Israel poll ban for Arab parties

Two Arab political parties have been disqualified from running in Israel's parliamentary elections on February 10 after they were accused of not recognising the country's right to exist.

The panel voted on Monday to back a motion filed by two right-wing parties which also accused the National Democratic Assembly (also known as Balad) and Ra'am-Ta'al of incitement and supporting "terrorist" groups.

Ahmed Tibi and Jamal Zahalka, who lead the two Arab rivals in parliament, joined together in condemning Monday's decision.

"It was a political trial led by a group of fascists and racists who are willing to see the Knesset without Arabs and want to see the country without Arabs," Tibi said.

He said that his Ra'am-Ta'al party intended to petition the supreme court about the decision.

"If the members of the panel had weapons, they would have shot us in the head," Tibi said.

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FULL STORY

Sounds like the Knesset is filled with Vaders.:lol:

Anyways, is there any more information to this story (like an actual reason for banning them)?

Khayembii Communique said:

FULL STORY

Sounds like the Knesset is filled with Vaders.:lol:

Anyways, is there any more information to this story (like an actual reason for banning them)?

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If they don't recognize the right of the country to exist, if there is such a law in Israel (and I wouldn't be surprised if there were) that would be the legal reason for their exclusion.

Khayembii Communique said:

FULL STORY

Sounds like the Knesset is filled with Vaders.:lol:

Anyways, is there any more information to this story (like an actual reason for banning them)?

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Seems they've "annexed" a little too much land.

Their government, their rules. It's not unreasonable to expect those running for public service to have some notion that the government they are running to participate in should on some level exist.

From The Jerusalem Post:

In 2003, the committee approved a similar request to disqualify Balad from Knesset elections, a decision that the High Court of Justice later reversed.

Rivlin quoted the High Court's 2003 ruling, saying the decision had mandated that there be substantial evidence that a given party supported an enemy's armed fight against Israel in order to disqualify that party from running for the Knesset, not just random and sporadic hostile sentiments expressed by its members.

Attorney Dana Briskman, speaking on behalf of Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz, told the committee prior to the vote that the attorney-general had not found sufficient evidence to disqualify Balad or UAL.

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Elections C'tee bans UAL, Balad lists | Israel | Jerusalem Post

Israel has well-defined standards and its rule of law extends broad political protections to its citizens. Given Briskman's explanation that there is insufficient evidence to support disqualifying the Balad or UAL parties to meet the High Court's standard, I believe the Election Committee's ban will be reversed.

If they don't recognize the right of the country to exist, if there is such a law in Israel (and I wouldn't be surprised if there were) that would be the legal reason for their exclusion.

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Ok, but what I am looking for is evidence that they actually believed it. It sounds like their opponents in the Knesset are accusing them of this for opposing the incursion into Gaza.

Israel has well-defined standards and its rule of law extends broad political protections to its citizens. Given Briskman's explanation that there is insufficient evidence to support disqualifying the Balad or UAL parties to meet the High Court's standard, I believe the Election Committee's ban will be reversed.

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Thanks, don.

ludahai said:

If they don't recognize the right of the country to exist, if there is such a law in Israel (and I wouldn't be surprised if there were) that would be the legal reason for their exclusion.

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Even if it wasn't, you'd still argue that it was.

Israel needs to drop this "recognize" crap. The way they're acting, they don't deserve to be recognized. And besides, why recognize a country that is already there? And there hasn't been any country or group that has threatened Israel's existance for 60 years.

It looks like the Knesset doesn't believe in equal representation.

Their apartheid makes me vomit!

Billo_Really said:

It looks like the Knesset doesn't believe in equal representation.

Their apartheid makes me vomit!

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If their was a party in America that supported the destruction of America and supported outside entities working towards that goal do you believe they should be able to run for office here?

If their was a party in America that supported the destruction of America and supported outside entities working towards that goal do you believe they should be able to run for office here?

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"Ok, but what I am looking for is evidence that they actually believed it. It sounds like their opponents in the Knesset are accusing them of this for opposing the incursion into Gaza."

Stop being dishonest.

If Israel has made it's own existence a priority for the last 50-60 years then it would seem like COMMON ****ING SENSE that it would deny parties who don't support this from joining in the political process created to support such a priority.

Khayembii Communique said:

"Ok, but what I am looking for is evidence that they actually believed it. It sounds like their opponents in the Knesset are accusing them of this for opposing the incursion into Gaza."

Stop being dishonest.

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There was nothing dishonest about it. I have no idea whether or not it is dishonest. I'm simply stating that if there is evidence then it is entirely justified.

Is there an update on this issue? Was the ban overturned? The elections are to be held in February, I believe, so even if the ban is overturned it could have serious implications for these parties' candidates, given that they were focusing attention away from the elections and onto this issue.

"If the members of the panel had weapons, they would have shot us in the head," Tibi said.

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That is so typical. There is never a gun around when you really need one. :mrgreen:

Khayembii Communique said:

Ok, but what I am looking for is evidence that they actually believed it. It sounds like their opponents in the Knesset are accusing them of this for opposing the incursion into Gaza.

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And apparently the courts will make the final decision. We should all accept that decision.

Billo_Really said:

Even if it wasn't, you'd still argue that it was.

Israel needs to drop this "recognize" crap. The way they're acting, they don't deserve to be recognized. And besides, why recognize a country that is already there? And there hasn't been any country or group that has threatened Israel's existance for 60 years.

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Are you really THAT ignorant? It was only invaded by its neighbors once and another time they were preparing for war and had actually committed acts of war in the last 41 years! No threat. What idiocy!

Billo_Really said:

It looks like the Knesset doesn't believe in equal representation.

Their apartheid makes me vomit!

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Your rhetoric makes me vomit. Apartheid my a%$.

RightOfCenter said:

If their was a party in America that supported the destruction of America and supported outside entities working towards that goal do you believe they should be able to run for office here?

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So long as they fit all the requirements (citizenship, age etc etc) then yeah I wouldn't care if they ran for an office. Doubt they'd get elected but it's their right if they are American Citizens. I wouldn't like them and definately wouldn't vote for them. But it would be within their rights.

And apparently the courts will make the final decision. We should all accept that decision.

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Why is that?

Just another example of the true face of certain politicians in Israel and the ugly face of Zionism. This ruling will be overturned by the high court, and if not, then Israel should be removed from the list of democratic states and join the same list as its Arab neighbours.

This would be like the Republican's having the Democratic party banned from the elections because the Democratic party is against the Iraq war.....

These parties have never said they were against Israel, and have in fact said they are Israelis.... and yet that was the basis of the banning... pathetic and openly racist apartheid Zionist policy.. Israel should be ashamed.

Khayembii Communique said:

Why is that?

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Why is what? Why will the courts make the decision or why should we accept it.

If it is the later, it is because it is Israeli law and frankly, considering their situation, a legitimate one.

PeteEU said:

Just another example of the true face of certain politicians in Israel and the ugly face of Zionism. This ruling will be overturned by the high court, and if not, then Israel should be removed from the list of democratic states and join the same list as its Arab neighbours.

This would be like the Republican's having the Democratic party banned from the elections because the Democratic party is against the Iraq war.....

These parties have never said they were against Israel, and have in fact said they are Israelis.... and yet that was the basis of the banning... pathetic and openly racist apartheid Zionist policy.. Israel should be ashamed.

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Your analogy is silly. If Israel has a law on the books that the party must recognize Israel's right to exist and they don't, they should be banned from the ballot. Your little strawman is completely irrelevant to the Israeli situation.

Thanks for playing though.

This would be like the Republican's having the Democratic party banned from the elections because the Democratic party is against the Iraq war.....

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The democrats were never against the war.

Why is what? Why will the courts make the decision or why should we accept it.

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My question was "why should we accept what the courts say?" You certainly don't uphold the rule of courts in all cases, so you can't argue that (Iranian courts, for example). So why should we accept the ruling?

Your analogy is silly. If Israel has a law on the books that the party must recognize Israel's right to exist and they don't, they should be banned from the ballot. Your little strawman is completely irrelevant to the Israeli situation.

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There has been absolutely no evidence offered that they believe that. These party officials have also denied those claims, and considering the fact that this comes not only during the incursion into Gaza, which they opposed, but also in the run up to elections, it is pretty obvious that this is a sham perpetrated by the right wingers in the Knesset.

EDIT: Here's some more information regarding this event:

The Central Elections Committee voted 26-3 with one abstention to ban Balad from the elections and 21-3 with eight abstentions to disqualify UAL Ta'al.
Source

Three petitions to disqualify Balad from running were filed with the Elections Committee last week by the Ichud Leumi (National Union) and Israel Beitenu parties and Itay Furman, formerly of Shinui.
Source

The National Union and Israel Beitenu parties are far-right ultra-nationalists, which supports what I've said. Would you like to condemn this action, ludahai?

EDIT #2: Further clarification from Jalad Zahalka, chairman of Balad:

"Balad is a democratic and progressive party and we believe in the basic principle of equality for all people. We would never accept, politically or emotionally, claims that someone else is superior to us just because we're Arabs," Zahalka said. "All we demand is democracy! What are you afraid of when we ask for equality? We are the sons of this country, we were born here and we are willing to treat you with equality, so why don't you? We offer to live together. [Israel Beitenu chairman Avigdor] Lieberman offers to die together."

"We say, any vote given to Kadima is a bullet in the chest of a Palestinian child in Gaza," Tibi told the committee prior to the vote. "Israel's problem is not Balad, not UAL, but the Kadima Party and [Defense Minister and Labor chairman Ehud] Barak. These people started a war as an election campaign. The State of Israel is democratic for Jews and Jewish for its Arab citizens. We never said that we don't recognize the State of Israel. We are part of it, but we will never accept Zionism, which is an ideology that aspires to banish us from our homes."
ibid.

Khayembii Communique said:

The Central Elections Committee voted 26-3 with one abstention to ban Balad from the elections and 21-3 with eight abstentions to disqualify UAL Ta'al.
Source

Three petitions to disqualify Balad from running were filed with the Elections Committee last week by the Ichud Leumi (National Union) and Israel Beitenu parties and Itay Furman, formerly of Shinui.
Source

The National Union and Israel Beitenu parties are far-right ultra-nationalists, which supports what I've said. Would you like to condemn this action, ludahai?

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What is there to condemn. If there is a law in Israel that forbids parties from partiicpating that don't recognize its right to exist and that party in fact doesn't accept that right, it is entirely legal and proper for the Elections Commission to entertain a petition from any legal party and make a decision based on that petition, which is apparently what happened here.

They have the right to appeal this decision. That is Israel's law. If you don't like it - TOUGH!

What is there to condemn. If there is a law in Israel that forbids parties from partiicpating that don't recognize its right to exist and that party in fact doesn't accept that right, it is entirely legal and proper for the Elections Commission to entertain a petition from any legal party and make a decision based on that petition, which is apparently what happened here.

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Both parties that were banned recognize Israel's right to exist. These right-wing parties have banned them from elections through the committee of which they are a majority, because the oppose the Gaza invasion. Are you unable to understand that? Where is this difficult to understand for you?