Azmi Bishara: Difference between revisions
→References: I added as reference the Alternate Focus interview of Spetermber 20, 2006 |
I added quotations from an interview with Bishara, demonstrating his critical attitude towards Israel as a Jewish state, and towards the Zionist project. |
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'''Azmi Bishara'''<ref name=EnglishName>The English spelling of his name is taken from [KNEE]</ref> ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: <span lang=ar dir=rtl>عزمي بشارة<ref name=ArabicName>The Arabic spelling of his name is taken from [KNEA]</ref></span>, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: <span lang=he dir=rtl>עזמי בשארה<ref name=HebrewName>The Hebrew spelling of his name is taken from [KNEH]</ref></span>) (born [[July 22]], [[1956]] <ref name=KNEE>[KNEE]</ref>) is a member of the seventeenth [[Knesset]]<ref name=KNEM>[KNEM]</ref>. Bishara was born in [[Nazareth]]<ref name=KNEE>[KNEE]</ref>, where he currently lives<ref name=KNEE>[KNEE]</ref> (as of February 2007). He also has a house in [[a-Ram]]<ref name=ARA>"A-Ram lies northeast of Jerusalem, just outside the city's municipal border. The village is part of the built-up urban area of Jerusalem: the Atarot industrial zone and the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina lie to the west, and the Neve Ya'akov settlement borders it on the south. To the north is the Qalandiya refugee camp, most of which lies outside the Jerusalem municipal boundary." -The Separation Barrier Surrounding a-Ram, B'Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories [http://www.btselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/A-Ram.asp] For a map of the area see [ARA]</ref> (الرام){{Fact|date=February 2007}}, which is closer to the Knesset<ref name=>[MAP] is a map of Israel that could serve to illustrate the relative distance between Nazareth and Jerusalem.</ref>. |
'''Azmi Bishara'''<ref name=EnglishName>The English spelling of his name is taken from [KNEE]</ref> ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: <span lang=ar dir=rtl>عزمي بشارة<ref name=ArabicName>The Arabic spelling of his name is taken from [KNEA]</ref></span>, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: <span lang=he dir=rtl>עזמי בשארה<ref name=HebrewName>The Hebrew spelling of his name is taken from [KNEH]</ref></span>) (born [[July 22]], [[1956]] <ref name=KNEE>[KNEE]</ref>) is a member of the seventeenth [[Knesset]]<ref name=KNEM>[KNEM]</ref>. Bishara was born in [[Nazareth]]<ref name=KNEE>[KNEE]</ref>, where he currently lives<ref name=KNEE>[KNEE]</ref> (as of February 2007). He also has a house in [[a-Ram]]<ref name=ARA>"A-Ram lies northeast of Jerusalem, just outside the city's municipal border. The village is part of the built-up urban area of Jerusalem: the Atarot industrial zone and the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina lie to the west, and the Neve Ya'akov settlement borders it on the south. To the north is the Qalandiya refugee camp, most of which lies outside the Jerusalem municipal boundary." -The Separation Barrier Surrounding a-Ram, B'Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories [http://www.btselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/A-Ram.asp] For a map of the area see [ARA]</ref> (الرام){{Fact|date=February 2007}}, which is closer to the Knesset<ref name=>[MAP] is a map of Israel that could serve to illustrate the relative distance between Nazareth and Jerusalem.</ref>. |
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He was "the first Arab member of Knesset who ran for [[Prime Minister of Israel|prime minister]], against Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak in 1999 |
He was "the first Arab member of Knesset who ran for [[Prime Minister of Israel|prime minister]], against Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak in 1999."<ref name=AZM>[AZM]</ref>. |
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He criticizes Israel's nature as a "[[Jewish state]]": |
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:''Israel is not the state of its citizens. Israel is a Jewish state, meaning that there is no separation between the religion and state. [...] Israel defines itself as a state [...] of all the Jews everywhere in the world, which is [...] trans-historical, [...] very ethnic definition of the state. So it's not only not the state of the citizens, it's the state of many people who are not citizens. [...] It's a very special case in democracies, which makes it an un-liberal democracy, a very ethnic democracy. And you can derive from that that non-Jews in Israel per definition are not equal citizens, because the state does not understand its mission to be their state. [...] This reflects itself [...] in everything. In the planning and zoning of the country [...] the country understands itself as there to absorb immigration, not as there to develop the citizens who live in it, that's why [...] there are many laws that enable the state to confiscate Arab lands in order to be able to absorb Jewish immigration. [...] In general [...] Arab citizens are not equal citizens, are second or third class citizens, because in every sphere of life that's the way the state understands its function. They are [...] in the best case [...] tolerated guests in a state that is not theirs, although they are the indigenous people [...]. So [...] there can be no talk about equality in Israel, [...] as long as it determines itself the way it does since its establishment in 1948.''<ref name=ALTJewishState>[ALT], time: 1:17-3:18</ref> |
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He criticizes its state ideology of [[Zionism]]: |
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:''it was actually built into the Zionist project to expel Arabs from Palestine''<ref name=ALTZionism>[ALT], time: 6:19-6:24</ref> |
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He "is a strong supporter of the concept of turning Israel into a state of all its citizens."<ref name=AZM>[AZM]</ref>. |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Revision as of 19:05, 17 February 2007
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Azmi Bishara[1] (Arabic: عزمي بشارة[2], Hebrew: עזמי בשארה[3]) (born July 22, 1956 [4]) is a member of the seventeenth Knesset[5]. Bishara was born in Nazareth[4], where he currently lives[4] (as of February 2007). He also has a house in a-Ram[6] (الرام)[citation needed], which is closer to the Knesset[7].
He was "the first Arab member of Knesset who ran for prime minister, against Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak in 1999."[8].
He criticizes Israel's nature as a "Jewish state":
- Israel is not the state of its citizens. Israel is a Jewish state, meaning that there is no separation between the religion and state. [...] Israel defines itself as a state [...] of all the Jews everywhere in the world, which is [...] trans-historical, [...] very ethnic definition of the state. So it's not only not the state of the citizens, it's the state of many people who are not citizens. [...] It's a very special case in democracies, which makes it an un-liberal democracy, a very ethnic democracy. And you can derive from that that non-Jews in Israel per definition are not equal citizens, because the state does not understand its mission to be their state. [...] This reflects itself [...] in everything. In the planning and zoning of the country [...] the country understands itself as there to absorb immigration, not as there to develop the citizens who live in it, that's why [...] there are many laws that enable the state to confiscate Arab lands in order to be able to absorb Jewish immigration. [...] In general [...] Arab citizens are not equal citizens, are second or third class citizens, because in every sphere of life that's the way the state understands its function. They are [...] in the best case [...] tolerated guests in a state that is not theirs, although they are the indigenous people [...]. So [...] there can be no talk about equality in Israel, [...] as long as it determines itself the way it does since its establishment in 1948.[9]
He criticizes its state ideology of Zionism:
- it was actually built into the Zionist project to expel Arabs from Palestine[10]
He "is a strong supporter of the concept of turning Israel into a state of all its citizens."[8].
Early life
Bishara established the first National Committee of Arab High School Students[8] and in 1974 was its chairman[11] and in 1976, he was instrumental setting up the Committee for the Defense of Arab Lands, as well as the first National Arab Student Union.[11]
Upon completing his Ph.D in philosophy at Humboldt University of Berlin[12], he joined the faculty of Bir Zeit University in 1986 as a senior lecturer[citation needed], and went on to head the Philosophy and Cultural Studies Department for two years, from 1994 to 1996.[13] "He has also worked as a senior researcher at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem"Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page)., and "was a key founder of the political party that he represents in the Knesset, the National Democratic Assembly (NDA-Balad)."[13]
Bishara is responsible for many of the major concepts of debate in public and political life of Israel.[neutrality is disputed]
Early in 2003, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected five appeals presented by the Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein and supported by Israel's right-wing parties that would have prevented Bishara and his party, Balad, from running in the national elections.[2] The Central Elections Committee ban from participating in the upcoming elections had been based on his rejecting Israel's character as a Jewish state, in violation of the Basic Law of the Knesset.[3] Bishara ran, and won for a third term.
Visits to Syria
According to ynetnews.com[14], Bishara Syria in September 2006. Bishara warned Syria of the possibility that "Israel launch a preliminary offensive in more than one place, in a bid to overcome the internal crisis in the country and in an attempt to restore its deterrence capability." According to JPost.com[15], he and members of his party also visited Lebanon, where they told the Lebanese prime minister that Hizbullah's resistance to Israel has "lifted the spirit of the Arab people".
According to HAARETZ.com[16], soon thereafter at Interior Minister Roni "Bar-On's request, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ordered a criminal investigation be opened against Balad MKs Azmi Bashara, Jamal Zahalka and Wassel Taha over their recent visit to Syria". According to that report, "[a]fter Bashara's last trip in 2001, the Knesset passed a law forbidding MKs from visiting any enemy state."
Writings
Bishara, also considered[weasel words] a public intellectual, publishes writings in Arabic, English, German, and Hebrew, on the issues of democracy and civil society, national minority rights in Israel, Islam and democracy, and the Palestinian question both in Israel and outside of it.[citation needed] He is the editor of a book on the philosophy of enlightenment (Hebrew), a book on identity and construction of identities (Hebrew), and the author of five other books, A Contribution to the Criticism of Civil Society, A Reading in a Ruptured Political Discourse, The Palestinian Intifada and Its Reflections in the Israeli Public Opinion, Theses on a Deferred Awakening, and his last book: From the Jewishness of the State to Sharon.[citation needed] He also published two novels of a planned trilogy: The Checkpoint (2004) (available in French translation, and a Hebrew translation is forthcoming) and Love in the Shadow Zone (2005).[citation needed] Bishara has contributed articles to many books that deal with nationalism, Islam, and democracy, the Palestinian issue, and minority rights; he also edited a series of 15 brochures and schoolbooks for teaching democracy and democratic principles in Arabic.[citation needed]
Awards
Bishara was awarded the “Ibn Rushd 'Averroes' Prize for Freedom of Thought” for the year 2002 in Berlin, and the Global Exchange Human Rights Award for the year 2003 in San Francisco.[citation needed]
Miscellaneous
- According to The Jerusalem Post[17] "[h]e received a kidney transplant in March 1997 at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem", and (in 1999) was "a spokesmen for the National Association of Dialysis Patients in Israel."
Notes
- ^ The English spelling of his name is taken from [KNEE]
- ^ The Arabic spelling of his name is taken from [KNEA]
- ^ The Hebrew spelling of his name is taken from [KNEH]
- ^ a b c [KNEE]
- ^ [KNEM]
- ^ "A-Ram lies northeast of Jerusalem, just outside the city's municipal border. The village is part of the built-up urban area of Jerusalem: the Atarot industrial zone and the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina lie to the west, and the Neve Ya'akov settlement borders it on the south. To the north is the Qalandiya refugee camp, most of which lies outside the Jerusalem municipal boundary." -The Separation Barrier Surrounding a-Ram, B'Tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories [1] For a map of the area see [ARA]
- ^ [MAP] is a map of Israel that could serve to illustrate the relative distance between Nazareth and Jerusalem.
- ^ a b c [AZM]
- ^ [ALT], time: 1:17-3:18
- ^ [ALT], time: 6:19-6:24
- ^ a b [JER]
- ^ According to [KNEE], Bishara has a PhD in Philosophy from the Humboldt University.
- ^ a b [ADA]
- ^ [NAH]
- ^ [FRE]
- ^ [YOA]
- ^ [JER]
References
- ADA Bishara's English bio at Adalah
- ALT Alternate Focus Interview: Azmi Bishara, September 20, 2006, YouTube
- ARA The Separation Barrier - Jerusalem Area (September 1995), a map from B'Tselem's site [neutrality is disputed]
- AZM Azmi Bishara - National Democratic Alliance, Israel Elections 2003, Haaretz English Edition
- FRE Balad MKs praise Hizbullah resistance/Sheera Claire Frenkel, September 15 2006, JPost.com
- JER The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition, Israel 99 Election Primer, The Azmi Bishara Bio
- KNEA Knesset member page of the seventeenth Knesset (Arabic)
- KNEE Knesset member page of the seventeenth Knesset (English)
- KNEF Facts about each Knesset at the official Knesset site (English)
- KNEH Knesset member page of the seventeenth Knesset (Hebrew)
- KNEM Knesset members of the seventeeth Knesset (official page in English)
- MAP A UN map of Israel
- NAH MK Bishara warns Syria of Israeli attack/Roee Nahmias, September 9 2006, ynetnews.com
- YOA Bar-On wants passports of Arab MKs who visited Syria revoked/Yuval Yoaz and Jack Khoury, September 11 2006, HAARETZ.com