Professor Zeev Sternhell published this text in Haaretz daily newspaper, it is highly recommend if anyone is interested: Does Israel still need democracy? - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
Here are some random quotes from it:
The individual has ceased to be at the core of Israel’s democracy, with the right-wing majority aggressively pursuing legislation that turns the country’s non-Jews into second-class citizens. Anyone who allows this to happen will be complicit in the country’s fate.
Making non-Jews into second-class citizens is the objective aspired to by the right-wing majority in Israel. Acting on behalf of this movement are the ministers of justice and foreign affairs, who have the backing of the entire parliamentary elite of the right, except for the Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin. Even when the activity is conducted within the framework of the law, it is stridently opposed to the foundations and spirit of democracy, and to the intellectual values of liberalism.
[...] the core of democracy’s existence is the assurance of human rights and individual freedoms. Majority rule is the means to that end, not a goal in itself. Majority rule came into the world as an alternative to rule of the individual or of the few, in order to prevent arbitrariness and to guarantee equality for all. Therefore, majority rule is limited by the purpose for which it was created: Rule of the majority loses its legitimacy the moment it harms human rights and denies universal norms of equality. Through majority rule, democracy can also terminate itself.
[...] the state is not conceived as a device to ensure the well-being of all its citizens, but as a framework that facilitates the enforcement of supremacy of the Jews over those who are not Jews. One should not misunderstand the intentions of the right. The seriousness of the current antidemocratic legislation derives from the fact that it is anchored in an inclusive outlook, that it serves a clear objective, and is nothing but the first stage in the major war to change the character of the state and society in Israel.
At this point, it seems proper that Israelis take stock of their situation. What would we say if the legislation now making its way through the Knesset were to be passed in one of the European countries? What would we be saying if documents were publicized there − akin to the statements and rulings of Israeli rabbis − demanding that apartments not be rented to non-Christians, or forbidding girls from dating non-Christians, even though the reference is to other citizens of that country? Without a doubt, a loud outcry would arise here: The monster is again raising its head. So it would be worthwhile to consider the fact that the monster is already walking, head held high, through the hallways of the Knesset, and proudly displaying its accomplishments.
Haaretz has also put up a special section covering these disturbing political moves under the title Black flag over Israel's Democracy, please check it out. I'm also talking to some activist friends trying to figure out what's the proper web action to be carried out.
And to conclude in a comic note, here's a PSA produced by the ministry of "Aliya" (the special term that designates much wanted and very much campaigned jewish immigration to Israel), starring my close friend, the beautiful Naama Schendar (she got a lot of money for it, that helped her continue her amazing project, a theater group with jewish and arab kids in Akko, so there is some justice there), aimed at convincing Israelis who live abroad and their families that they must come back ASAP.
The guy in the ad fails to understand his girlfriend's grief in Israel's memorial day, as instead of having sex with him (and here lies another, more hidden level of the racism in this video: the "gois" are all sex maniacs who want to violate our precious, luscious, innocent girls) she's shedding a tear in front of the computer.
The text that the responsible-but-yet-warm fatherly voice at the end says is "They will always remain Israelis. Their partners won't always understand what it means. Help them to come back home". Seriously, he says that.
I repeat, this is not a parody.
