*tap-tap* is this thing on?

[eumelia]

Meretz is a liberal-Left wing Israeli party, which in the 90's was quite popular among the Intellectual Elite, The Student Body and in fact the majority of Jewish (and also some non-Jewish) people under the age of 35.
I dunno what happened, but the party lost it's luster and has been the political equivalent of a yapping Chiwawa. Makes a lot of noise, doesn't get much done with the saving grace of Zehava Galon* the only Meretz Memeber of Knesset with an actual social and feminist agenda.

Well, no more Chiwawa yapping for Meretz!
There's going to be a New Left in Israel!
Voices from different Labour and others from the Israeli Literati are putting their voices in for a stronger Meretz.
What a lovely, lovely thing it is to see all these former Labourists see the light of the "Real Left" in Israel.
This light is so bright, that they've completely blinded by the fact that all these Labourists and Literati are men.
White men.
Upper-middle class, intellectual, white men.

I love the smell of exclusion in the morning.
It smells like liberal bullshit!

Seriously now, did no one notice? Are Zehava Galon and Tsiva Greenfeld the only worthy women on the Meretz platform.
What there aren't any intellectuals and Literati women in this country? Don't tell me they're all flocking to Tzipi Livni?!
*gasp*
Could, could it be that you're taking the women's vote for granted?
MK Haim Oron, your sexism is showing, your racism too!

Adios, I'll find someone else who actually holds the values I believe in. You know, those values of social justice, representation, diversity and yes, bloody inclusiveness!.

Labor figureheads to support Meretz in upcoming elections
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent

Central figures on the Israeli left, including former Labor party ministers, writers, spiritual leaders and academics are expected in the coming days to announce their support of Meretz in February's national elections. Some of them will even join the party and contend in the upcoming primary.

Meretz Chairman Haim Oron has held meetings in recent weeks with dozens of prominent figures to strengthen the party, which took 12 Knesset seats in the 1992 election but was reduced to five by the 2006 vote.

Among those who met with Oron and are expected to back Meretz are former labor ministers Shlomo Ben-Ami and Uzi Baram, and former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg. All three have left political life in favor of writing or private business.
Novelists Amos Oz and David Grossman are also expected to support the party, as well as attorney Tzali Reshef, a Peace Now founder who served briefly as former prime minister Ehud Barak's chief of staff and ran for a Knesset seat with Labor

Gilad Sher, who headed Barak's team in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority between 1999 and 2001, is also likely to join the party ranks, along with Yossi Kuchik, director-general of the Prime Minister's Office during the Barak administration, as well as professors Yossi Yonah and Yossi Dahan.

Current Meretz MKs were assured by the party's leaders in a recent meeting that the newly recruited members would not be guaranteed spots on the party's list. Instead, a handful of them are expected to contend for places among the bottom five candidates.

Due to the recent resignations of MKs Yossi Beilin and Ran Cohen, the second through fifth positions on the party list are likely to be filled by current MKs Zahava Gal-On and Avshalom Vilan, and former MKs Ilan Gilon and Mosi Raz.

The initiative to broaden Meretz's representation was launched after party leaders realized that despite Labor's falling numbers at the ballot box, Meretz has failed to attract voters disappointed with the party, or even those who had voted for the Pensioners Party.

Polls show most such voters prefer Tzipi Livni's Kadima party, which is widely viewed as committed to pursuing peace with the Palestinians.

In talks over assembling a government under her leadership, Livni arrived at terms of an agreement with Meretz, and even promised the party it could count on fielding two ministers.

After the decision to hold early elections, Meretz leaders concluded that to rise above the five or six mandates it expected to receive, it must bolster its forces from beyond the party.

Notes:
*Tsiva Greenfeld was sworn in just before the Knesset liquidated itself for the elections in February, so I really have no opinion on her.

Comments

[mao4269.livejournal.com]

It'll be interesting to see what happens in primaries and how they structure their list.

I'm getting the impression that as Kadima takes the (ideological and demographic) space of Likkud, Meretz is taking the (ideological and demographic) space of Labor (I'm not sure how to describe where Likkud's going)?

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

The Labour Party took women for granted in Australia and handed the country over to John Howard and his pack of bastards (though honestly, he was probably the meanest of them). For ten years. On the other hand, you have a wider variety of political parties, so with any luck, someone will notice and go for the inclusiveness.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope so!

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

So it would appear.
I'm not particularly optimistic about this move. But at the moment I'll just keep paying attention.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

Excuse me?
Kadima is certainly not taking the Likud's space. Nor is Labor taking Meretz's.
Kadima ad Meretz are together taking Labor's place. The Likud is staying where it is.

Polls, as far as I remember, say that the left/right blocs have not changed in size. Only that Labor is getting smaller...

[mao4269.livejournal.com]

First, I never said that Labor was taking Meretz's place, I said the exact opposite (which, at least to some extent, your comment indicates you also think).

As for Kadima and Likkud, several former Likudniks are now in top Kadima positions (most notably Livni), and I get the impression that Kadima is moving towards the ideological position that Likkud once occupied. I don't have a good enough sense of Israeli politics to know whether that's actually shifting Likkud rightward in ideology and demographics (hence the question mark in my original comment).

Polls that gauge left-right blocs based on parties are problematic if the parties that represent various ideologies and demographic groups are changing (do they just gauge how much support their is for each party, or do they use some sort of static measure of what left and right mean and then ask poll questions based on that?).

[mao4269.livejournal.com]

Regardless of whether Analysis 1 (Kadima and Likkud are both moving rightward as Meretz takes Labor's place) or Analysis 2 (Meretz and Kadima are jointly taking Labor's place) is more fitting, the OP's point still holds: Meretz, which has prided itself on being inclusive, is becoming less so in order to try to get votes from former Labor supporters.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

I disagree.
They are looking for "super-stars" to make them look more respectable and cast a larger shadow.
Most of the superstars in Israel (at the moment) are men.
Therefore, most of the people they are enlisting are men.

There is nothing misogynistic, or rather, there is nothing specifically misogynistic about this.

[mao4269.livejournal.com]

Becoming less inclusive is what happens in an unequal world when you stop making a point of trying to be inclusive. In this case I don't think it's unreasonable to equate looking more respectable and trying to get votes from former Labor supporters. With that as their priority, they're no longer making a point of trying to be inclusive, with the predictable result.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

Why do you assume that they are not trying to be inclusive?
They are trying to do two things at once (1) be inclusive (2) bring superstars.

I see no reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt - if there are two superstars, the one of who fits their inclusiveness agenda will be preferred over the other.

They have been inclusive for the last 13 years, it hasn't helped their agenda. Perhaps by biting the bullet for one election, they will reopen the possibilities?

I just think you and the OP are judging them harshly.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

What does the phrase "nothing specifically misogynistic" mean, exactly?
Please explain.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

That this action was not actively misogynistic.
i.e. they did not set out to say "lets not include a woman".

It may be misogynistic not to choose a woman, but that would be an end result of society not producing enough female "superstars" and not a result of them ignoring existing ones.

[mao4269.livejournal.com]

When you only have so many spaces to fill, top placement on the list is a zero-sum game and you can't effectively do the two things at once (as long as the superstars are straight, well-to-do, Ashkenazi men). As for judging them harshly, all I said was that they're taking the ideological and demographic place once occupied by Labor, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (though that includes being dominated by the traditional political elite, and I do think more parties should make an effort not to be).

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Why do you assume that they are not trying to be inclusive?
Haim Oron is making a point of expanding the Israeli Left-of-Centre base, he is doing so by expanding the representation of Men of Position, feels pretty exclusive to me.

if there are two superstars, the one of who fits their inclusiveness agenda will be preferred over the other.
There are no ahkenazi women, mizrahi men, mizrahi women, israeli-palestinian men and women who fit the bill?
Orli Kastel-Bloom, Hannah Nave, Henriette Dahan-Caleb, to name just a few.

They have been inclusive for the last 13 years, it hasn't helped their agenda. Perhaps by biting the bullet for one election, they will reopen the possibilities?
So by removing their ideological platform they get more important votes?
I see.
So the fact that they perpetuate women's lowered status in the political sphere is just a "by the way"?
Glad you're feeling represented.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Most forms of prejudice and bigotry aren't done on "purpose".
This comment shows a lack of thought from your direction.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

What's your point?

You seem to think that Meretz politicians live in some strange world where things are either black or white, totally pro- or anti- something.

I suppose you'd prefer Meretz to have 5 seats (4 male, 1 female) than 10 seats (9 male, 1 female)?

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

My point is that Meretz is being hypocritical and alienating by rendering a huge part of the population invisible by mis- or not representing them on their platform.

You may not see it as a big deal, but you're not the one whose being marginalized by their thoughtlessness. I don't think they're malicious or being pro one agenda or anti a different one.

I think that this new stance of broadening their political stance would be a little more honest and yes, inclusive, if they considered the fact that they are continuing the trend of white men representing us all, which is an exclusionary notion.
And I don't care that Livni is PM, Itzik is Chairman and that Beinish is supreme judge.
If Meretz stands for social equality, walk the walk, and stop blowing hot air.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

So you would prefer Meretz to have 5 seats (4 male, 1 female) than 10 seats (9 male, 1 female)?

Yes or no?

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

The way they're looking? No, I wouldn't vote for them.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

How are you enjoying Feminist Philosophy?
Have you gone to a class yet?

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

Nope, too much work :( ...

This course will have to be mostly reading articles and depending on the kindness of strangers for summaries...