FadeTheButcher
07-05-2004, 05:12 AM
I just came across this so I thought I would transcribe it to the forum simply for the record. Take note of how profoundly Israel differs from the liberal democracies of the West it so often likes to assert commonality with. Whereas the fundamental goal of the liberal Western democracies is to advance individual freedom by constructing a neutral system (hence anti-discrimination laws) in which no group is favoured over any other group, Israel, on the other hand, is explicitly devoted to the advancement of Jewish interests. The well being of the Jewish community is the entire raison d'être of Israel's existence, not the protection of the individual rights of its citizens. Israel can hardly be described as a liberal country, like the Western democracies.
"First, I consider the character of Israel's governing charter. Israel's unwritten "constitution" contrasts nicely with more liberal documents in that it reinforces the most profound example of a contemporary communitarian polity currently known. The country, as it is currently configured, is fully dedicated to the idea of Jewish self-determination and, pragmatically speaking, to the protection of the Jewish people. As a result, it supports a particularistic, or singularly substantive, constitutional agenda, an agenda that is not at all neutral to competing conceptions of the good. Individual rights are valued in Israel, but they are not paramount and are often surpressed when they pose a threat to the continued existence of the nation's primary mission. Similarly, the principle of equality differs from that found in more liberal constitutions. Non-Jews cannot in any way be considered equal to their Jewish neighbours in their comparative ability to advance the common good. If Israel is to remain a state informed principally by the teachings of Judaism, it must listen only to the words and ideas of those who are dedicated to that mission. What differentiates Israel's approach with regard to competiting ethnic and religious groups is not that some positions are favoured, while others are not; indeed, that sort of inequity occurs in virtually every polity that subscribes to even the most rudimentary democratic rules. Rather, what distinguishes Israel is the fact that its particularist -- or communitarian -- foundation is fully state-sponsered. Israel's highest institutions and its most fundamental documents celebrate above all else the notion that all public policies must in some way be compatible with the principles expoused in the Torah. There is no deviation from that course, for to do so would place the entire experiment of Jewish statehood in jeopardy."
Beau Breslin, The Communitarian Constitution (Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 2004), p.27
"First, I consider the character of Israel's governing charter. Israel's unwritten "constitution" contrasts nicely with more liberal documents in that it reinforces the most profound example of a contemporary communitarian polity currently known. The country, as it is currently configured, is fully dedicated to the idea of Jewish self-determination and, pragmatically speaking, to the protection of the Jewish people. As a result, it supports a particularistic, or singularly substantive, constitutional agenda, an agenda that is not at all neutral to competing conceptions of the good. Individual rights are valued in Israel, but they are not paramount and are often surpressed when they pose a threat to the continued existence of the nation's primary mission. Similarly, the principle of equality differs from that found in more liberal constitutions. Non-Jews cannot in any way be considered equal to their Jewish neighbours in their comparative ability to advance the common good. If Israel is to remain a state informed principally by the teachings of Judaism, it must listen only to the words and ideas of those who are dedicated to that mission. What differentiates Israel's approach with regard to competiting ethnic and religious groups is not that some positions are favoured, while others are not; indeed, that sort of inequity occurs in virtually every polity that subscribes to even the most rudimentary democratic rules. Rather, what distinguishes Israel is the fact that its particularist -- or communitarian -- foundation is fully state-sponsered. Israel's highest institutions and its most fundamental documents celebrate above all else the notion that all public policies must in some way be compatible with the principles expoused in the Torah. There is no deviation from that course, for to do so would place the entire experiment of Jewish statehood in jeopardy."
Beau Breslin, The Communitarian Constitution (Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 2004), p.27