Harriet Sherwood’s latest post ‘Israelis use Facebook to deliver poke at democracy during elections‘, Jan 17, is about a Facebook initiative, called Real Democracy, which has “allowed hundreds of Israelis to ‘donate’ their votes to Palestinians as a symbolic protest at what they perceive as a lack of democracy.”
Lack of democracy? In Israel?
Let’s see what they’re referring to.
Sherwood writes:
“[The scheme] matches Israeli voters who are willing to give up their vote with Palestinians who decide how – or whether – the vote should be cast. The organisers say it is “an act of civil disobedience against … the undemocratic nature of the Israeli elections … elections of a government which controls four million Palestinians without a voting right”.”
Note that Sherwood’s protagonist cites “four million” Palestinians “without a voting right’. So, we’re not only talking about Palestinians in the West Bank, but, evidently, those in Gaza, too.
Perhaps the organizers are unaware that Palestinians in the West Bank are being ruled by a President, Mahmoud Abbas, who recently began serving his 9th year of a 4 year term, and that Palestinians in Gaza are citizens of an independent polity governed by Hamas – the masters of statecraft who expelled all political opposition in a violent coup over 5 years ago.
Sherwood continues:
“Shimri Zameret, one of those behind the scheme, hopes that the numbers participating will be in the thousands by polling day. The aim is to give Palestinians a potential say not just in the next Israeli government but also in its “de facto control over the United Nations security council“. [emphasis added]
Since Israel doesn’t have veto power at the security council, let me venture to guess that Zameret, an Israeli “peace” activist imprisoned for refusing to serve in the IDF, is suggesting that Israel ‘effectively’ controls the UN security council by exercising de-facto control over a nation which actually does has veto power – an Israeli vassal known as the United States.
Here he is on Twitter proudly announcing the Guardian promotion of his campaign:
[tweet https://twitter.com/Shimri/status/291996622794133504]
Finally, the goals of the program become a bit clearer in the penultimate paragraph.
“Ayah Bashir, 24, a university teacher in Gaza, has asked her Israeli counterpart, Dror Dayan, to boycott the election on her behalf. “I call for boycotting Israel at all levels, not just the election but academic, cultural and sporting boycotts,” she said. “The Israeli system is an apartheid system, and the Israeli Knesset [parliament] is a Zionist and racist institution.””
Truly surreal.
Ayah is a Palestinian living in a Palestinian controlled territory tyrannically governed by the undemocratic Islamist movement which calls for Israel’s destruction.
Ayah calls for the complete boycott and international isolation of Israel.
Ayah evidently believes that she is being disenfranchised, not by Hamas, but by Israel.
Ayah believes she should have a say in Israel’s election.
Of course, anything less would be completely undemocratic!
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