Supporters of the zionist project known as Israel often fall back on the argument that Israel is the only “democracy” in West Asia. This lie is often repeated by Israeli politicians, U.S. Politicians, and other zionist figures.
Talking heads and corporate-owned hacks continue to spew this false assertion even as evidence exponentially mounts of the exact opposite. Since its conception by the imperialist powers, “Israel” has only ever been a U.S.-backed military outpost. Its purpose is simply to promote the economic and strategic agenda of the United States. That agenda has evolved over the years, but the core function has not.
A country like “Israel” could never be truly democratic because its entire existence is based on the suppression of the democratic will of another people. Social structures inside not only Gaza and the West Bank, but also the 1948 borders reflect that reality.
On Sept. 23, “Israel’s” Central Elections Committee voted to ban from upcoming elections two main Arab political parties inside the 1948 borders: Ra’am and the Joint List. Without these two parties, the already severely repressed Palestinian vote would be without any representation, limited as it may have been.
The committee banned Balad Party’s Sami Abu Shehadeh and Hadash’s Ofer Cassif, who is probably the only genuinely progressive Jewish politician in the country. Some democracy.
This is not the first time “Israel” has attempted this ban. In 2022, the committee attempted a similar ban, which was eventually overturned by the “Israeli” Supreme Court. Many pundits currently believe that is the likely result in 2026. However, 2022 was before Oct. 7, the escalation of the genocide in Gaza, and the outbreak of a regional war on Iran by the U.S. It is entirely possible the Supreme Court carries through the ban this time. It is yet to be seen.
For some context, 2022 was also the last time elections were held in “Israel.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has justified this lack of elections as part of his expansive war powers. However, the government that proposed the 2022 ban was not Netanyahu’s, but the supposed opposition. Pick any aspect of “Israeli democracy,” and one will find apartheid and fascism.
The horrid state of Israel’s elections is just one indicator of its existence as a U.S. military outpost more than anything. Zionist forces continue to bomb southern Lebanon, murder civilians in Gaza, and impose a Jim Crow-style apartheid in the West Bank. Same as it ever was.
All of this points to a reality that the entire global working class, as well as the various world governments like China and Russia who are in a position to oppose U.S. imperialism, needs to embrace. The only solution to the genocide in Gaza or the occupation of the West Bank is for the entirety of the zionist state and society to fall.
Reform will never be close to enough. Ceasefires will continue to be toothless. The only way is to defeat the strongest U.S. asset in the region, Israel. This does not mean a wholesale slaughter of Jewish people as many zionist supporters claim. An end to “Israel” simply means an opportunity for the Palestinian people to again assert self-determination and build a country as they see fit.
Until that happens, expect more electoral repression, more genocide, and more pointless war on the various peoples of West Asia.
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