Just as note, the only democracy in the Middle East turns 56 today. 56 years ago a group of Israeli soldiers defeated the forces of Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq to secure the future of the state of Israel. Despite many subsequent efforts to destroy the state of Israel it remains as the single truly democratic state in the region, and a leader in biomedical, technological, and military research. From virtually nothing, the Israeli people have created a country that has not only weathered war, but has provided more rights to its Arab citizens than the Arab countries that surround it. Here’s to a hope for a peaceful future and a free Israel. Am Yisrael Chai!
Happy Birthday Israel
Published
Well, truly democratic if you overlook the mass disenfranchisement of the Palestinians. But we can ignore that little detail.
Still better than the rest of the Middle East though, so Happy Birthday…
In order for Israel to have “disenfranchised” the Palestinian’s you’d have to accept that the West Bank and Gaza are therefore legally parts of Israel. You can’t disenfranchise people who aren’t your citizens.
If you want to be accurate Jordan and Egypt both disenfranchised the Palestinians – the West Bank should legally be controlled by Jordan and the Gaza Strip by Egypt – but both used those areas as dumping grounds for politically inconvenient populations.
The real tragedy is the Palestinian’s Arab neighbors have shut them out and fed them a diet of viciously anti-Semitic propaganda until they’ve become little more than a society of walking bombs to continue the war that they couldn’t win using conventional means.
As I understand it, there are Arabs in Isreal’s Knesset. Disenfranchised? How many Arab-Muslim countries have true freely elected legislatures? How many allow Jews?