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World News January 02, 2003 Jewish liberals attack poll ban on Arab MPs >From Ben Lynfield in Jerusalem LEADERS of Israel's Arab minority were joined by Jewish liberals yesterday in protests over the banning of an Arab nationalist party from the general election later this month. They claimed that the banning of the National Democratic Alliance and its leader, Azmi Bishara, an Israeli-Arab MP, was part of a campaign by the ruling Likud Party to exclude Arab citizens from Israeli politics. This was denied by Likud leaders, who said that Mr Bishara had been banned not because he was an Arab but because he allied himself with Israel's enemies. Naomi Chazan, a member of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and of the liberal Meretz Party, said: "This is a gross violation of one of the most basic rights of citizenship in a democracy - the right to vote and be elected." She said that the ban on Mr Bishara, and an earlier ban on Ahmed Tibi, a fellow Arab member of the Knesset, were part of a "very racist process" of driving Arabs, who make up a fifth of Israel's population, out of politics. "This is really very serious," she said. "It could undermine the entire basis of Israeli democracy." Ms Chazan called on the Supreme Court, which must consider an appeal by January 9, to overturn the bans. Israeli Arabs have faced severe discrimination in land use, building rights, education and social services since Israel's establishment in 1948. The one exception was the 1992-95 tenure of Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister whose centre-left coalition depended on a tacit alliance with Arab MPs. Lacking the benefits and budgets accorded their Jewish counterparts, the right to vote and run for the Knesset traditionally served as one of the spheres in which Israeli Arabs enjoyed equality with Jews.But many Arabs complain that the State seeks to dictate to them who will be their leaders and many Israeli Jews are fearful that Arab citizens are growing increasingly radicalised. The ban by the central election commission, at the behest of Elyakim Rubinstein, the Attorney-General, is based largely on allegations that Mr Bishara called for "armed struggle" against Israel, in violation of an amendment to a law passed last year. It was also based on a report by the Shin Bet intelligence service that Mr Bishara supported the deportation of Jews from Israel to achieve an Arab majority. Mr Bishara denied backing armed struggle, said that the Shin Bet material was spurious and argued that the real issue was his ideology. He stipulated that Israel should cease to be a state that defined itself as belonging to Jews worldwide and instead should evolve into one that belongs equally to all its citizens. Mr Bishara was put on trial for sedition last year for making statements in Syria that were interpreted as backing attacks by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia against Israeli targets. The trial is still running. On Monday the electoral commission rejected an attempt to disqualify another Arab MP, Abdul-Malik Dahamshe, which Likud leaders argued showed that they were not against Arabs, but against threats to the State. Tzipi Livne, a Likud minister, said: "A small number of Arab leaders are using Israeli democracy in order to undermine Israel's existence. They are representing the position of the Palestinians, who are using terrorist means against the citizens of Israel. It is the right of a democracy to defend itself." Issam Makhoul, another Arab MP, complained that Likud's actions were motivated by a combination of political calculation and racism. He said that, as Israel's right-wing and left-wing blocs were evenly split, encouraging Arab citizens to drop out of electoral politics would boost the right wing in future elections. "But it is even more dangerous than that," he said. "They are also trying to say that all those who don't agree with the national consensus have no place in Israeli democracy." Mr Bishara said that he would call for a boycott of the elections on January 28 unless the Supreme Court struck out the bans. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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