"It's class warfare and my class is winning." Warren Buffett

The value of any commodity, ... to the person who possesses it, and who means not to use or consume it himself, but to exchange it for other commodities, is equal to the quantity of labour which it enables him to purchase or command. Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities. (Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations Book 1, chapter V.)

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works....(Barack Obama)


Thursday, May 28, 2009

Israeli Bills Would Stifle Free Speech

Israel's parliament passed a bill that would require its Arab citizens to not merely recognize Israel's right to exist but to recognize its existence as a Jewish state:

Israel's parliament gave initial approval on Wednesday to a bill that would make it a crime to publicly deny Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, punishable by a sentence of up to a year in prison.

The bill would basically negate any discussion of a one-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as well as any discussion of the right of 5 – 8 million Palestinian refugees to return to their homes within Israel (which would make the present Jewish majority in Israel a minority).

It also outlaws any publications that call into question the right of Israel to exist as a state:

It would outlaw the publication of any "call to negate Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, where the content of such publication would have a reasonable possibility of causing an act of hatred, disdain or disloyalty" to Israel.

Violations of the publications law warrant a prison sentence of up to a year in jail.

Israel's cabinet also approved another bill recently which would "outlaw public displays of mourning over Israel's birth, which Palestinians call "naqba," an Arabic word for catastrophe."

Yet another bill "would require Israeli citizens to take a loyalty oath to the Jewish state before they could be issued a national identity card."

However, before bills become law, they must pass through some additional hoops:

The measure would have to pass three additional votes in parliament and a committee review before becoming law.

Given the right-wing nature of the present Israeli government, it's reasonable to believe that these bills will pass.

These bills are clearly intended to stifle free speech and call into question the character of Israel's so-called democracy. The bills basically define "loyalty" for Israeli citizens by the kind of speech it proscribes. It also limits the discussion of the kind of solutions that are possible to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Some solutions are simply forbidden to mention.

President Obama's Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposes $2.8 billion in military aid to Israel.

Posted by Delaware Watch at Thursday, May 28, 2009