Two readers have responded to my March 21 Forum piece on American support for Israel despite its non-democratic governing.
Harvey Lord (Monitor letters, March 26) asks how Israel compares to obviously undemocratic countries like China, Cuba, etc. Ironically, Lord makes my point with his comparisons with other countries that deny equal rights to those portions of their populations that dissent. He says Israel’s military victories over neighbors justify disenfranchising its own Arab populous. Really? I had actual democracies in mind when I said Israel is not a democracy, comparing it negatively to American and other Western governments where all ethnicities are equal by law. No democracy is perfect, but at least these do not have separate laws, courts and bantustans for segments of the population as Israel has.
As for Ruth Chevion’s (Monitor letters, March 27) response, she names countries that have a state church saying my point that Israel is a theocracy must mean these others are also. However, no one in those countries is discriminated against for not belonging to that church like Muslims and Christians are in Israel. Maybe the term theocracy is incorrect, but when a nation declares itself for Jews only, has kept its non-Jewish residents under military governance for 50-plus years and denied them democratic rights, Israel cannot claim to be a democracy. She says all citizens can vote. However, 36 percent of the population are not allowed to be citizens and therefore have no vote.
If peace and security is the goal, Israel has the power to create it with an about-face in its treatment of non-Jews.
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