Sami Michael (Credit: Tom Raviv)Greetings to ACRI’s friends and supporters,
The Jewish New Year is a holiday of hope and optimism and also an opportunity to engage in personal and public reflection.
Looking back on the year, it is evident that we had one of the hardest and most shameful ones in the history of the State of Israel as far as our nation’s striving for justice, welfare, democracy and peace. Against the weakness, confusion and powerlessness of the forces of progress, the dominance of the destructive and tainted government – that evades responsibility for all corners of society- is increasing. With a majority of one seat in the Knesset, the current leadership is waging a malicious campaign against democratic institutions, the justice system, and even against highly rational military leaders. This leadership has surrounded itself with extremists who have no public consciousness, and who employ incitement and scare tactics. The leadership doesn’t hesitate to disparage anyone who tries to imbue the government with a humanist character. We can recall the attacks on the Minister of Defense that brought about his dismissal because he urged officers to continue speaking their minds; or the attacks on the IDF Chief of Staff because he insisted on prosecuting the soldier who shot dead a wounded, dying Palestinian; or the Minister of Transportation, who was accused of a coup simply because essential construction work on the train was being done on the Sabbath; and we remember the Police Commissioner slandering the Ethiopian community purely due to their ethnicity.
What is so deeply concerning is not just the irresponsible, nationalist government, but the tendency of the majority of citizens – which has been poisoned with propaganda – to come to terms with the corruption, to ignore the investigations into high-level officials, to continue to elect mayors charged with bribery and theft, and to side with dismissed officers in order to protect their friends who are charged with raping female soldiers and police officers.
This year will also go down in history as a dark one in Israeli culture. The war waged against the Al-Midan Theater nearly paralyzed the Arab cultural institution, the airing of a radio show about the poet Mahmoud Darwish led to a hearing with the station’s manager. Legislative initiatives like the “Loyalty Bill” and threats on artists are a manifestation of racism and censorship customary in tyrannical regimes that seek to impose a nationalist, religious, belligerent culture. The vile winds that led to the dismantling of the public broadcasting service, the exclusion of movies and the elimination of the Arab character from Hebrew literature in the education system due to racist motives are still being strongly felt.
Yet, despite the increasing damage to democratic foundations that threaten the backbone of our society – like the war on humanitarian organizations, the NGO Law, which primarily seeks to impede donations to human rights organizations, the Suspension Law, which threatens to target Arab Knesset members, the extermination of the welfare state, the deepening of social divides and widening of atrocious gaps in the education system – we have not lost hope. The start of the 21st century is nothing like the start of the 20th century, when violent and racist regimes blossomed, regimes that adopted a policy of propaganda and deception. The general atmosphere in the world today proves that humanity has learned the most important lesson: the repression of freedom, trampling of human rights and harassment of minorities lead to self-destruction.
I am filled with hope that next year we will be able to put an end to this nightmare, break down the barriers of misinformation and start a path that leads to a more promising future for us and our children.
The Jewish New Year and Muslim New Year fall on the same day this year.
I wish all the Jews and Muslims celebrating a happy new year for us all,
Sami Michael
President
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
