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By Ahmed Habib

From Centre Right to Far Right – Livni, Netanyahu, Lieberman

After  decades of upholding an illegal occupation, it seems difficult that a country like Israel can take anymore steps towards militarism and right-wing politics.

However, after the country’s elections early in 2009 and the return of far-right politician Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, many are concerned that matters are only going to get more grim for millions of Palestinians living in the oppressive conditions under Israel occupation.

For the several weeks prior to the elections, the many in Israeli society cheered on the political parade marking the 2009 elections for the Knesset, the country’s highest legislative assembly. However, the results of this year’s ballot box bonanza uncover a scary trend in a spartan society already riddled with violence and xenophobia.

What’s Left in Israel?

The elections in Israel were of course preceeded by an Israeli military operation, which cost the lives of over 1,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and thirteen Israelis.  Some commentators regarded the offensive to be pre-election maneuvering by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who was running for the position of PM as head of the Kadima political party. In addition to leading the military campaign against an embargoed and impoverished population, Livni and Kadima began to position themselves to compete with hardliners for votes from the right.

Kadima, which means “progress” in Hebrew, is considered to be Israel’s centrist party, despite it being formed by Ariel Sharon, widely accused of complicity in war crimes including the autrocities committed along with the Lebanese Falangists in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in the 1980’s

On December 12, just over two weeks before Israel launched their offensive, and in an address made to none other than Israeli schoolchildren, Livni reminded Arab citizens of Israel that, “‘Your national aspirations lie elsewhere.'” This sparked an outcry amongst Arab citizens over fears that they will be forcefully transferred to the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza, once a bantustan state is established there.

Prior to the commencement of the elections the Central Elections Committee (CEC) attempted to ban the Arab parties United Arab List-Ta’al and Balad.  The CEC was dominated by Kadima members, who also held the chair of the Committee.  Although the ban was later overturned by a Supreme Court decision, the attempt was denounced by Arab Members of the Knesset (MK’s), some who left the hearing shouting “this is a fascist, racist state.” Israel has been criticized for systematically discriminating against its own Arab citizens, approximately 20% of the population in the most fundamental rights, including marriage and housing.

This put Kadima and Livni, Israel’s “progressive” candidate in the same ideological boat as Moshe Feiglin, a prominent Likud party member who openly advocates for the expulsion of the Arab population of Israel.

The Likud party, which Kadima split from in 2003, is transparent about their intention for the Palestinians. The 1999 Likud charter emphasizes the right of settlement in Gaza and the West Bank, and, “flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river.”

The Likud party was established by Menachim Begin, a former Israeli prime minister, and accused for his role with the notorious terrorist outfit Irgun, a group that was critical in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian. Begin was also PM during the vicious invasion of Lebanon where the Sabra and Shatilla massacres occured.

However, the most troubling character that has emerged, unfortunately with great support from the Israeli electorate, during these last elections must be Avigdor Lieberman.  Lieberman is the founder of Yisrael Beiteinu, Hebrew for “Israel is Our Home” an ultra-nationalist party formed in 1999 to provide a political platform for Russian immigrants.

Lieberman, a former nightclub bouncer in the USSR, moved to Israel in the seventies by taking advantage of the right of any Jew in the world to gain Israeli citizenship. Notably, the right of return as stipulated by UN Security Council resolution 242 has been continually denied to  more than 5 million Palestinians living in the diapora many of which still reside in refugee camps. .

Amongst his platform points, Lieberman, an illegal settler in the West Bank himself, insists that Arab citizens of Israel take a loyalty oath to the country, or lose their right to vote. He is an avid supporter of the transfer of the “Populated-Area Exchange Plan,” which would see the expulsion of Arab Israeli towns and all of its citizens.

As Minister of Transport, Lieberman proposed in July of 2003, that instead of releasing Palestinian political prisoners, “It would be better to drown these prisoners in the Dead Sea if possible, since that’s the lowest point in the world,” and promised to provide the buses to make that happen.

Despite, and some would say because of comments such as these the aspiring Lieberman was propelled to be the second most popular politician in Israel in a poll conducted in 2006 by Israel’s leading daily newspaper, coming second only to Benjamin Netanyahu.  He has since made headlines around the World for suggesting that the ‘pork flu’ should be changed to be named the ‘Mexican flu’ is it was less offensive and by proposing to make any commemoration of the ‘Nakba’, or disaster in Arab, punishable by up to 3 years in prison.  Palestinians commemorate May 15 which was the beginning of mass expulsions of Palestinians by armed militias following the end of the British Mandate over Palestine in 1948.

With regards to the latest military assault on Gaza, which has been internationally condemned for its indiscriminate targeting of civilians and use of banned weaponry like White Phosphorous, Lieberman advocated the use of nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip, “just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II.”

Despite, what many in the Israeli media have regarded as “fascist” overtones, Lieberman’s party gained the most amount of seats in its history during the last elections. Yisrael Beitenu even overtook the Labour Party’s in votes to become the 3rd largest party with 15 seats in the 120 person Knesset.

Saeed al-Mutashail, a 27-year-old West Bank resident and activist sees, “the only difference between the left and right in Israel is between allowing Palestinians to remain within our caged ghettos which we are supposed to call our state, or to continue the Israeli policy of the past 60 years of forcibly displacing us from what land we continue to live on.”

Allegations of War Crimes:

For Benjamin Netanyahu, this is his second stint as Israel’s Prime Minister. From 1996-1999, during his first term destroyed over 300 homes and constructed more than illegal 6500 settlement units in the West Bank among other things.

Many Canadians remember Netanyahu from his infamous visit to Concordia University, where Montreal riot police brutally quashed a demonstration against his presence on campus. Despite the police’s attempts, Netanyahu was forced to cancel his speaking engagement that day.

Netanyahu is an advocate for what he calls an “economic solution,” to the Palestinian “problem” as opposed to a political one that could see the relinquishment of some Israeli control over the occupied territories. Netanyahu is mostly interested in creating the economic conditions most conducive to using Palestinians as cheap labor for Israeli industry.

Israel’s new Prime Minister is opposed to negotiations over the status of Jerusalem, the cessation of settlement building, and rejects the idea of conceding the illegally occupied Golan Heights in Syria.

With ‘Bibi’s’ second term still in its infantile stages, the road to stability and peace in the region seems longer and rockier than ever.

Growing opposition and ‘apartheid’

The recent Israeli elections shed light on  the rise of far-right and racist ideologies into the mainstream of Israeli politics including the support for what many are calling ‘apartheid’ in Palestine.  This had given rise for Palestinian rights groups to call for  more steadfast in supporting the rights of Palestinians by the international community.

For Canadians, they must be especially alerted with the level of complicity of their government in the oppression of Palestinian people. .

In 2005, Stephen Harper’s Tories raced to become the first Western government to boycott the democratically elected Palestinian Authority. It is unprecedented for an occupied population to be put under sanctions, but Canada was the first country to do it.

In 2006, Canada refused to condemn Israeli aggressions against Lebanon, despite the destruction and death they caused, and with regards to the Israeli assault on Gaza, Canada was the only government in the world to vote against condemning Israel at the UN Human Rights Council.

More recently, Canada’s Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney cut off funding for the Canadian Arab Federation for their political views, and has also condemned universities that will allow Israeli Apartheid Week to take place on their campuses.  The call to condemn Israel Apartheid Week, a international grassroots educational effort was also echoed by new Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff.

Despite the efforts to intimidate and isolate communities for their political activities which included coordinated attempts by Canadian University administrations to hinder activities, Israeli Apartheid Week and the growing campaign for Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel continued.

For Israelis, Canadians, and many countries around the world, the recent attacks on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza was an disturbing window into the reality of a population suffering under 40 years of occupation.

Ahmed Habib is a longtime student activist in Toronto.  He is currently a regular contributor to Al Jazeera.