Who will speak up for Israeli citizens' right to free speech?

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Daphna Baram
guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 3 August 2010 15.26 BST

The most widely mentioned text in Israel over the last few weeks has been the famous quotation by Pastor Martin Niemöller from 1946, which begins: "First they came for the Communists".

Cited by journalists, politicians and academics, or by commenting readers on websites (known in Hebrew as "the talkbackists"), the quotation serves to communicate one idea: the increasing persecution of Palestinian citizens has led to verbal threats against Jewish radical left activists, and is now directed at proposed laws against Zionist-left activists, university professors, journalists, artists and others. The warning from the quotation is clear: "Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."

Naturally, a shrill self-righteous choir castigates those who seem to compare Israel to the Germany of 1933-1945. But actually nobody does. The critics merely imply that the present crisis is showing something disturbingly reminiscent of, say, Germany in 1927. Democratic institutions are still functioning, there is still a chance of salvaging something of value, but bad winds are blowing.

The use of Niemöller's emotive words reflects the increasingly bitter national debate around loyalty and patriotism. The populist language of bigoted media consumers ("how come they let this Commie/Arab/traitor speak on radio/television/university") is now pervading official legislative bills, pending parliamentary approval and with a reasonable chance of turning into law.

The influential foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, whose 15 Knesset members cement the coalition government, is in the process of upgrading his successful election slogan, "no citizenship without loyalty". He demands that the Kadima "centre" party acquiesce to his "loyalty bill", as a precondition for its admission into the coalition government. The bill would coerce all citizens to declare allegiance to the state of Israel as a "Jewish and democratic" state.

Many rightwing Israelis see the "patriotism oath" not only as a potential weapon against the Palestinian citizens, but also as an instrument to settle the scores with those pesky lefties. They echo the new-ish and vociferous movement, Im Tirtzu ("if you will it"), which is espousing the persecution of dissenting academics in the universities, where "anti-Zionist tendencies thrive and the Zionists are being silenced".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/aug/03/israeli-free-speech