Israel is on the brink of a tyranny of the majority
that ought to resolve in observers’ minds the question of whether Israel
is the democracy it proudly claims to be. The bill empowers a
three-quarters majority of the Israeli parliament to oust a sitting MP.
It
breathes new life into the phrase “tyranny of the majority”. But in
this case, the majority will be Jewish MPs oppressing their Palestinian
colleagues.
Mr Netanyahu has presented the bill as a necessary
response to the recent actions of three MPs from the Balad faction of
the Joint List, a coalition of parties representing the often-overlooked
fifth of Israel’s citizens who are Palestinian.
He claims the
MPs “sided with terror” this month when they visited Palestinian
families in occupied East Jerusalem who have been waiting many months
for Israel to return their relatives’ bodies.
The 11 dead are
among those alleged to have carried out what are termed “lone-wolf”
attacks, part of a recent wave of Palestinian unrest. Fearful of more
protests, Israel has demanded that the families bury the bodies in
secret, without autopsies, and in plots outside Jerusalem.
There
is an urgent moral and political issue about Israel using bodies as
bargaining chips to encourage Palestinian obedience towards its illegal
occupation. The three Palestinian MPs also believe they are under an
obligation to help the families by adding to the pressure on Mr
Netanyahu to return the bodies.
Israel’s Palestinian minority has a
severely degraded form of citizenship, but it enjoys more rights than
Palestinians living under occupation.
When a video of the meeting
was posted online, however, the Israeli right seized the chance to
attack and disenfranchise the MPs. A parliamentary “ethics” committee
comprising the main Jewish parties suspended the three MPs for several
months. Now they face losing their seats.
This is part of a clear
trend. Late last year, the government outlawed the northern Islamic
Movement, a popular extra-parliamentary political, religious and welfare
organisation.
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu (C) waves to supporters in Tel Aviv (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
