lennart
19-12-02, 20:57
AG requests disqualification of Azmi Bishara's
Balad list
By Baruch Kra , Ha'aretz Correspondents, and Ha'aretz Service
Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein asked the Central Election Committee to disqualify the Arab list Balad (National Democratic Alliance) from competing in the Knesset elections because its goals contradict the Jewish-democratic nature of the state of Israel and because it supports organizations fighting against Israel.
In addition, Labor MK Ophir Pines-Paz and attorney Amnon Lurch requested that the far-right Herut party be disqualified, saying it incites racism and stands for the negation of Israel's democratic nature.
Rubinstein said that the Balad list, headed by MK Azmi Bishara, contradicts the Basic Law: The Knesset. In his petition to the CEC, he wrote that "the evidence clearly shows that the Balad list hides its true face and is not as it seems. The evidence also shows that the central aims and goals of the party are the negation of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state and support of terror groups' armed struggle against Israel."
Rubinstein cited evidence collated in part by the Shin Bet security service, some of which has already been published in the media.
Rubinstein stated that in September 2000, Bishara met in Hebron with leaders of Hamas. During the course of the meeting, Bishara said that they should realize that even if he is a member of the Knesset, he is merely a vessel for disseminating their ideas and promoting the struggle against Israel.
Bishara also said that he sees himself as a warrior in the fight against Israel, just like all the other participants at the meeting. He added that he had told Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat that before making a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence, he should establish a united front off all Palestinian bodies, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. At the meeting, Rubinstein says that Bishara predicted that, given the current situation, the Israeli Arab population would stand up to fight for Palestinian rights, acting as a 'second front' against Israel.
The attorney general added that he knew of another meeting between Bishara and Hamas, at which the Balad leader expressed his identification with a group involved in terror acts against Israel. Rubinstein stressed that Balad has a clear and ordered program, the main thrust of which is to change the Jewish nature of Israel and to establish in its place a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. This state, he said, would only grant the right of return to Jews whose ancestors were present before the establishment of the State of Israel.
In order to execute this plan, Rubinstein stated, Bishara called on the youth wing of his party to build an army for the liberation of the Palestinian people, including the liberation of Israeli Arabs from Jewish occupation. Rubinstein said that this plan was not the public platform espoused by Balad.
Sources in Balad expressed indignation at Rubinstein's charges, and that he relied on Shin Bet reports in his statement to the Central Elections Committee. Bishara's number two, Jamal Zahalka, said Thursday that Shin Bet interference in a political matter "is a scandal that brings Israel into line with the least enlightened regimes in the world."
Legal representation group Adalah and human rights organizations have agreed to represent Balad when it defends itself against the charges.
Bishara called Rubinstein's letter "a barefaced lie. My positions on the subject of attacking innocent civilians are well known, and are the subject of debate in the Arab world. Why does the attorney general need to lie? Why does he need the Shin Bet to disqualify a member of Knesset? If he wants to argue, let him argue. I have a program, and he thinks I am in contact with any terror organization, let him prove it and put me on trial."
Het OM van Israel wil een arabische partij dus verbieden op basis van raporten van de geheime dienst. Shin Bet (Mossad) zegt over de leider van deze partij dat hij contact zou hebben met Hamas en zichzelf ook identificeert met Hamas. Het probleem echter is dat er geen enkel bewijs hiervoor is. Zelfs als hiervoor bewijs is dan zou deze man aangeklaagd moeten worden en niet simpelweg zijn partij verbieden. De partij zelf doet namelijk helemaal niets verkeerd, zelfs als wat Shin Bet over de leider van deze partij zegt juist zou zijn. Als het OM gelijk krijgt wil dit dus zeggen dat in Israel partijen verboden kunnen worden wanneer de Shin Bet iets tegen deze partij heeft, kortom een verdere uitholling van een democratie die zowiezo alleen nog maar op papier bestaat.
Er wordt trouwens ook een referentie naar Herut gemaakt. Dit is een partij die nog rechtser is dan Likud, maar deze partij krijgt op z'n hoogst 2% van de stemmen.
Balad list
By Baruch Kra , Ha'aretz Correspondents, and Ha'aretz Service
Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein asked the Central Election Committee to disqualify the Arab list Balad (National Democratic Alliance) from competing in the Knesset elections because its goals contradict the Jewish-democratic nature of the state of Israel and because it supports organizations fighting against Israel.
In addition, Labor MK Ophir Pines-Paz and attorney Amnon Lurch requested that the far-right Herut party be disqualified, saying it incites racism and stands for the negation of Israel's democratic nature.
Rubinstein said that the Balad list, headed by MK Azmi Bishara, contradicts the Basic Law: The Knesset. In his petition to the CEC, he wrote that "the evidence clearly shows that the Balad list hides its true face and is not as it seems. The evidence also shows that the central aims and goals of the party are the negation of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state and support of terror groups' armed struggle against Israel."
Rubinstein cited evidence collated in part by the Shin Bet security service, some of which has already been published in the media.
Rubinstein stated that in September 2000, Bishara met in Hebron with leaders of Hamas. During the course of the meeting, Bishara said that they should realize that even if he is a member of the Knesset, he is merely a vessel for disseminating their ideas and promoting the struggle against Israel.
Bishara also said that he sees himself as a warrior in the fight against Israel, just like all the other participants at the meeting. He added that he had told Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat that before making a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence, he should establish a united front off all Palestinian bodies, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. At the meeting, Rubinstein says that Bishara predicted that, given the current situation, the Israeli Arab population would stand up to fight for Palestinian rights, acting as a 'second front' against Israel.
The attorney general added that he knew of another meeting between Bishara and Hamas, at which the Balad leader expressed his identification with a group involved in terror acts against Israel. Rubinstein stressed that Balad has a clear and ordered program, the main thrust of which is to change the Jewish nature of Israel and to establish in its place a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. This state, he said, would only grant the right of return to Jews whose ancestors were present before the establishment of the State of Israel.
In order to execute this plan, Rubinstein stated, Bishara called on the youth wing of his party to build an army for the liberation of the Palestinian people, including the liberation of Israeli Arabs from Jewish occupation. Rubinstein said that this plan was not the public platform espoused by Balad.
Sources in Balad expressed indignation at Rubinstein's charges, and that he relied on Shin Bet reports in his statement to the Central Elections Committee. Bishara's number two, Jamal Zahalka, said Thursday that Shin Bet interference in a political matter "is a scandal that brings Israel into line with the least enlightened regimes in the world."
Legal representation group Adalah and human rights organizations have agreed to represent Balad when it defends itself against the charges.
Bishara called Rubinstein's letter "a barefaced lie. My positions on the subject of attacking innocent civilians are well known, and are the subject of debate in the Arab world. Why does the attorney general need to lie? Why does he need the Shin Bet to disqualify a member of Knesset? If he wants to argue, let him argue. I have a program, and he thinks I am in contact with any terror organization, let him prove it and put me on trial."
Het OM van Israel wil een arabische partij dus verbieden op basis van raporten van de geheime dienst. Shin Bet (Mossad) zegt over de leider van deze partij dat hij contact zou hebben met Hamas en zichzelf ook identificeert met Hamas. Het probleem echter is dat er geen enkel bewijs hiervoor is. Zelfs als hiervoor bewijs is dan zou deze man aangeklaagd moeten worden en niet simpelweg zijn partij verbieden. De partij zelf doet namelijk helemaal niets verkeerd, zelfs als wat Shin Bet over de leider van deze partij zegt juist zou zijn. Als het OM gelijk krijgt wil dit dus zeggen dat in Israel partijen verboden kunnen worden wanneer de Shin Bet iets tegen deze partij heeft, kortom een verdere uitholling van een democratie die zowiezo alleen nog maar op papier bestaat.
Er wordt trouwens ook een referentie naar Herut gemaakt. Dit is een partij die nog rechtser is dan Likud, maar deze partij krijgt op z'n hoogst 2% van de stemmen.