A very heated debate is going on these days in Israel - I mean besides whether to allow Haniyeh back into Gaza or not (he's been let in as we speak), with or without the blood money donated by the ex-executioner turned president in Iran (apparently the 35 USD million in cash will be deposited into Arab League accounts with Egypt promising not to funnel it into for weapons and ammo deals), besides who's responsible for the defeat/victory in Lebanon (depending on how you look at it), whether we do or do not have nuclear weapons, and all the other life-and-death issues - and this debate concerns the Supreme Court rulings and their implications. I have translated the article below for my English-speaking visitors, as it has only appeared in the Hebrew newspaper Maariv. It was published in response to the Supreme Court ruling to allow Palestinians to claim compensation for intifada-related damages. That is they can kill and blow us up at will, but if a soldier so much as fires a rubber bullet into the air and the Palestinian's donkey shies, well then you better come up with the money, you damn bastard mother-f***ing genocidal child murdering oppressive occupier!
You can also follow the links to the ruling and several other opinions (yes, I am also including the pro's, if only to show
how idiotically, insanely suicidal we have become, as the same "enlightened" Supreme Court judges rejected a petition to deal with Israel's own poor !!!)
Democracy is dying
By Ben Dror Yemini,
Maariv, December 13, 2006
The question is not whether the bill cancelled yesterday is right or wrong. This has already been debated and settled. And I may well have opposed this bill. The Knesset knew that this bill was not in line with the Basic Laws. Except that being out of line on this issue is the norm in civilized, democratic Canada, where the bill concerning this same issue is even more encompassing, as it grants the state full immunity even when peace time non-combat military operations are concerned.
Not that the Supreme Court judges are unaware of the Canadian counterpart. No, they are quite familiar with it, as they quote it in their ruling. But what holds true in Canada during peace time, even though nothing threatens Canada's very existence, where no terrorist actions are being launched from hostile civilian centers, does not hold true in Israel. Or at least that's what our Supreme Court judges believe.
Therefore, the real question is – what else must happen for the Knesset to restore its sovereignty? The Knesset makes our laws and one may and should argue about them. But then along comes the Supreme Court and says screw the Knesset. During the first class I attended in Law School, the lecturer explained that we need judges so that "the arbitrary majority of the law-makers does not infringe on the redheads' rights." Good! Except that no legislative body has adopted such idiotic bills so far. If they ever do, no court will ever be able to stop them, as US Justice Learned Hand put it. And anyway, the accumulating experience shows that there are more dubious, erroneous and stupid court rulings than wrong parliamentary decisions. Therefore the advantage of the judiciary over the legislature is pure legend.
One of the most idiotic American Court rulings dating from the mid 18th century, stated that a negro is an object with no rights. Thus the judges overruled the much more enlightened lawmakers' decision. In the wake of this court ruling, the American Civil War broke out. Slavery was eventually abolished, despite the Court's ruling, but the price was rivers of human blood. So please, no more brainwashing us on the issue of the judges' superiority!
Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling is not nearly as idiotic as the American one. If Barak (Aharon Barak, President of the Israeli Supreme Court) were a politician, who knows, I might have voted for him. But with all due respect, we are not being ruled by philosophers in Plato's republic. We are living in a democratic state. The bill preventing compensation payments for those who sustained damages in intifada operations, as much as I might disagree with it, should not be cancelled. When a nine judge panel unanimously recite Meretz texts we are in deep trouble. Because when they start canceling one law after another, we no longer need a democratic regime, we no longer need a Knesset and we no longer need elections. The Supreme Court will rule instead.
The Knesset must make a stand. There is no such thing as "a bill bypassing the Supreme Court." Instead, we have a Supreme Court bypassing bill after bill. Not because the law denies the redheads their right to vote, but because of the judiciary principles at work in democratic societies. Therefore, in order to put an end to this kind of trampling on the law, there is no choice but to cancel the Supreme Court authority. If the Knesset fails to make a stand on this issue, we can forget about our democracy. Democracy will become the Supreme Court's private dominion.
High Court: PA residents eligible for compensation
MK Elon: High Court one of Israel's existential problems
Bereaved father: Now we can sue IDF murderers
MK: High Court criminal, must be constrained
Time to pay for mistakes
Intifada law controversy
High Court shuns Knesset
And, boy, do I love this one - I didn't realize Indians and Israelis had so much in common - mea culpa! Except the medical profession in Israel is still mostly uncorrupted.
"Is justice blind or blindfolded?
The icon of justice can be seen in all the courts from the High Court to the Supreme Court. It is blindfolded. This means that equal justice should be given to everybody irrespective of caste, creed or colour. But now, the judges, government doctors and even the police are corrupt. We became free from the British, but now we have to become free from our own politicians. It is in our hands to make justice work. (In our case it's the Supreme Court judges we have to free ourselves from).
Saishyam M, X Hosur: Sishya School"
