At a recent UC Davis event, Orit Kamir, an Israeli “scholar that deals with the interface between law, society, and even politics” stated:
Israel likes to think of itself as a forward-thinking, liberal, enlightened, egalitarian state, and it’s happy to legislate in that image… It makes us feel good. [But] outlaws are like a mirror that we look at to see our ideals[?]. If you look at the law again, the laws are very short [?] there’s hardly anything operative about the law [?] nothing about what should be changed or institutionalized.[?] It’s a symbolic legislation.
Interestingly enough, she wasn’t talking about the sham democracy that imposes second-class subhuman status upon the Arab/Palestinian citizens of Israel. Instead, she was referring to the prominence of sexual harassment in Israeli politics (i.e. – nasty flirting, ramming one’s tongue down womens’ throats, and even rape).
Nevertheless, it leads one to wonder: How many other Israeli laws out there are merely ‘symbolic’? I bet at least 20% of Israel’s population can think of a few…
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you call this a post? Do you think?
I suppose the prominence of sexual harassment in Israel is a much graver problem than it is in the US, for example? I don’t know who Orit Kamir is but I know that the blurb attributed to her is hollow and if anything, she sounds idiotic. If they found a pigeon somewhere in the world who said “Israel is evil!” I’m sure you wouldn’t hesitate a minute to copy and paste the quote and find a funny picture of a pigeon and make it a blogpost. Many of the bloggers here seem to attach themselves to anything and anyone that supports whatever ideas they support themselves. This blind allegience is not surprising given some of the other blind allegiences one often encounters here. This blogpost is a perfect example, and a glaring example why this blog is becoming more of a joke by the day.
perhaps you should make a after school special “nasty flirting.. it started in Israel and is now moving overseas.. beware!”
Posted by Anonymous | March 11, 2007, 1:55 pm1. Do Jews have more rights in Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia than Arabs in Israel do?
2. Why is it that when polled the vast majority of Arabs in Israel demand to stay in Israel instead of being incorporated into a future Palestinian state?
3. Why is it that Palestinians want to return to a place where they will be “second class citizens”.
4. What country in the Middle East is more democratic than Israel. If Israel’s democracy is flawed which one in the Middle East is less flawed.
Posted by Anonymous | March 11, 2007, 3:07 pmnice graphic.
Posted by Emily | March 11, 2007, 3:19 pmFirst, Orit is a feminist legal scholar and is considered to be on the left side of the political map. On other matters, I think that one think is needed for understanding the minority rights in israel: Unlike most arab states, Arab Israelies have (1) The right to vote and (2) The right to participate in politics. Moreover, the supreme court is very fond of Human Rights and Legal Equality, which is one thing you must take into consideration.
Kamir’s words are also needed to be read in context, they are about the problems (like) Minister Ramon had with the law when he kissed a woman without her consent, and the lack of general enforcement in these cases.
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