passed, increasing scrutiny of how NGOs are funded.
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Press Releases
08 November 2011
Israeli Civil Society organizations in the wake of attacks against activists and organizations
'We members of Israeli civil society express our solidarity with the activists and organizations who have been subjected to threats and acts of violence. These acts are intended to intimidate us all and silence our voices. We warn that the threat of violence was already realized in the past, demonstrating that such acts do not stop at the level of mere slogans. Those who uproot olive trees and burn mosques are liable to not refrain from inflicting bodily, even life-threatening harm on Palestinians and Israelis whose views and actions they consider objectionable.
In these days, when we commemorate the assassination of a Prime Minister because of his views, we raise our voices in protest and concern: the lesson has not been learned and no real attempt is made to bring the perpetrators to justice. It is not a matter for euphemisms such as “taking the law into one’s own hands,” or “a price tag.” Rather it is a matter of threats and acts of violence perpetrated by thugs encouraged by the inaction of the law enforcement authorities.
The authorities must take the threat seriously and fulfill their duty to protect Israeli activists and Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in Israel, in order to ensure that ideological disputes do not end in gun shots.
Signed by:
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
ASSAF - Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel
The Association for Civil Right in Israel
Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights
Breaking the Silence
B'Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Coalition of Women for Peace
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
Ir Amim
IRAC – Israel Religious Action Center
Israeli Children
Kav LaOved (Workers' Hotline)
MachsomWatch
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
The Public Committee against Torture in Israel
Rabbis for Human Rights
Yesh Din
I want to get this one locked too.
Be my guest! :P
Maybe you can ask me if I'm a holocaust denier (seeing as this is clearly not a bannable offence), or even better, why not ask me If I was a guard at Auschwitz?
Edit: Now I'm attacking myself. Is that a bannable offence? :think:
yep, you did...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."