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"Violence Is Grounding the Fundamental Democracy" Israel today

2020-10-23T08:45:58.490Z


| In the countryThe demonstrators on the left are not traitors, and those on the right are not fascists. • After the corona ends, we will have to repair the rifts between us. • Minister Steinitz in a special article for "Israel Today" A right-wing activist holding a "traitorous leftists" sign Photography:  Oren Ben Hakon "Violence is eroding the foundations of democracy," said the late Yitzhak Rabin in his l


The demonstrators on the left are not traitors, and those on the right are not fascists. • After the corona ends, we will have to repair the rifts between us. • Minister Steinitz in a special article for "Israel Today"

  • A right-wing activist holding a "traitorous leftists" sign

    Photography: 

    Oren Ben Hakon

"Violence is eroding the foundations of democracy," said the late Yitzhak Rabin in his last speech. In these tumultuous days of global epidemic and public hysteria accompanied by the atmosphere of the "end of the world"; in these difficult days of global order and local order. In these turbulent days of verbal incitement from all directions and sections that occasionally escalate into physical violence; It is no less important to reiterate the second sentence and the least remembered in Rabin's last speech: "In a democracy there can be disagreements, but the decision will be in the elections."

I was a left-wing man in my youth - and a right-wing man in my adulthood.

I participated in demonstrations organized by the Peace Now movement during the 1980s - and became a member of the Knesset and a minister on behalf of the Likud movement at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

I experienced incitement and hatred as a right-winger and as a left-winger.

I "won" a taste of contempt, contempt, and rage, on the one hand and on the other. 

"And again the melody returns" and recently we are again feeling how the fire in our little tribal bonfire is growing and threatening to burn us all.

How the ideological fervor of one camp or another - an ideological fervor that in itself deserves appreciation and appreciation - is translated into incitement, contempt and contempt, towards those who do not share it.

In recent weeks we have repeatedly seen large and important publics, some enthusiastic about rescuing the "democratic" component of the "Jewish and democratic" formula - and some enthusiastic about rescuing the "Jewish" component of the same formula - sometimes resort to disobedience to state institutions and even violence against policemen and soldiers entrusted The law and public order and the implementation of the legal decisions of the elected government.

I think my special personal history sometimes gives me a certain advantage over my friends on the right and left: I know, and even be able to feel, how things look from the other side as well.

I know with absolute certainty that the vast majority of people on both sides sincerely want the good of the whole and the good of the state.

I am convinced with all my heart that the vast majority of leftists are strictly patriots, and not God forbid "traitors" or "stinking leftists";

And I also know for sure that the vast majority of right-wingers are strictly democrats, and not God forbid "fascists" or "submissive herd beasts."

I feel what in the end we all know in the secret of our hearts: we are brotherly people - "a tribe of brothers and sisters".

We are brotherly people, even when we see and interpret contemporary reality in a completely different way.

We are brotherly people, not only because we are all a people still struggling for existence and independence in a difficult and dangerous area, and not just because we are all now rocking on one boat on top of the storm and waves caused by the plague.

But literally: we are brothers because you have almost no family or circle of friends who are not religious and secular, Sephardim and Ashkenazim, people left and right, ardent supporters and fierce opponents of the government and its leader.

In these tumultuous days when the whole world is like a pharmacy, and when the modern media still intensifies the drama as usual and highlights the controversies in order to provide us with the daily thrills needed for the battle for ratings - it is important to relax for a moment and look at things from a slightly more philosophical-historical perspective.

It is important to remember again that we already knew in the short history of our tiny country greater crises and more severe storms.

Remember the fears about the fate of the country and its very existence during the waiting period that preceded the Six Day War?

Remember the difficult situations in the Yom Kippur War?

The warnings about the fate of democracy that accompanied Menachem Begin's rise to power?

The unparalleled violent election campaign of 1981?

The economic crisis and hyper-inflation of the 1980s?

The polarization and mass demonstrations during the Oslo Accords?

The terrible incident of Rabin's assassination?

The buses and restaurants that exploded in the streets of our city during the second intifada?

Our "Jewish-Democratic" party has already proven itself to be a winning formula, and believe me, if we get past Pharaoh - we will get through that too.

As far as can be seen at the moment, despite its current severity the corona crisis is about to pass and pass from the world in the not too distant future, this is due to the impending development of vaccines and medicines.

One can already take a risk and predict that the severe disruption of the world order is this time only a temporary disruption.

Yes, this is a serious crisis and has a health-economic price tag attached to it.

No, this is not an event that changes world orders on the scale of World War II.

In the meantime, we should all calm down and relax.

Reassure to relax, because this is the most rational way to maintain our "Jewish and democratic" in the best possible way.

I therefore call on my friends on the right, who are annoyed by the demonstrations and messages that are sometimes perceived as arrogant and disrespectful, to avoid as much as possible clashing with verbal violence with the protesters on the other side, and certainly not to confront them physically.

Their right to demonstrate!

And this right is unquestionable, even if they are part of their messages that irritate us insanely and even if they hurt and offend us.

Their right to demonstrate, and yes, even to swear their mouths, as long as they are governed by laws and restrictions.

I'm still carrying on my left leg fragments of the grenade thrown at a peace demonstration now almost forty years ago that killed Emil Grinzwig.

Under no circumstances do we want, God forbid, to be dragged into similar events. 

I also call on my brothers from the left to provide messages and style.

Yes, also towards the Prime Minister of Israel.

The right to demonstrate and protest is part of the right to speak and express an opinion - but there are expressions that are not worth hearing.

It is true that legally it is probably permissible to swear and wish every person all the evil in the world, since there is no law that forbids hatred.

But please do a little thought experiment, and think for a moment how you would react if it became clear to you that some of the expressions being heard today against Netanyahu and his wife were heard at the time against Yitzhak Rabin and his wife.

Can you tell yourself, if hand on heart, that you would not define the exact same expressions as outbursts and incitement?

When protesting against demonstrations against the prime minister and the government, that is of course fine.

However, when surfing for dangerous talk about a "revolution" or "revolution", it is a clearly extreme and anti-democratic message that transmits power and violence to anyone who thinks and votes differently.

A pro-democracy coup can only take place where the people's right to a real ballot is denied.

But calls for a coup or a physical siege on a democratically elected parliament, simply because certain circles in the public have difficulty reconciling with the decision of the electorate as expressed in the composition of the government and the Knesset, are inconsistent with the principles of democracy.

The right to protest is incompatible with the right of coup, even when some protesters see themselves as "security and academic elites."

In fact she even contradicts her!

Once the right to vote and be elected, and the right to speak and protest exist in any country - slogans such as "coup" or "siege" necessarily convey the anti-democratic message, as if someone has the right to bring about a change of government through the use of violence and force.

The nature of such messages is that they create an atmosphere of threat to entire publics, as if undermining their equal right to influence.

Protest leaders should make it clear and unequivocal that they respect the election results as they are reflected in the composition of the government and the Knesset.

This is in accordance with the principle that appears in the second sentence of Rabin's last speech: "In a democracy, the decision in an election."

As I have already mentioned: we have passed Pharaoh - and we will pass that too.

In the meantime, it is worthwhile for all of us, for the entire tribe of brothers and sisters, to lower the flames, to avoid violence, to calm down and relax, and to peruse the spray of philosophy and history.

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2020-10-23

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