A new party of good tidings

We need a Zionist Left party with fresh blood that will stand proud of both of the labels, Zionist and Left. There is definitely an important place in such a party for Arabs despite the emphasis on Zionism. If Israel really wants to be the leading Democracy in the middle east, our minorities need to be equal to the Majority. I need more information and/or the opportunity to define the party, The lack of leadership in Meretz has left me without a home. Chaim Oran is a good man in the wrong position.

I would be one of the most active members in this party. let us call this party " Equality and development party" ; In arabic " حزب المساواة والتقدم".

We don't need a party committed to ethnic equality - we need ALL parties to have such a commitment. There are a myriad of political views, from communist to extreme right populism, but all parties in a democracy should be committed to equal rights for all citizens.

Let me explain. Israel's Far Left is divided these days between those promoting a "Two State Solution," and a "One State Solution." By "Two State Solution," they mean a situation where Israel is annihilated in stages, after first agreeing to the setting up of a "Palestinian" Arab state in the West Bank and Gaza with some sort of land bridge connecting them and dividing the Negev and a "right of return" for "Palestinian" "refugees." That terror state will then be used to escalate terrorism and rocket attacks on Israel until all the Arab and Moslem armies rush in to aid it in its "defense" against Israeli aggression, and then Israel will be defeated militarily and the Jews exterminated in a new Holocaust. The "One State Solution" leftists are essentially those who wish to revive the long dead ideas from the 1930s of creating a bi-national state to replace Israel, a predominantly Arab state in which the Jews will have dhimmi second-class status, and in which Jewish sovereignty and self-determination are ended. Actually, what they mean by a "One State Solution" is a "Rwanda Solution," where the Jews end up with the same fate as the losing side in Rwanda. For years, when asked whether I prefer a "Two State Solution for Two Peoples" or a "One State Solution," I would reply that I am willing to settle for a 23 state solution for two peoples, where the Arabs get to keep their 22 existing states and the Jews get to keep their single state.

So Burg want's to reinvent the wheel. First he should suggest that the State reinter the bones of Dr. Judah Magnes, the first president of the Hebrew University who, together with Martin Buber, Henrietta Szold, Julius Simon, and a number of Arab Palestinian notables in the Mandate at the time to form the Ichud Party. Google it, you may find it interesting reading. The idea was proposed at the same time when B-G and the boys were at the Biltmore Hotel in NYC. Those of us who recall our Zionist history remember the decision to . . . yes to establish a Jewish State in the borders of British Mandatory Palestine/Land of Israel.. The Ichud party got trashed, and when Dr. Magnes went to the UN to propose his ideas he was told to "get lost". He died in 1949, and, unlike our other Zionist leaders, he remains abroad. Ah, then again, I recall his Zionism was based on the ideas of Ahad HaAm, so he doesn't count.

Well, it’s in the open, that’s what the NIF is about and one must admire Mr. Burg honesty. American Jews, please please , we understand and support your concern for the religion injustice administrating by the political chaos here, it will change, but your money to the NIF is a near crime against the existence of Israel. Just close your eyes and imagine the consequence of Mr. Burg goal, a NIF top board member. We appeal to you to see the damage that the NIF cause us, there deceiving tactics and trickeries, as the newspaper Maarive describe their action as an ambulance driver rushing to the hospital with a sick person but run over the rest of the town. There is a lot to fix in Israel, but it doesn’t rise to the destruction of the Zionism dream. We love our Israel, we did and will defend her with our life. Stop this madness, stop supporting the NIF.

Please come back home Avraham, our country needs statesmen so we can dismiss the politicians and move towards a better future.If you start that party,I may come back myself and fully support you and this new idea of living in peace together. After all the differences between jewish and arab Israelis is getting smaller all the time,hence the increased fear and desperate efforts to deepen the conflict which is what the Liebermans of this world do

That is an excellent idea for internal Israeli politics to transform Israel into a true democracy with real equality for all its citizens. This development, if it does not subvert the current momentum for peacetalks regarding a Palestianian State, will not be interpreted as "stalling strategy," designed to maintain the status quo, such as the Gaza blockade and the siege against the Palestinian economy, which as the article noted, is an untenable situation. Thus, as this new Israel Equality Party is launched, Israelis will have remained consistent in sustaining compassionate energies towards internal Israeli democracy, and externally, towards a just and lasting peace with Palestinians.

Long over due, it will be wonderfule to see, not too late.

What is needed is a new united front between Arab Palestinian Parties and Jewish parties that see this vision as a new beginning..

Israel needs a constitution to insure equal rights and responsibilities to all. Burg's theorectical party should focus on that only and the rest will be resolved in time.

You've got my vote already, A.B. It'll happen.

Let me know how it works out.

Mr Burg, did you hear about Hadash ? http://hadash.org.il/

What a ridiculous pipe dream. Why, the next thing you know he will be saying things like only the Messiah can unite Israel and the arabs and bring peace to Israel.

It is scary that people with opinions like this even exist. What is it in his upbringing, in the Burg family, in the land of Israel allows him to express feelings of sympathy for the arab nation but no feelings of sympathy for his own people. His father received a hard to get certificate to enter Palestine. How many thousands, millions of Jews were not able to obtain a certificate and enter Palestine. These Jews were stuck in Europe and murdered by the Germans and their collaborators. This is the gratitude Burg shows to the Jewish state that has given him and the Jewish people so much. He should replace his arrogance and complaints with gratiude. How pathetic.

Your thought on a "Jewish-Arab party" is still viced from inside : Jew is a member of a religion, Arab is an ethnicity. If present Israel is a democracy (I doubt within Western standards), its Israeli citizen could be Jew, Christian, Druze, Muslim and so on, as Palestinians still are mainly Muslims, but also some of them Christian and even Jew. So, why not breaking your religious hegemonic paradigm with a call for a "Israeli-Arab secular party" ?

is burg suggesting that we drop hatikva,cancel the law of return and give equal rights and priority to any one wishing to settle in israel regardless of their religion?......so don't we just drop the name israel and call it palestine ?

Burg's plea for equality is laudatory, but to end the conflict, Palestinians must be given the option to return if they want to or be resettled in other countries. The only way to combine the Palestinian right of return (an individual right that cannot be taken away) with each group's desire for statehood is to have two states on the same land (a condominium) with absolute parity (equality) between all individuals in the common territory with respect to land, water, and other resources and absolute parity between the two states in handling matters of common concern, Parity between the states would ensure that neither state could dominate the other. See www.parityforpeace.com for details.

Problem Mr Burg, Israel is a democracy. So every citizen has one equal vote. Too few are voting for the ideologies your are currently expressing. Starting a new political party won't change that.

Who will move back to Israel instead of pontificating from France.

...this sounds eerily like one of those "bold manifestos" frequently issued by the starry-eyed organizers of 19th Century "Utopian" communities. (Not that their motives were not laudable--but--and arguably because they ran afoul of basic human nature--most, if not all, of those communities had a painfully short life span.)

I THOUGT THAT YOU DENOUNCED ISRAEL AND MOVED TO EUROBIA. OF COURSE YOU ARE NOT DENOUNCING THE PENSION YOU RECEIVE FROM ISRAEL.THAT WOULD BE TOO UNETHICAL.

Such an idea, which can be a very powerful force for the good can only get off the ground if Avraham Burg can convince those who are on the right about as far as he is on the left to come up with a jiont platform. As long as this idea is from the left, it will become hijacked and put to narrow-minded use by Burg and the left.

I love a good fairy tale, but pretending that Israeli Arabs will EVER be treated as equals in Israel is a fantasy. They need their own state. As an American I see Israel as no less a religious theocratic state than Saudi Arabia or Iran. It is a Theocracy, not a democracy or otherwise the Arab issue, Palestinian state, equality etc... would be a non-issue. Israel has used their religion and the holocaust as a tool to manipulate first, then as the "feared" crutch of anti-semitism if they don't get their way and people demand they treat their fellow human being as equals (votes, homes, property, etc...). I know the people of Israel favor a democracy and equality, I know the people of America do too, but those who have power, who have money, who have everything the way they like it in Israel, can't see bringing in Arab partners as equals because that means they have to share the wealth that they already don't want to share with their fellow Jewish Israeli's. Look at the way the Ethiopian Jews have been and are now being treated. Because they are dark skinned, Israeli's in power won't accept them, even if they are their own religion. I look for Israel to implode over the next century and certainly there will be a MAJOR war fought over that territory with Americans, Brits and Israeli's fighting on BOTH sides.

Azmi Bishara has already laid out this platform - why not join in solidarity with that party? Sincere Israeli Jewish leftists could learn alot about themselves, and erase the inevitable charges of paternalism if they spent some time listening to, and working with, their Israeli Arab leftist counterparts.

A new party cannot save you. Nothing can save you unless you end the occupation and remove the settlements. But removing the settlements will result in army mutiny and civil war: Jew against Jew. And that will lead to a military-religious junta which will ultimately collapse into chaos. In the long history of the Jewish people, independent states have been little more than blips on the screen. Each was brought to an end by Hashem because of our own injustices and iniquities and refusal to heed His warnings. You are being warned again, and again you are refusing to listen, and so you will suffer the same fate. But the Jewish people and the Jewish religion--OUR people, OUR religion, not yours alone-- will continue to endure, long after your latest version of the Jewish state is cold ashes.

What do you know? This is the freshest good idea I've heard in years. Bravo and I will support you, mind, body and soul.

Party which doesn't recognize Israel as Zionist and democratic, cannot participate in the elections. It's not the first time Messier Burg proposes to abolish Zionism. If he wants to cut his own throat, he's more then welcome; but to ask the whole nation to do the same so he'd feel better is, shall we say, a bit presumptuous.

It is clear the political system is in no shape to handle the challenges posed by the settlers or orthodox much less in dealing with minority rights issues. Burg has the diagnosis right but the prognosis - a new party - is hardly the earth shattering cure to what ails Israel. Time to be honest and say who will stand up to the settlers? The extremists in Israel - nationalists or religious groups? The answer can be found by looking at American history - between 1861 and 1865.

Hmmmmmm. Another retired has-been politician writing a load of clap-trap to try and re-boost his political career! Burg needs to accept that as much as Israelis [right, left and centre] are tired of the old political parties, they are EVEN MORE TIRED of has-been politicians trying to gain a slice of the power cake by starting their own new little parties. For the left-wingers, there are already Meretz, Labour and Hadash, but then again it is no suprise that the naiev 'head in the clouds' Labour and Meretz's support has waned in favour of Kadima, Likud and Yisrael Beitenu!

i love your idea, mr. Burg, and i wish you all the success in the world. a nation for all its people without discrimination is the only state I as a Jew (living in Amsterdam) ever could be proud of. Thanks!

Meretz is the only party which remains zionist, while it wants to make sure that Arabs will not suffer from any kind of discrimination whatsoever.

Wow, this guy is dreaming with open eyes and want to fool others in his foolish dreams. Try this in Gaza or in Jordan but not in the land of Israel. By the way, look at Lebanon for a picture of reality. I even do not know if to laugh or to be desperate of such guys. Warchawski, the far leftist once dreamt about a bi-national state and finally came to the point that it was pointless, not realistic. Burg needs more time, Ok, make your trip to India, Pakistan, Gaza and Lebanon for a sabbatical and come back. Then we will discuss.

Burg has zero credibility.

All of the positions this party will have are all designed to be acceptable to Arabs. There is not one bone thrown to Jews. "End the occupation." How lovely.

I'd be glad to work and vote for such a party . An excellent idea!

I agree, that is what we need in Israel. The present situation is too divisive, fractured, party this and that; yet no one stands for what Israel is. The Arab parties at their peak success will not accomplish for their constituents or for the state what they promise. The reason for this is they are simply another splinter of ineffective lonely force. while together both Arabs and Jews can accomplish for the state what neither one can do single handed.

israel has one basic,overriding,all-encompassing problem.whence all the rest follow.the arab problem.israel's present track has no chance.when israel and america,the only entities with the power to tackle the problem,decide to do so,then just maybe burg's good intentions,as wishes quite popular,might start coming to fruition.good luck.

Avrum, I am with you all the way. We can hope and work for this but alas Israel today has chosen a different path, one of ethnic isolation and not diversity, one of xenophobia and not courage, one of tribalism and not democracy. But let's hope you can help make this change happen.

What's the difference between this new party and Hadash?

How would this party differ from Hadash or Meretz exactly? And why is it preferable or necessary to start a new party (risking further splitting the vote for leftist parties generally) rather than working from within to change the platform and composition of an existing party, with the associated "consolidatory" benefits?

Each hemisphere rules the opposite side of the body, knowing that the life of the body depends of the unity and the harmony of the whole body. But, as in the human body, if the corruption corrodes the bones (the advices), then nothing will change... Your sun will remain a black hole of darkness, a pit without any water in it.

well, will the right of return be cancelled or applied to arabs who fled in 48? That is the end of jewish commonwealth III. We need to finally resolve the 100 year dispute between arabs living in israel and jews. that is a 2 state solution dividing the land so that the arabs have a national expresion and so do the jews. all arabs are citizens of the arab country, even if they are residents of israel and all jews are citizens of the jewish country even if they are residents of palestine. non-citizen residents are protected by law in both states with all rights except the national vote (locally they do vote) and all duties except military duty for their host state. both states pass aconstituion to protect human and religious freedom. holy sites are jointly administered for the good and fair access to all. disputes are resolved by arbitration with arbitrators selected from a mutally accepted pool. if peace reigns their economies will be open to each other. if not well so much for my fantasy. so mr. burg what do you say. is this not a better and more realistic vision to resolve our 100 year dispute?

Good idea and well written

The only time your going to get a party like that is when a substantial number of Jews decide they want to abandon the concept of a Jewish state in favor of a binational religion free country. Meeretz is just a far left party rather than a party that promotes the kind of ideals this kind of state would be and haadash is just a Jewish minority who love arabs it's not a party for all. There is not enough support for any kind of party like this in the Jewish sector and the bulk of the arab party voters will continue to vote for arabs because their priority is not about arabs & Jews together it's about what's in the best interest in the arab sector THEM & US not all together Istael is and always has been a politically divided society. Of course is Avraham Burg is conviced there is a demand for such a party out there then nobody will stop him forming his own party which runs on that platform althoughI have a feeling it won't win a single seat because there is no demand for it amongst the voters.

Well wirtten but: Since Hadash and Meretz none the-less still exist, it is only with their full participation that a new party can be created from their ashes. The entire left, from mildly in favor of peace instead of land, to radical left must be included in the attempt. Obviously, some will chose to be left out, but that will be their concern. And the attempt at creating the new party should have begun yesterday; it must be off and running, organized with all the wrinkles ironed out long before new elections are held. DO IT NOW!.

the democracy is not about giving every Tor his own Torianka, it's about letting worthy from the minority to rise according to his talent, in the face of bigoted majority. It's unfortunate that Israeli democracy is publicly blackmailed while oppressive regimes who bring nations to knees in bouts of tribal rage allowed to spit in public at norms of behavior.

The Israeli Jewish majority, who'd rather seem likely to vote for ethnic cleansing of the rest of Palestine? The non-Jewish Israeli minority who are already discriminated against and have learned the hard way they can't trust the majority of their Jewish countrymen?

That would be a sign that they consider Jews as equals.

As Burg himself poitns out , there are already 2 parties that claim to stand for Jewish-Arab "equality"- HADASH and MERETZ. Why add a third-other than to make a place for Avrum himself? Arabs who join such a party will be considered traitors, since the party wil call itself "Zioinist", and the Leftist Jews will end up fighting each other and neutralizing each other as well as any Arabs who do join, as happened in th MERETZ. Dream on Avrum, your future is behind you..

and by returning Jewish definitions and dreams to the personal and communal we will liberate the spirit of Ahad Ha'am -- a hebrew speaking community of millions voluntarily giving new life to Jewish ideas and values and becoming the home for a global Jewish rennaissance. kol hakavod Avrum!

both sides must be violence free before joint development experiments.... Herzl conceived the Zionism concept in the spirit of non violence, to extricate us from the permanent chaos.,,, his inspiration was Ferenc Deak 1803-1876...often imitated, never duplicated

Democracy must apply to all. There cannot be a strangulation of ideas, a people or diversity. Judaism has been resilient through the centuries and has fostered internal expressions of thought. We should not sacrifice that heritage for a new brand of nation-centric Judaism preoccupied with land and a sterility of expression or faith. Israel is in need of a leadership with the courage to unite us on seeking reconciliation and collaboration instituting a just, democratic society. There are many of us that view the current zealotry and racism as an affront to Judaism and humanity.