Politične spremembe so počasne. V demokraciji ne gre zaspati in se zbuditi v fašističnem režimu. Državljani Egipta in Tunizije lahko potrdijo, da velja tudi nasprotno: diktatura ne postane demokracija čez noč.
Vsaka politična sprememba takšnega obsega je rezultat trdega dela in je vedno postopna, kar kaže na to, da res ni nobenega posameznega zgodovinskega dogodka, ki bi ga lahko označili za trenutek spreobrnjenja.
Obstajajo pa pomembni dogodki, ki služijo kot zgodovinski mejniki.
Samomor Mohameda Bouazizija, ki se je polil z bencinom in zažgal, ko mu je policija zasegla pridelke, ker ni imel potrebnih dovoljenj, bo ostal v spominu kot iskra, ki je zanetila tunizijsko revolucijo in morda zdaj celo regionalne družbene vstaje. imenovano arabsko prebujenje. Podobno se bodo množična srečanja na trgu Tahrir verjetno razumela kot kaplja, ki je prelila čašo in sprožila počasen proces egiptovske demokratizacije.
In Israel, it might very well be that the Boycott Bill, which the Knesset approved by a vote of 47 to 38, will also be remembered as a historic landmark.
Ironically, the bill itself is likely to be inconsequential. It stipulates that any person who initiates, promotes or publishes material that might serve as grounds for imposing a boycott on Israel or the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem is committing an offence. If found "guilty" of such an offence, that person may be ordered to compensate parties economically affected by the boycott, including reparations of 30,000 Israeli shekels ($8,700) without an obligation on the part of the plaintiffs to prove damages.
Cilj predloga zakona je braniti izraelski naselitveni projekt in druge politike, ki so v nasprotju z mednarodnim pravom o človekovih pravicah, pred nenasilno mobilizacijo, katere namen je odpraviti te politike.
The Knesset's legal advisor, Eyal Yinon, said that the bill "damages the core of Israel's freedom of political expression" and that it would be difficult for him to defend the law in the High Court of Justice since it contradicts Israel's basic law of "Human Dignity and Liberty". Given Yinon's statement, and the fact that Israeli rights organisations have already filed a petition to the High Court arguing that the bill is anti democratic, there is a good chance that the Boycott Bill's life will be extremely short.
In vendar je treba ta zakon še vedno obravnavati kot prelomnico. Ne zaradi tega, kar predlog zakona naredi, ampak zaradi tega, kar predstavlja.
After hours of debate in the Israeli Knesset, the choice was clear. On one side was Israel's settlement project and rights-abusive policies, and on the other side was freedom of speech, a basic pillar of democracy. The fact that the majority of Israel's legislators decided to support the bill plainly demonstrates that they are willing to demolish Israeli democracy for the sake of holding onto the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The onslaught on democracy has been incremental. The Boycott Bill was merely a defining moment, preceded by the Nakba and Acceptance Committee laws, and will likely be followed by the passing of a slate of laws aimed at destroying Israeli human rights organisations. These laws will be voted upon in the coming months, and, given the composition of the Israeli Knesset, it is extremely likely that all of them will pass.
Izraelski zakonodajalci pa se zavedajo, da uničenje skupin za pravice ne bo dovolj za zadušitev vsega notranjega odpora. Njihova končna tarča je High Court of Justice, edina institucija, ki ima še moč in avtoriteto za obrambo demokratičnih praks.
Njihova strategija je, kot kaže, počakati, da sodišče nove zakone razveljavi, nato pa zgroženost javnosti nad odločitvami sodišča izkoristiti za omejitev pristojnosti sodišča z zakonodajo in tako onemogočiti sodnikom, da razveljavijo protiustavne zakone. Ko bo avtoriteta višjega sodišča resno omejena, bo desničarskim članom kneseta tlakovana pot, da bodo delali, kar želijo. Proces, ki vodi v propad izraelske demokracije, je morda počasen, vendar je smer, v katero gre država, popolnoma jasna.
Neve Gordon is an Israeli activist and the author of and author of Izraelska okupacija (University of California Press, 2008). He can be contacted through his website www.israelsoccupation.info
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