Israeli elections: the Bad, the Ugly and the Terrible

At this point 99.7% of the votes have been counted in the Israeli elections. Sometime later today, I'll try to write a longer post with more analysis. At this point (albeit slightly different Knesset seat counts appear on different websites) a few things can be said (based on figures from this morning in the Jerusalem Post):

*There is no clear winner between Kadima and Likud, Kadima appears to have gotten 28 seats, Likud 27. Kadima has thus been able to position itself slightly under its 2006 result. Both parties claim to have won, both parties will try to form a governing majority. Lots of wrangling negotiations to follow, probably even worse than the horse-trading that torpedoed Livni's first attempt to form a cabinet in 2008.

*Far-right Yisrael Beiteinu came third (15 seats), a historic shift in Israeli politics. Party supremo Avigdor Lieberman has declared that he's willing to negotitiate with both blocs, as long as they can promise extensive bloodshed in Gaza and zero negotiations with Hamas.

*Labour Zionism has suffered a humiliating defeat. The Israeli Labour Party, for decades the dominating force of Israeli politics is now reduced to fourth position (13 seats). The Meretz party only got three seats. In the 1949 elections, Labour had 46 seats and Mapam (the Marxist-Zionist precursor of Meretz) had 19. Now the non-Zionist left (Hadash) is larger than the Zionist 'Left' (Meretz), a historic occurance. The shift to the right in Israeli politics is now sealed, and the last illusions on the pioneering Israeli socialism (that some Western leftists have nurtured after spending a vacation in a kibbutz) ought to be shed.

*There was an expectation that Arabs would increasingly boycott the elections in protest of the Gaza massacre. It seems that the rise of Lieberman in the polls reversed that trend to some extent. According to Jerusalem Post, the United Arab List (Ra'am)-Ta'al got 5 seats, Hadash (a joint Arab-Jewish front, led by the Communist Party) 4 seats and the National Democratic Assembly (Balad) 2. Ra'am-Ta'al and Balad have, combined, the same number of seats as in 2006 whilst Hadash has increased with one seat.

*Other results: Sepharhim Orthodox party 'Shas' comes fifth with 11 seats (down from 12), the Pensioners Party 'Gil' falls out of the Knesset (had 7 seats last time), United Torah Judaism 4 seats (down from 6). The far-right parties Jewish Home and National Union got 3 and 4 seats respectively (they had contested the 2006 election unitedly, getting 9 seats). The advances of Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu has weakened other right-wing parties.

*The remaining votes (0.3%) to be counted are those of diplomats, soldiers, seamen, prisoners and hospitals. Final results will be declared only on February 18. I won't guess how these 0.3% will incluence the outcome, but probably Arab parties will not be represented very well amongst them.

News links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Blogs: Svensson, Bildt, Anna W, Röda Malmö

GWOT logics

In an earlier post I had commented how the brutality of the Israeli assualt on Gaza and the silent acceptance of Western governments to the Israeli atrocities, also has negative impacts on other conflicts around the world. Many governments are eager to copy-cat the pathological Israeli rhetoric of branding all of it's actions as 'fight against terrorism'. In short the logic is that as long as you can brand your enemy a 'terrorist', you can get away with anything.

Compare the following video (al-Jazeera trailer)


with the final parts of this January 30 al-Jazeera broadcast


The is a stark similarity, namely that both the Israeli and Sri Lankan ministers seek to avoid the actual question of responsibility of bombings of trapped civilians by focusing on characterizing and demonizing their enemies as 'terrorist'. The Sri Lankan Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe mimics Livni in stating that "Our fight is not with the civilians. ... Our fight is with terrorism".

The Sri Lankan civil war and the Israeli occupation of Palestine are not 100% analogous, there are important differences between the two conflicts, but the logic of how international conventions are disregarded in the light of the Global War on Terror is a common feature.

News links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 Blogs: Roya, Erik, Svensson, PTR, ST, DS, Topnews, Pragoti

Surreal conversations

Israeli Foreign Minister Livni has met with U.S. envoy George Mitchell. According to the Jerusalem Post, Livni has appealed to Mitchell that Israel and the United States should "strengthen the moderate forces in the region while harming the extreme factions such as Iran and Hamas."

That is, of course, diametrically opposite to the actual conduct of Israel during the Gaza massacre. All 'moderate' (read collaborationist, Quisling) Arab leaders have been extremely discredited during the massacre, whilst those governments that took a firm stand against aggression and atrocities have been vindicated. As per Hamas, reports indicate that it support has been significantly boosted in the Fatah-ruled West Bank. Does anyone take Livni's comment seriously anymore?

News links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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.

Gaza: 21 medics killed by Israeli forces

A must-see news report from al-Jazeera;



21 medics have been killed by bombs and snipers, whilst trying save lives in the killing fields of Gaza. All the tributes to them, their bravery is an inspiration to us all, to continue the campaign for a stop to the massacre, demand breaking diplomatic & trade links with the Israeli murder-state and advocate a complete boycott of all Israeli goods.

Do also note one other feature of the video posted above. One Palestinian man, points to the fact that the children killed in Gaza were killed for the sake of Israeli elections. Really, noone can seriously claim that the present escalation was motivated from a military point of view. Rather it was the falling opinion poll rathings of the corruption-ridden Kadima & the Israeli Labour Party which made the need urgent for military offensive in order to produce a nationalist ire that follows. Barak & Livni might reap the benefits and score ministerial posts, the children of Gaza pay the price.

News links; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

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Re-posting, January 10: Norwegian aid truck hit by Israeli fire in Gaza (1, 2, 3), "Scenes of horror in Gaza" - Red Cross directs sharp criticism against Israel

Reading tips to Mr. Barak, Mr. Olmert and Mrs. Livni

A Modest Proposal, a classic but, unfortunately, still relevant.

Another links of the ongoing situation; I, II, III, IV, V