Of the Israel model secular democracy!
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The UN General Assembly made November 29 the day for observing solidarity with the Palestinian people. Throwing out multi-racial Arabs who made no mistake except being born in that country, the UN brought in there the Jewish community hunted down by Hitler's Nazi Germany and other Western powers, and chose November 29 for solidarity day in 1977. Exactly the day the U.N. passed the partition resolution for Palestine. Though only a half of Palestine was given to Israel at the time, following the 1967 invasion a lion's share of Palestine became part of the Jewish state. In addition to it, the Jewish army also occupied the west bank of the neighboring Jordan. Later, the UN Security Council asked Israel through many resolutions to withdraw and return the occupied territories to their rightful owners. The country was not ready to budge even an inch.
Israel that has not yet demarcated its borders signed, under the pressure of the US, the Oslo Accords with the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat in 1993. The treaty stipulated that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip be left to the Palestinians, and Arab countries would instead establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. After the treaty was not honoured, Saudi Arabia came up with the two-state plan. The Saudi plan was for the Jewish people and the Arab people to agree to a peaceful coexistence. But even that was also rejected by the Zionists. In 2020, as per Abraham Accord Bahrain, UAE and Sudan recognised Israel and established diplomatic relations. But Israel still went ahead with its aggressive plans by establishing Jewish settlements occupying even 13 square kilometers of land allotted to the Palestinian people by the UN. Only six square kilometers of land in the West Bank remain inhabited by Palestinians. Both Israel's army and police are now in the middle of forcefully setting up Jewish settlements there. The youths standing up to this cruel injustice are being gunned down every day. However, neither the United States nor the European countries or the world are ready to raise a finger against it.
In the midst of this, Israeli citizens have to vote in the fourth general election in five years. Because none of the right-wing, far-right and extreme far-right political parties get the majority to rule. The collapse of governments following the breakup of infighting ragtag alliances is a common occurrence in Israel. The country is still touted as the only example of democracy in the Middle East. History has repeated itself in the elections held on November 1. The coalition led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu' Likud party has bagged 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset, qualifying him for a third term in office.
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The price he has to pay for it is noteworthy. Netanyahu has agreed to include in the cabinet Itamar Ben-Gvir who is a staunch anti-Palestinian leader, giving him the control of the West Bank's police force and a supportive role in the finance ministry. Ben-Gvir is a far-right activist who argues for Jew to pray in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque revered by the world Muslims as their third holiest site. He demanded to drive the Palestinians out of the country. Netanyahu, on the other hand, has declared Israel a Jewish state. America and the world have no compunction when such a far-right coalition takes over Israel. To the US the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan are dangerous religious nationalists posing threat to peace.And they find pure secular democratic model in the Benjamin Netanyahu- Ben-Gvir coalition. This idea of secular democracy that stands on its head deserves a big salute.
