Saturday, August 11, 2007
Danger - Conscripted Academics
For many years Israel has operated with a dual justice system, in which
there is one set of court and police procedures for leftists and another
for anyone else. Under the dual system, leftist treason is protected
speech, whereas criticism of leftist treason is libelous and criminal.
In addition, for many years the courts in Israel have been under the
hegemony of the anti-democratic "school" of judicial activism, led by
now-retired Chief Justice Aharon Barak, which holds that non-elected
judges may not only perpetuate their hegemony over the courts by
controlling the selection of new judges, but may also override and veto
laws passed by the elected representatives of the people of Israel.
Essentially, judicial activism means that "sensitive" judges can just make
up the law as they go along based on their moods.
Prof. Robert Bork, Professor/Judge Richard Posner, and others have
denounced Israel's Supreme Court as the most imperious, frivolous, and
anti-democratic in the democratic world. The courts have long been out of
control, imposing arbitrary rulings on the country, micro-managing and
micro-dictating military decisions, trumping the Knesset in matters of
religion, dictating such things as where Israel's security fence must go,
down to the centimeter, creating "gay marriage", and so on. It was the
Supreme Court decision of 1992 forcing Israel to reverse the expulsion of
over 400 Hamas terrorist leaders to Lebanon that ultimately brought the
Hamas to power in Gaza, and indirectly produced the daily rocket blitz
upon Sderot.
A few months back, in arguably the only really great decision Ehud
Olmert ever made as Prime Minister, a new Justice Minister was appointed,
the brilliant law professor Daniel Friedmann. (See this:
http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/20684/The_End_Of_Judicial_Tyranny_In_Israel?.html
) While Olmert was no doubt acting on the basis of his own agenda,
Friedmann is just the man needed for the job. Dedicated to overturning
the system of judicial tyranny and judicial activism long imposed
anti-democratically upon the country, dedicated to cleaning up the courts
and the process of judicial appointments, dedicated to restoring
appointment of judges via some sort of accountable and democratic process,
Friedmann has also enraged the entrenched Left, including of course the
Tenure Left. (see
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359807169&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
) The Left has always celebrated the fact that under "judicial activism",
friendly judges could impose the Left's agenda on the country in spite of
the irritating fact that the majority of the country and of the Knesset
opposes that agenda.
The Israeli media, under the near-hegemony of the Left, have been
foaming at the mouth and attacking Friedmann nonstop ever since his
appointment. Within the Israeli legal community, there are essentially
two "camps" these days: the "Judicial Activists," including the Left, now
centered around the new Chief Justice Dorit Beinish, Aharon Barak's
prot.g., and those who oppose them and support Friedmann, academics of
integrity.
The civil war within the legal community is getting uglier. A few
days ago, a group of law professors published a nasty petition against
Friedmann. It was signed by professors at the two most leftist law
schools in the country, that of Tel Aviv University (where, in spite of
the fact that Friedmann had taught there, non-leftist opinion is extremely
rare and leftist indoctrination common) and the University of Haifa (just
slightly less leftist). 14 law dons in all signed so far. Haaretz had
trouble controlling its glee. It forgot to mention though (but other
papers, including Yediot Ahronot, DID mention), that these 14 included
"conscripted academics" include people with a personal agenda.
It turns out that the two professors who initiated the petition
(Ariel Porat and Ayal Benveniste) are not only close chums of Beinish, but
were among the judicial activists that Beinish was lobbying to get
appointed to the Supreme Court as judges. Friedmann would hear nothing of
those appointments, so the two are now trying to recruit other academics
to demonize and smear Freidmann in the press. They denounce Friedmann for
"threatening the integrity of the Israeli judicial system" and for being
himself a threat to democracy. That is laughable. The real threat to
Israeli democracy and the integrity of its legal system is judicial
tyranny.
And its conscripted academics.
2. Maybe the "Women in Black" will like to try this?
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186557423800&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
3. Terrorist caught red-handed then released
Israel lets him go because he's on prime minister's amnesty list
Posted: August 9, 2007
10:36 a.m. Eastern
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57079
By Aaron Klein
2007 WorldNetDaily.com
4. The Yale Initiative on Anti-Semitism:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186557401345&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
5. Sistuh Shula, Shulamit Aloni, has a new article in which she
discovers "fascism" in Israel (in Hebrew, at
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3434340,00.html ). It seems the
Israeli army radio station decided not to broadcast two entertainers, one
of them singer Aviv Gefen, as part of Israel's version of American Idol,
because they had never served in the Israeli military. That is fascism,
opines Runaround Shu.
6. Something of a minor rhetorical farce has been going on in
Israel's Ivory Cartel, the Commission on Higher Education, the academic
Kremlin.
For quite a while, the College of Judea and Samaria ("Ariel College")
has been trying to turn itself into a full scale university. Located in
Ariel in the liberated West Bank, it serves thousands of Jewish and Arab
students (including West Bank "Palestinians". The Tenured Left has
always opposed this, what with the college being on the correct side of
the Green Line and all. Some Likud governments have expressed sympathy
for the idea of converting it into a university (entitled to funding like
the "Big Seven" on the other side of the Green Line).
A few weeks back the College tried to rename itself a "University
Center" as part of its attempt to gain acceptance and upgrade its legal
standing. Ehud Olmert expressed support.
But the Leftist Ascendancy, led by the Minister of Education Yuli
Tamir from the Labor Party (and a prof at Tel Aviv University). She was
joined by the Tenured Left.
The Commission on Higher Education has now effectively declared it is
boycotting the College until it drops its new name, and will reject each
and every request for new study programs and projects.
7. Speaking of selective outrage (a la yesterday's posting):
"A veteran, respected Israeli journalist/commentator, Yaron London,
said during a television show that the IDF shouldn't have wasted so many
soldiers to evict families from their homes. Rather, they should have sent
in a small unit and shot the resistors, 'reawakening the spirit of the
Altelena.' ''
By the way, among the Bar Ilan University professors NOT being
investigated by a commission set up by the president of Bar Ilan (who is
investigating Prof. Hillel Weiss for cussing out an army officer . see
yesterday's posting), is Dr. Kobi Snitz, a mathematician, very active in
the violent "anarchist" attacks on Israel's security wall and on Israeli
police and soldiers (I do not know if Snitz himself has engaged in
violence).
