Democracy, by any other name
Sep. 15th, 2008 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eumeliaYou know, for the purposes of this entry I was looking through online dictionaries trying to find a definition of Democracy that would help me make my point about the silencing of minority voices within society at large.
The closest was this - "The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" - from Dictionary.com.
That sweet little exposition aside, let me state that we who live in Democracies (or at the very least, are members of the privileged class/race/religion to which Democracy applies) consider freedom of speech to be a staple in the tradition of the Vox Populi Vox Dei, which I'm always happy to quote.
However, when you live in a society which declares a specific ethos and/or social agenda to be the Only True Path, anything that shows an alternative, or even criticizes said ethos and/or social agenda, those who voice these alternatives and criticism are considered to be the Vox Diabolus (the voice of the devil, i.e. blasphemy).
Earlier today, Attorney General Menachem (Manny) Mazuz ordered the police to open a criminal investigation against the New Profile organization.
This organization which provides information regarding alternatives to Army service in the country - New Profile's Charter - is being accused of encouraging draft dodging and inciting dissent.
The low-grade media circus concerning so called "draft dodgers", is such that everytime I hear or read about it, I feel an apopletic fit coming on and my eyed do this - o_O.
The silencing of opposition voices is so anti-Democratic I can't help but feel that Israel's perpetual myth of being the only Democracy in the Middle-East can not help but be thoroughly debunked.
This is outrageous! I can barely verbalise what I find so upsetting about this whole issue.
The information New Profile offers is not solicited, it is open to anyone who actively seek it it out.
And here are a few more myths debunked concerning the evil, sinister, anti-patriotic "draft dodgers":
Thesepeople eighteen year old kids that the IDF doesn't even bother to draft in any case... those who really dodge the draft get sent to jail and that's far rarer than it's played out, seeing as most those who don't want to serve get a legal exemption and shouldn't be fucking prosecuted for it.
We can also talk about all the Ultra-Orthodox Yeshivah boys who aren't drafted due to religious convictions, something which has become inculcated in law because back in the 40's they were a minority and didn't make a difference. In the mean time they've multiplied and are hijacking the social agenda and are even have their own backward and separate education system, which continues to breed ignorance and religious dogma which so happens to be a part of the state.
Not to mention the clause that allows women to not serve in the military due to religious or conscientious objections - note, this is not the same as the conscientious objectors that one hears about on the News, more info here.
By the way, men and women do not serve the same amount of time in the army, by default women two years and men serve three.
This is, by the way, just the Jewish population. The non-Jewish population situation is far more complex for a variety of reasons.
And I'm now so sick of this hearing the media spin this issue.
Government, police and other state officials, stop persecuting people who legally and with your approval don't serve in the IDF and find a way to #1 Negotiate Gilad Shalit's Freedom, #2 Stop enabling Settlement expansion and violence in the West Bank, #3 End the siege on Gaza and stop using Sderot and surrounding towns and kibbutzim as hostages that enable the Army to show off its National Erection and #4 Stop silencing the voices of those who are not the consensus.
This is not 1984, this is 2008 and the only Big Brother around is this one (disturbing for completely different reasons and a totally different level).
The closest was this - "The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" - from Dictionary.com.
That sweet little exposition aside, let me state that we who live in Democracies (or at the very least, are members of the privileged class/race/religion to which Democracy applies) consider freedom of speech to be a staple in the tradition of the Vox Populi Vox Dei, which I'm always happy to quote.
However, when you live in a society which declares a specific ethos and/or social agenda to be the Only True Path, anything that shows an alternative, or even criticizes said ethos and/or social agenda, those who voice these alternatives and criticism are considered to be the Vox Diabolus (the voice of the devil, i.e. blasphemy).
Earlier today, Attorney General Menachem (Manny) Mazuz ordered the police to open a criminal investigation against the New Profile organization.
This organization which provides information regarding alternatives to Army service in the country - New Profile's Charter - is being accused of encouraging draft dodging and inciting dissent.
The low-grade media circus concerning so called "draft dodgers", is such that everytime I hear or read about it, I feel an apopletic fit coming on and my eyed do this - o_O.
The silencing of opposition voices is so anti-Democratic I can't help but feel that Israel's perpetual myth of being the only Democracy in the Middle-East can not help but be thoroughly debunked.
This is outrageous! I can barely verbalise what I find so upsetting about this whole issue.
The information New Profile offers is not solicited, it is open to anyone who actively seek it it out.
And here are a few more myths debunked concerning the evil, sinister, anti-patriotic "draft dodgers":
These
We can also talk about all the Ultra-Orthodox Yeshivah boys who aren't drafted due to religious convictions, something which has become inculcated in law because back in the 40's they were a minority and didn't make a difference. In the mean time they've multiplied and are hijacking the social agenda and are even have their own backward and separate education system, which continues to breed ignorance and religious dogma which so happens to be a part of the state.
Not to mention the clause that allows women to not serve in the military due to religious or conscientious objections - note, this is not the same as the conscientious objectors that one hears about on the News, more info here.
By the way, men and women do not serve the same amount of time in the army, by default women two years and men serve three.
This is, by the way, just the Jewish population. The non-Jewish population situation is far more complex for a variety of reasons.
And I'm now so sick of this hearing the media spin this issue.
Government, police and other state officials, stop persecuting people who legally and with your approval don't serve in the IDF and find a way to #1 Negotiate Gilad Shalit's Freedom, #2 Stop enabling Settlement expansion and violence in the West Bank, #3 End the siege on Gaza and stop using Sderot and surrounding towns and kibbutzim as hostages that enable the Army to show off its National Erection and #4 Stop silencing the voices of those who are not the consensus.
This is not 1984, this is 2008 and the only Big Brother around is this one (disturbing for completely different reasons and a totally different level).
