Left-wing Israeli activists find inspiration in SA’s fight for equality

TALI FEINBERG

“Democracy is under threat in Israel firstly because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing allies are trying to make the judiciary non-existent. No matter what your political views, if the judicial system and the Supreme Court are under threat, we need to wake up and speak up,” says Gitzin.

He and a number of other left-wing leaders of non-governmental organisations in Israel were recently in South Africa of their own volition, to learn lessons about peace-building and transitional justice. They also aimed to build strategies to implement these lessons within the Israeli-Palestinian context.

The Israelis met with activists and civil society leaders who were involved in the pre-democracy negotiations in South Africa in the 1990s and people who were working at solving South Africa’s societal problems that have continued since then. The Jewish Democratic Initiative (JDI) took advantage of their visit to present them and their work to the broader South African Jewish community.

The JDI is a new South African movement that advocates for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, explains JDI executive committee member Joshua Hovsha.

“We see in the last election process how Netanyahu spoke about the judiciary as ‘the elite against the common people’, which is how we’ve heard other populist leaders talk,” says Gitzin. “Israel’s democracy is also quite weak because we don’t have a constitution, so laws can be changed more easily.”

Linked to the threat to the judiciary is another threat of annexation in the West Bank, a promise Netanyahu made in the days before the election. “This would be incredibly dangerous for Israel’s democracy. At the moment it is something temporary, but as soon as it becomes a permanent annexation, Israel will no longer be a democracy, and will have a minority ruling over a majority,” he says.

In spite of this, Gitzin remains hopeful about Israel’s future. “After a week in South Africa, I can see that anything is possible. Yes, we are in an extreme time, but we are also close to a point where people will need to decide what kind of country they want Israel to be. It will be a long process, but I cannot imagine the day when Israel will cease to be a democracy. I believe in Israeli society.”

Gitzin says it is vital for the South African Jewish community to educate young people about the complexities of Israel, and make space for debate and questions. If we don’t, our youth will feel lied to when they discover the “real” Israel, and will “turn away”. Gitzin says he has seen this happen in Jewish communities all over the world.

Because we have such an extreme BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement in South Africa, young people need to understand Israel’s burning issues before they go to university, he says, so that they will be better equipped to deal with the debates on campus. Furthermore, a moderate space for questioning is vital in counteracting the extreme BDS narrative that we have here.

Advocate Sharon Abraham-Weiss, the executive director of ACRI (the Association for Civil Rights in Israel), says that her organisation is the only one monitoring and engaging on the full spectrum of rights.

“ACRI deals with threats to Israeli democracy. This is often in the form of legislation that erodes essential democratic institutions like the high court, civil society organisations, and discrimination against minorities. At the other end, it defends the rights of the Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. In between these two poles, ACRI handles a range of civil rights issues.”

Her organisation faces major challenges. “Our criticisms of government policy have, over the past decade, elicited consistent attack by our country’s elected leadership, including the prime minister.

“Perhaps the most well-known example of these attacks came in the form of the NGO Transparency Law in 2016, which exclusively targeted organisations that are critical of the official government line.

“Another example is the Jewish Nation-State Basic Law in 2018, which elevates the Jewish character of the state over the democratic character, and with it targets the status of our Arab minority,” she says.

“Now, with many of the sanctions against minorities and civil society organisations anchored in legislation, a new wave is cresting, and the 21st Knesset is set to intensify attacks against the gatekeepers of democracy. These include the separation of powers between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government. Israel is at a critical juncture.”

Hagai El-Ad, the executive director of B’Tselem or the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, says that his organisation strives to end Israel’s occupation. “We recognise that this is the only way to achieve a future that ensures human rights, democracy, liberty, and equality for all people, Palestinian and Israeli alike, living on the bit of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”

B’Tselem’s challenge is “to move ahead towards ending the occupation, in the face of a right-wing government supported by destructive American foreign policy”. As El-Ad recently wrote in the New York Times, “We, the nearly 14 million human beings living on this land, need a future that is worth fighting for: one based on the common humanity of Palestinians and Israelis who believe in a future of justice, equality, human rights, and democracy – for all of us.”

El-Ad says that 25 years after the advent of democracy, “South Africa continues to hold a unique, global, symbolic position, as a source of inspiration for anyone fighting for justice and equality in the face of an entrenched oppressive regime. This unique legacy is an asset that no other country – and hence no other Jewish community – has to offer. Leveraging this history in order to help bring about a radically different future for Israelis and Palestinians, that is the challenge I hope the South African Jewish community will rise to.”

Says Hovsha: “These are people who fight human-rights abuses each day, and are committed to a future in which Israelis are at peace with Palestinians. We were proud to host activists of their calibre from Israeli civil society. Their work inspires us in our advocacy for a just and democratic future for all.”