I don't know if anyone is following this topic, especially now as it's been flagged, although there weren't that many views or comments about it as well. So I'm not even sure anyone will even read my comment. But that's okay, because I need to write this for myself, first and foremost.
I've seen it happen all over the world, people marching out in protest, governments suppressing free speech, and even countries being toppled over. I watched and felt for these poor people, whose lives have been ruined, or at least put on ice for a long, long time.
And now I see it happen in the last place I ever expected: my own home. Growing up in Israel you hear a lot of stories from people who came from oppressive regimes, or even Holocaust survivors. You hear the same things again and again, how in retrospect the signs were clear to see, but nobody believe it could actually happen. How fast things go south. I am dreaded seeing this with my very own eyes right now, and not just because it's all happening so fast, but we also have to much to lose.
We are a democratic state, proudly democratic, one could say. We have some of the strongest courthouses in the world. We have a great economy and a booming tech scene. But in recent weeks, the new extremist government, elected for office just a few months ago, has been relentlessly attacking our courts, our state bank (equivalent of the Federal Reserve), our attorneys. They have been trying to close down public media channels while "recommending" extremist, right-wing propaganda channels.
Today, the Knesset passed laws that forbid entering hospitals with non-kosher food during Passover, and a law that grants the religious fundamental "courts" even more power to handle everyday judicial cases.
The judicial "reform", dubbed "regime overthrow" by a lot of people around here, aims to let politicians choose the judges of the supreme court, while also granting the parliament a new ability to just ignore any supreme court ruling, in case their personally appointed judges become too independent.
In Israel, we don't have a constitution, bill of rights, or a second parliament. The only means to stop some crazy laws from coming to fruition is the supreme court. The current government is already voting for the new laws to take this ability away. This means they can do anything, and nobody can ever stop them. Any law, and wild idea, if they have some sort of majority, they can waltz it in. If you're thinking "this sounds a lot like tyranny of the masses", well, you're right, and that's why hundreds of thousands of people are protesting.
There are masses of people out there protesting, but the response of the government is hostile. This is something I've never seen before. Not a single person in the government is giving a serious explanation of how this is going to be helpful to anyone. Hundreds of economists, lawmen, noble prize winners, everyone is showing red flags that these changes will destroy the economy, and put Israel in a really bad place in terms of "Democracy". But the extremist government is refusing to stop and make amends to the suggested "reform", no explanations given, just a big fat "Nope".
Our currency is taking a huge hit in the markets. Investors are either taking the money out of the country or recommending to do so. Banks are issuing warnings.
This is absolutely nuts.
For the first time in my life, I am truly afraid. I never knew you could be so anxious. I see my country being completely derailed by religious fanatics.
I see a possibility where I lose everything I worked for becoming more real every day. I never realized how much I had to lose.
I see the culture that I was so proud of, a beautiful culture, being aggressively destroyed by an angry, religious mob.
Not all hope is lost yet, but I am making peace with a new reality, in which I might have to actually get out of here soon. If that happens, I don't know if there will ever be a cure for my broken heart. I hope that I never have to find out.
I've seen it happen all over the world, people marching out in protest, governments suppressing free speech, and even countries being toppled over. I watched and felt for these poor people, whose lives have been ruined, or at least put on ice for a long, long time.
And now I see it happen in the last place I ever expected: my own home. Growing up in Israel you hear a lot of stories from people who came from oppressive regimes, or even Holocaust survivors. You hear the same things again and again, how in retrospect the signs were clear to see, but nobody believe it could actually happen. How fast things go south. I am dreaded seeing this with my very own eyes right now, and not just because it's all happening so fast, but we also have to much to lose.
We are a democratic state, proudly democratic, one could say. We have some of the strongest courthouses in the world. We have a great economy and a booming tech scene. But in recent weeks, the new extremist government, elected for office just a few months ago, has been relentlessly attacking our courts, our state bank (equivalent of the Federal Reserve), our attorneys. They have been trying to close down public media channels while "recommending" extremist, right-wing propaganda channels.
Today, the Knesset passed laws that forbid entering hospitals with non-kosher food during Passover, and a law that grants the religious fundamental "courts" even more power to handle everyday judicial cases.
The judicial "reform", dubbed "regime overthrow" by a lot of people around here, aims to let politicians choose the judges of the supreme court, while also granting the parliament a new ability to just ignore any supreme court ruling, in case their personally appointed judges become too independent.
In Israel, we don't have a constitution, bill of rights, or a second parliament. The only means to stop some crazy laws from coming to fruition is the supreme court. The current government is already voting for the new laws to take this ability away. This means they can do anything, and nobody can ever stop them. Any law, and wild idea, if they have some sort of majority, they can waltz it in. If you're thinking "this sounds a lot like tyranny of the masses", well, you're right, and that's why hundreds of thousands of people are protesting.
There are masses of people out there protesting, but the response of the government is hostile. This is something I've never seen before. Not a single person in the government is giving a serious explanation of how this is going to be helpful to anyone. Hundreds of economists, lawmen, noble prize winners, everyone is showing red flags that these changes will destroy the economy, and put Israel in a really bad place in terms of "Democracy". But the extremist government is refusing to stop and make amends to the suggested "reform", no explanations given, just a big fat "Nope".
Our currency is taking a huge hit in the markets. Investors are either taking the money out of the country or recommending to do so. Banks are issuing warnings.
This is absolutely nuts.
For the first time in my life, I am truly afraid. I never knew you could be so anxious. I see my country being completely derailed by religious fanatics.
I see a possibility where I lose everything I worked for becoming more real every day. I never realized how much I had to lose.
I see the culture that I was so proud of, a beautiful culture, being aggressively destroyed by an angry, religious mob.
Not all hope is lost yet, but I am making peace with a new reality, in which I might have to actually get out of here soon. If that happens, I don't know if there will ever be a cure for my broken heart. I hope that I never have to find out.