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Cornerstone Issue 62 ISSUE 62, SPRING 2012 ISSUE 62, SPRING1 2012 CORNERSTONE A PUBLICATION BY SABEEL ECUMENICAL LIBERATION THEOLOGY CENTER Grant Me Justice IN THIS ISSUE The Role of the Prophet The Role of the Prophet by Jonathan Kuttab by Jonathan Kuttab 01 In ancient times, the common form of government was an Anti-Democratic Legislation in Israel oriental king, or sovereign, whose subjects were no better by Mossawa Center 03 than personal slaves, and whose territory he considered to be An Open Letter to Foreign Missions personal property, and who ruled by fiat. Whether the king by Taiseer Khatib 06 was benevolent or despotic, his commands were law, with Hear O Israel no appeal or restriction. The Lord God warned the people Poem by David Glick 07 of Israel that they did not know what they were asking for Anti-Democratic Legislation Initiatives when they demanded to have a king “like all other peoples”. by ACRI 08 He warned them that such a king would rule with an iron Bills Promoted by Government fist, and take their sons to his wars, and their daughters as his by ACRI 11 concubines and slaves. Testimony by Wafa’ 18 2 ISSUE 62, SPRING 2012 ISSUE 62, SPRING 2012 3 In times like these, when occupied territories are not even nominal participants in the law plays the role of Israel’s political process as they have no vote for the Knesset. pandering to the worst of And while Israel does not have a Constitution to restrict the the masses, the role of the excesses of the Knesset, it is curious that some of these laws deliberately set out to deny recourse to the High Court for prophet becomes ever more vital fear that they may use legal or constitutional principles to to call attention to the evil and strike down these excesses. oppression of the powerful. This issue highlights a number of these new laws, or proposed laws. Some of them are intended to highlight the Into this formula, Judaism brought the two correctives of “Jewishness” of the state, to the detriment of its non-Jewish the Law and the Prophets: The law being a series of divinely citizens, or to limit or restrict the participation in political inspired mandates which restrict the utter discretion of the life of their Knesset representatives, or to take additional king, and the prophets reminded the king of the requirements lands, and further dilute the rights of those perceived to be of the law and the justice demanded of them by the Lord “enemies” of the majority. Jehovah- a thankless task, as both kings and ordinary people In times like these, when the law plays the role of pandering to preferred to follow their selfish desires and interests, and did the worst of the masses, the role of the prophet becomes ever not care to be constantly reminded of these restrictions. more vital to call attention to the evil and oppression of the In a modern state, where the people, through democratic powerful. It is also the right time to emphasize international processes are expected to be the true sovereign, there is still law and human rights principles dealing with occupied the danger that through the ballot box, they may pass laws territories and the protections that need to be afforded to that violate the interests and freedoms of the individual or those who live under the rule of an occupying power. the minorities living among them. For these purposes, a Also for those who consider Israel a democratic country, it constitution, provisions of international law, and a critical is time to remind them that democracy does not consist of independent judiciary have often been thought of as allowing a 51% majority, through its elected representatives necessary restriction on the arbitrariness of the masses, who, to oppress minorities or to take away the rights of through their elected representatives, are often tempted individuals. Without proper restrictions, a majority, acting to trample the rights of individuals and minorities and to “democratically” can legislate a very oppressive regime. pursue the interest or ideology of the majority, or their Palestinians who fight these oppressive measures would temporary caprices. do well to maintain a nonviolent stand, and deprive the The current state of affairs in Israel provides a perfect oppressor of the excuse of “security” and “self defense” Anti-Democratic, Anti-Arab example: Threatened by outside enemies, and greedy for which is often used to justify the most blatant racism and more land, the current government, clearly the most right oppression. Christians, on the other hand, whether local Legislation in Israel wing in Israel’s history, has gone on a virtual binge of or international, have a definite duty to remember God’s legislation, passing and proposing new laws that would have requirements of justice, and their duty to stand with the Currently, there are at least 35 laws which A raft of discriminatory legislative proposals has been passed been unthinkable a few years ago in their blatant racism, weak and oppressed, and to perform the prophetic function discriminate directly or indirectly against Arab since the 2009 election and more are expected to follow. discrimination, and pandering to the fears of the masses. of calling attention to the injustices perpetuated. citizens of Israel. Moreover, human rights These legislative measures targeting the Arab minority do Israel has no constitution, and its consecutive governments The fact that the majority of Israeli Jews, acting through organizations, specifically Arab organizations, not come as a surprise given the anti-Arab nature and ethno- have not shown great respect for international law, either. their duly elected representatives are the architects of these have been under attack for the past three nationalistic tendencies of the party platforms of various Its High Court, even in the best of times, has been quite laws does NOT exonerate the practices as being the results parties in the current coalition government. Furthermore, compliant and reluctant to reverse the decisions of the of democracy, but instead, implicates the whole population years from extreme-right wing groups that are leading public smear campaigns and Knesset many of these legislative measures are wholly unnecessary government in issues pertaining to land or Arab rights, or in the injustices inherent in them. For the Israeli Knesset and as the Israeli government already limits and controls the “security” matters. Yet some of the new and proposed laws Israeli courts to properly claim respect as institutions of the legislation that aims to curtail freedom of existence and operations of Civil Society Organizations were specifically intended to circumvent the Israeli High “only democracy in the middle east”, they would need some speech and association. The approval of (CSOs) in Israel through the Registrar of Association, which Court, and restrict its authority of oversight. courageous voices of Jewish Israelis, and of their true friends discriminatory bills by the Knesset shows a is responsible for registering CSOs, collecting content and The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the Arab minority and allies to prophetically challenge them, and demand the deep crisis in values in the Israeli political funding reports, and conducting investigations. in Israel has been largely marginalized and is effectively cut repeal of these laws, and the creation of new ones that aim at leadership that is resolute in advancing off from the political process, while the inhabitants of the justice, fairness and equality. and deepening structural and institutional The key legislative measures targeting the rights and freedoms of the Arab minority, and the existence and operations of Jonathan Kuttab is a Palestinian lawyer, advocate for Human Rights, and renowned Christian Speaker. discrimination against the Arab citizens. CSOs are: 4 ISSUE 62, SPRING 2012 ISSUE 62, SPRING 2012 5 • “Nakba” Law:4 In March 2011, the “Nakba” bill, which society, a dangerous trend that can lead only to further was introduced by the extreme right-wing party Yisrael conflict. These actions undermine the role of civil society in a Beiteinu, was passed by the Knesset. The law denies robust democracy and the legitimacy of the Arab community public funding to organizations that commemorate as equal citizens in the State of Israel, thus hampering the the Palestinian “Nakba” as a day of mourning when possibility of internal reconciliation, compromise and a hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled and shared future between the Jewish majority and the Arab forced to leave their homes during the War of 1948. minority. The law infringes on the freedom of expression and the right of Israel’s Arab citizens to tell their own cultural and historical narrative. This has had a severe impact on Arab institutions and organizations, such as Arab Written for ‘Cornerstone’ by Mossawa, the advocacy center for local councils, that are already subject to discrimination Arab citizens of Israel. HYPERLINK «http://www.mossawa. by governmental bodies and will further delegitimize org» www.mossawa.org them. • Law on Disclosure Requirements for Recipients of Funds from Foreign Entities:5 This bill was passed in February 2011 and places stringent reporting rules on NGOs that receive funding from public sources, such as When Justice the EU or the US. Harsh penalties will be imposed on NGOs that violate the law. There are already adequate Implies Injustice transparency laws in place, and compliance with these additional requirements will be prohibitively expensive For many people, justice has come to mean for many small Arab NGOs. The law does not place an impartially administered system of settling similar requirements on private funding from abroad, grievances under law. Law, however, can hold much of which funds illegal settlement activities in the many ambiguities.
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