Sacramento Business Daily - Do the settlements prevent Israel from being considered a democracy?

Do the settlements prevent Israel from being considered a democracy?

Since Israel settles the west bank, the west bank is part of Israel. But only Jews in the west bank can vote. How can one claim that the settlements are legitimate and Israel is a democracy? Also, would America still be a democracy if all non-Jews were stripped of citizenship?

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non-citizens in New York can't vote either but the US is still a democracy.
A lot of things prevent Israel from being considered a democracy. Arresting peaceful protesters, kidnapping people and holding them without trial, shooting at anyone who looks suspicious (even if they are old women). No sane person considers Israel to be a democracy. @Remeber the Mercaz victims: Suadi Arabia is a sh*t country, it doesn't really help your argument if your trying to compare Israel with it. At least they don't pretend like they're a democracy though.
Great point by the previous poster. You should know that A LOT of these Arabs do NOT want citizenship. Check this out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2efHFEPxiQ The Arabs don't recognize Israel, so why should they get citizenship? They don't view Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, anyways. THEY DON'T WANT IT!! Yep, total apartheid in Israel - after all, Arab women get to VOTE. Yep, tha's apartheid all right! Oh, and remember that Israeli Arabs and Muslims sit in the parliament and make policy - now if THAT isn't apartheid... Let's not forget the way that Israel protects and maintains the Muslim holy sites, the Christian holy sites, and the B'hai holy sites - real apartheid that, don't you reckon? And the free press! Apartheid Apartheid Apartheid!!! Apparently and bizarrely, over one million Israeli Arabs clearly ENJOY this 'apartheid' - after all, they prefer to live and work and worship IN Israel, rather than any one of the larger, richer Arab or Muslim states. How odd...! By the way - when will you be posting things condemning Saudi Arabia's GENDER APARTHEID - you know, where women can't DRIVE, or leave the house without a MALE RELATIVE? Saudi Arabia - where rape victims get FLOGGED and PUT IN PRISON? Where CHRISTIANS get imprisoned merely for owning a BIBLE? But yeah, you carry on bashing Israel, the 'apartheid' state... Nada-LOL, and wait lemme guess,Saudi Arabia is a liberal democracy. right??
Settlements are one of Israeli forms of terrorism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N90cEOI_774 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1GDQYafAV8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcmjR-cVu8w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I16Q0-Xjf0&feature=channel The settlements aim to grab more land and create Jewish majority in Palestinian land. That is what Israel has been doing for the past 61 years. Replacing the original inhabitants with Jewish immigrants. Israel is not democratic state. The state that strive for Jewish majority, and destroying Palestinian and Arab identity in the land is democratic as Nazi Germany and apartheid south Africa.
"Since Israel settles the west bank, the west bank is part of Israel". False. The west bank is an occupied territory. Having civilians settle in an occupied territory does not make it a part of the country. Stripping any group from citizenship based on religion or ethnicity is undemocratic, but irrelevant to the case, because Israel has never stripped a population of its citizenship.
Does anyone else find it funny that the land israel wants is called the west BANK? Bank as in money. LOOOOOOOOLZZZZZZZZZZZZZ If there was a peice of land called the west ROCKET palestinians would want that im sure. and if there land called "west basketball" black people would all move there hahahahahahhahahahahahhahazzzzz
nope, israel is a democracy and is considered a democracy by all reasonable people. jewish parts of the west bank are part of israel, arab parts are not, they are controlled by their own arab governments and have their own (albeit corrupt) elections. also, to answer your stupid hypothetical, if it happened by constitutional amendment, it would be fine. if it happened any other way, the USA would have to be non-existent first. are you calling for the destruction of the US as well as Israel? i'll tell the CIA if you like.
The Arabs weren't stripped of anything . They were never citizens to start with. No they don't have a vote. Neither do I.
And why is the existence of settlements indicative of whether Israel is a democracy or not? For the record, Israel has both Jewish and Muslim citizens and they all have the vote. Thus, your "analogy" to an America stripping the right to vote from non-Jews is a pointless endevour.
Well, West Bank is not exactly part of Israel, though it is under Israeli rule since it was taken over by Israel in self-defense. So, Israeli citizens who settle there would remain Israeli citizens, of course. But West Bank hasn't completely given up the idea of destroying Israel; so of course, Israel's enemies are not going to be accepted as Israeli citizens. In Israel, of course, there are citizens of every major religion and every race, including a lot of Arabs; Arabic is even one of Israel's official languages. Israel is a democracy whether you "consider" it a democracy or not.
No, not at all, they are legal and the citizens are very much part of Israel.Jews have lived in Judea and Samaria — the West Bank — since ancient times. The only time Jews have been prohibited from living in the territories in recent decades was during Jordan's rule from 1948 to 1967. This prohibition was contrary to the Mandate for Palestine adopted by the League of Nations, which provided for the establishment of a Jewish state, and specifically encouraged “close settlement by Jews on the land.” Numerous legal authorities dispute the charge that settlements are “illegal.” Stephen Schwebel, formerly President of the International Court of Justice, notes that a country acting in self-defense may seize and occupy territory when necessary to protect itself. Schwebel also observes that a state may require, as a condition for its withdrawal, security measures designed to ensure its citizens are not menaced again from that territory. According to Eugene Rostow, a former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs in the Johnson Administration, Resolution 242 gives Israel a legal right to be in the West Bank. The resolution. Rostow noted, "allows Israel to administer the territories" it won in 1967 "until 'a just and lasting peace in the Middle East' is achieved," Rostow wrote.
ERROR-The West Bank and Gaza strips belong to the Palestinians,NOT ISRAEL-Israel is building ILLEGAL(BY INTERNATIONAL LAW) JEWISH ONLY SETTLEMENTS and buffer zones on other people's Land.Matter of fact, Israel has been vetoed by the UN over a dozen times for attempting to UNILATERALLY annex Arab East Jerusalem. The reason Israel refuses the two state is because she will not be able to annex the strips. Israel is performing ethnic cleansing(killing Palestinians) so she can reduce the population to less than the Jewish population, other wise the Arabs will vote the Jews out of office without ANY war. Even if Israel is successful, in 20-25 years she will face that problem without the West Bank and Gaza strips. Will she kill Arabs every time they start to outnumber Jews in Israel-I don't call that democratic-do you? The Israelies also use intimidation, posting guards around voting areas to search Arabs and arrest them without chareges. No America wouldn't be a democracy. FACTS:First, the land was given as RESIDENCY for the Jews, not as OWNERSHIP- NO WHERE does it say the Jews owned it or were to kill the Arabs to get it. God quite explicitly states whom the land belongs to-GUESS WHAT- it was not the Jews, but the Arabs. CAN ANY ONE BELIEVE GOD WOULD COMMAND THE JEWS TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE'S LAND AND KILL THEM FOR IT? Matter of fact in, the Bible, God PUNISHES the city on the hill(that's Israel). She is brought to her knees for her indiscretions(this can ONLY be the Palestinian situation) Nation up on nation shall rise up against her-sound familiar-even the US, her only supporter is changing direcection. God intervenes and Israel is turned from her wicked ways. A NEW Jerusalem, possibly shared, instead of divided as is now, arises.This is in the Bible. The truth is that Jews (not Israel) bought about 7% of the land before 1948. Most of the rest was owned by Palestinians as documented by the British Mandate.The remaining land was STOLEN from the Palestinians AS DOCUMENTED BY THE BRITISH: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Man... The Arabs of Canaan are the Arabs of Palestine. They were there AT LEAST EQUALLY as long as the Jews/Israelis, but they had a constant presence and a defined land. The Jews were nomadic and had NO land until what was taken from the Palestinians in 1948. Both Jews and Arabs have the same father, Abraham, whom although Semitic, possibly Hebrew, was not considered Jewish. Abraham, his parents, and his ancestry is from Babylon, which is, in fact, INSIDE the Arabian Peninsula, the origin of the Arab peoples.So he may very well have been Arab. Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region that includes contemporary Israel and the Palestinian territories, parts of Jordan, and parts of Lebanon and Syria. In its narrow meaning, it refers to the area within the boundaries of the former British Mandate of Palestine (1920-1948) west of the Jordan River. Palestine can also refer to the Proposed Palestinian State. The name and the borders of Palestine have varied throughout history, though Palestine has certain natural boundaries that justify its historical individuality. Other terms that have been used to refer to all or part of this area include Arabistan, Canaan, Greater Israel, Greater Syria, the Holy Land, Iudaea Province, Israel, "Israel HaShlema", Kingdom of Israel, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Land of Israel, Levant, Retenu (Ancient Egyptian), Southern Syria, and Syria Palestina. Early archeological textual reference to the territory of Palestine is found in the Merneptah Stele, dated c. 1200 BCE, containing a recount of Egyptian king Merneptah's victories in the land of Canaan, mentioning place-names such as Gezer, Ashkelon and Yanoam, along with Israel, which is mentioned using a hieroglyphic determinative that indicates a nomad people, rather than a state. The promise that is the basis of the term "promised land" is contained in Genesis 15:18-21 of the Hebrew Bible: "On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abrham and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates - the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." The verse is said to describe what are known as "Borders of the Land" (Gevulot Ha-aretz). In Jewish tradition these borders define the maximum extent of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac(2nd born-the Jewish lineage and Ishmael the 1st born and the Arab lineage) and grandson Jacob.Even according to Hebrew customs, the oldest son, which is Ishmael, is entitled to the father's inheritance, but because Sarah despised Ishmael, she wanted Isaac to get the inheritance and had Abraham exhile Ishmael. Neither is Ishmael illegitimate but the legal son of his SECOND wife Hagar-Genesis 16: "And Sarah Abraham's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abraham had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abraham to be his WIFE(my emphasis).By Hebrew tradition, when one or the other spouse can not perform their duties, the remaining spouse can the partner's closest relative/ friend to legally fulfill those duties-in this case Hagar. "On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abraham, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. (Genesis15:18)"Ishamael was Abraham's FIRST born. The promise is made to Abraham and the descendants of his son Ishmael(According to Hebrew law, the first born gets ALL the inheritance), Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob, Abraham's grandson as they are all given promise that their descendants will be given a territory from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates river.No where does it say the Israelis/Jews OWNED the land, nor were they to take it from, and, kill the Palestinians. The Israelis/Jews were given a land ONLY to reside in as many Jews already had among the Palestinians. ***God CLEARLY states whom the land belongs to-"the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." Of all these people, only the Palestinians whom are considered Canaanites, are still around. Except for Iran and Israel, Arabs own all of what was Canaan.*** *According to Alexander Scholch, GERMAN JEW AND PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN, the population of Palestine in 1850 had about 350,000 inhabitants, 30% of whom lived in 13 towns; roughly 85% were Muslims(Arabs), 11% were Christians and 4% Jews.Scholch, 1985, p. 503. Palestinian Demographics Link up to 1948 http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm The Arabs(Ishmael) were there first and the Jews(Isaac) were there second. Even according to Hebrew law, Ishmael, not Isaac, was entitled to Abraham's inheritance. "On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abrahm, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. (Genesis15:18)"Ishamael(Arabs) was Abraham's first born and by Hebrew law, entiteled to ALL of the Father's inheritance. Sarah, a mere mortal, somehow hoodwinked God and God fell for it. The Arabs were and are the MAJORITY there. The Jews, whom made up less than 5% of the population lived peacefully among their Arab hosts until the British Mandate of 1922 when FOREIGN(MOSTLY ILLEGAL-exceeding quotas set by the British) Jews with little or NO Middle East ties immigrated to Arab Palestine-swelling the population to 35%.The Arab armies(no Jews participated) had just thrown off the Ottoman Empire. The UN assigned Britain to occupy Arab Palestine(at least 90% of the population,6% other, less than 5% Jews).When the Jews became 35% of the population, they became belligerent forming murderous Jewish terrorist groups, the Stern Gang and Irgun(now democratically elected Likud-exact counter part of the Arab Hamas). They demanded a homeland carved out of ARAB Palestine and attacked and killed their Arab hosts.This ended with the Jewish taking MORE land than the UN agreed to. The UN did not ratify this until AFTER Israel formed in 1948. In summary of core FACTS: Arabs first and, MAJORITY, Biblically, and, scientifically, Jews second, Arabs OWNED Palestine, Jews did not, Jews STARTED the killings and land thefts under misinterpetation of God's promise,and, the British Mandate(political, NOT, land borders).ISRAEL IS VERY WRONG. Currently, there are 5.4 million Jews in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza strips(true Palestine). There are 5.6 million Arabs in Israel, the West Bank , and Gaza strips(true Palestine).The Arabs outnumber the Jews in true Palestine by about 200,000.Jews outnumber Arabs in Israel and Arabs outnumber Jews in the West Bank and Gaza stips-actually in almost exact mirror proportions-the two state is already up-IT NEEDS ratification. As for the British Mandate,read it closely-Palestine was to REMAIN one country-one land-ONLY POLITICAL borders for Jews and Arabs were assigned. Jews ERRONEOUSLY interpeted these POLITICAL borders as a Jewish COUNTRY'S borders-read it CLOSELY. Until Foreign European Jews created trouble, the Middle Eastern Jews(less than 5 % of the population) lived peacfullyamong the MAJORITY Arab hosts.
"the west bank is part of Israel"? Only wishful thinking not fact. No matter how the settlements are perceived, Israel's democracy is the best form of government in the region. Do you think that the Palestinian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc., fascist governments are any better?
Every thing about "israel" prevents it from being "a democracy'. It may be a lot of things to a lot of people but democracy is one thing you can't accuse them of.
Israel is not a democracy,it is theocracy.Both major parties have to get a coalition to govern and they always need a fanatical religious party to be part of there government to rule,what a hoax.