Votes in settlements, kibbutzim and Bedouin villages

At Haaretz website you can read election results by city and sector. If you read Hebrew, Ynet has an interactive map of the results (with comparisons to 2003 and 2006). The Ynet map is a nightmare if you have a slow internet connection, though. Do note that the Ynet map includes both West Bank and Golan as parts of Israel, borders that are not internationally recognized. On the plus side, you can even see results at submunicipal levels at some places.

*Settlements: According to the Ynet map, 'Judea and Samaria' (i.e. West Bank settlers) have voted in the following fashion: Likud 25%, National Union 20%, United Torah Judaism 14%, Shas 11%, Kadima 8%, Jewish Home 8%, Yisrael Beiteinu 8%, Labour 2%, United Arab List-Ta'al 1%, Green Movement-Meimad 1%. Other parties got less than 1%.

*Kibbutzim: According to Haaretz, Kibbutzim votes have been divided along the following lines: Kadima 31%, Labour 31%, Meretz 18%, Likud 6%, Yisrael Beitenu 3%, Jewish Home 3%, Green Movement-Meimad 2%, National Union 2%, Ale Yarok (Green Left, pro-marijuana party) 1%, Green Party 1%, Shas 1%, Hadash 1%. Other parties received less than 1%.

*Bedouins: According to Haaretz, the Bedouin communities have predominately voted for the United Arab List-Ta'al (80%). Other parties in the Bedouin areas were National Democratic Assembly (Balad) 5%, Hadash 2%, Kadima 2%, Labour 2%, Shas 2%, Likud 1%, Green Party 1%, Yisrael Beitenu 1%, Meretz 1%. Other parties received less than 1%.

68 election misdemeanors reported so far

About an hour ago, Jerusalem Post reported that 68 complaints have been filed at the Central Election Commission. Meretz (a Zionist "Leftwing" party) has complained that false ballots were distributed with far-right Avigdor Lieberman's name on them (making a vote with the ballot null). Kadima has complained of tampering with their ballots in several locations, and regarding Kiryat Bialik it has accused Likud activists of bearing responsibility for the tampering.

In Jerusalem a brawl between Labour and Kadima supporters broke out, which the police had to break up. A Labour activist was detained. The National Union has accused United Torah Judaism of stealing their ballot papers in Bnei Brak.

More news on today's election: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Blogs: Jinge, Annarkia, Guero, KB

More about the hypocrisy on the issue of 'recognition of Israel'

In an earlier post, I pointed at the hypocrisy of Western politicians/media demaning that Hamas recognizes Israel whilst no such demands at levelled against Israeli political parties. Go to the Kadima website. In the lower left side, you'll see a map with links to info about local candidates. The map shows West Bank, Gaza and the Golan heights as parts of Israel.

On the website of Likud, you'll see a small map in the left part of the headline, including the occupied Gaza, West Bank and Golan heights as parts of Israel.

The small Green Party differs somewhat, leaving out Gaza, showing West Bank in a different shade than 1948 Israel but including the Golan heights.

Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, on the rightward side of the Israeli political spectrum, advocates repression against Arab 'enemies', classic fascist discourse. The party also seeks limit the possibilities for Arabs to retain their Israeli citizenships.

Hamas and the recognition of Israel

In days like these, when the friends of the Israeli war machine desperately seek to legimatize the mass killings in Gaza, the argument about the non-recognition of the state of Israel by Hamas keeps popping up a lot in Western media. This is of course an attempt to create a side-track in the debate, diverting attention from what's happening on the ground in Gaza.

Somehow, the non-recognition of the state of Israel is presented as an underlying intention of Hamas to destroy Israel and conduct genocide on its population. But whilst Qassam rockets can seriously injure and at times kill people, does anyone seriously believe that Hamas would be in position to dismantle the entire Israeli state and military apparatus through launching home-made rockets?

When studying the documents and discourse of Hamas (short for 'Islamic Resistance Movement'), one should remember that Hamas caters to a constituency that differs starkly from the mainstream political debate in the West. Whilst secular Palestinian liberation movements use discourses of motifs to which Western progressives can easily relate, Hamas uses a discourse packed with religious motifs. The historical and cultural references used by Hamas are at times difficult to understand without also putting them into their context and references to Islamic history. Bluntly translated and consciously misquoted by Israeli sources, they come off as violent and militaristic.

As to the concrete issue of recognition, I think its important to go into some dept about what the political leadership of Hamas says about the possibility of recognizing Israel. Hamas considers that recognition between Israel and an independent Palestinian state should be mutual, Hamas won't recognize Israel unless there is an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. That is quite far from 'destroying Israel', as Hamas has stated that it seeks to establish a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders (see article in Haaretz).

There is a difference between Hamas and the PLO in this regard. The PLO has recognized Israel since 1988. On the other hand, twenty years later Israel still haven't recognized the independence of Palestine. One can thus ask, what incentives that could be given for Hamas to do the same?

If Western politicians, journalists, etc., feel that it is essential that Hamas (which is a political party, not a state) issues a 'recognition' of Israel, they should also ask Kadima, Likud and the Israeli Labour Party whether they are willing to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders? The postures of Hamas might be far from perfect, but in this regard they are far more advanced than the mainstream Israeli parties.