While millions of Israeli citizens cast their election ballots
for prime minister on Tuesday, Bruins for Israel here at UCLA
rallied in support of democracy and in solidarity with Israel, no
matter what direction the state might take after elections.
About 75 members of BFI and the local Jewish community gathered
in Meyerhoff Park at noon for the event. The rally was not intended
to declare support for a specific Israeli party or to condemn
violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It’s a positive rally. It’s not an
“˜anti’ rally,” said Jonathan Keyes, a fourth-year
ethnomusicology student and a member of BFI. “It’s
letting the world and UCLA know that Israel is a
democracy.”
Those in attendance expressed great pride in the fact that
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.
Carolyn Bennatan, a representative of the Israeli Consul
General, called Israel “an island of freedom of speech and
women’s rights awash in a stream of intolerance and
extremism.”
Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, of the Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel
on Wilshire Boulevard, expressed hope that both Israelis and
Palestinians could use democracy to achieve peace.
“The theme of today’s elections can be summed up in
three words,” he said. “Ballots, not
bullets.”
Violence in Israel has escalated sharply leading up to the
elections. On Tuesday, four Palestinian militants were killed by
Israeli soldiers in a gun battle, and another three Palestinians
were killed in a mysterious explosion in a Gaza City house.
The Israeli Defense Force said the blast was triggered by
militants handling explosives. Palestinians say the house was hit
by an Israeli missile.
The rally also marked the two- year anniversary of the end of
the Taba talks when Arafat turned down a peace offer from
then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Israelis regard the Taba talks as the most generous Israeli
offer of Palestinian statehood made to Arafat.
“We were saddened by the efforts of the Palestinian
negotiations and we continue to support peace in the Middle
East,” said Ross Neihaus, a third-year biology student and
co-vice president of BFI.
The rally ended just as Israeli polls closed and ballots were
being counted. Analysts give already current prime minister Ariel
Sharon a solid victory in the Israeli parliament.
Sharon and his Likud party are projected to win 36 seats in the
120-member parliament. The right-wing bloc, which includes Likud,
is projected to control 70 seats.
The chief opposition party, the left-wing Labor party led by
Amram Mitzna, lost eight seats and is projected to garner only 18
spots. The moderate Shinui Party gained nine seats and is projected
to hold 14.
The remaining seats were divided up among the other 24 competing
parties in the Israeli parliamentary system.
Voter turnout was a record low for Israel since it began keeping
statistics in 1973, with only 63.5 percent of Israel’s 4.7
million registered voters venturing out to cast their ballots.
The low turnout was attributed to the lack of an alternative to
the Israeli right-wing. Although Sharon has been embroiled in a
Palestinian uprising for the past two years and adopts a hardline
stance towards Palestinians, many Israelis are too nervous to hand
control over to anyone else.
“People blame the past two years ““ which have been
two of the worst in Israel’s history ““ on
Sharon,” said Eli Zedek, a voter in Jerusalem. “But I
think he did better than anyone else would have done. I think that
with the right coalition to guide him, we will be OK.”
The Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, is now 18 months old and
has killed over 2,800 people ““ over three-fourths of them
Palestinian.
“All indications are pointing toward a worsening
situation, the freezing of the peace process and military
escalations,” said Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb
Ereket.
However, many Israelis say Arafat is not a viable partner for
peace, a sentiment echoed by members of BFI at the rally.
“I think it’s just a message for peace,” said
Avishai Shraga, a fourth-year computer science student and a
co-vice president of BFI, of the rally.
“I think it makes it clear that Israel has been seeking
peace for 55 years, and 55 years later we still don’t have a
partner.”
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.