Balad Party

(A note: this ideology belongs to the party I was researching, not me!)

The National Democratic Assembly
On June 17th, 1996, Azmi Bishara and Hashem Mahameed became members of the Fourteenth Knesset in the state of Israel representing a new political party formed by a group of young Arab Israeli intellectuals : the National Democratic Assembly (NDA). The NDA is also known as “Balad,” a name based on its acronym in Hebrew (“Brit Leumit Demokretit”).
Like the state of Israel, Balad has had a tumultuous time in the last fifteen years. It has formed partnerships and been a part of joint lists with a variety of political parties; it has faced changing electorate trends and support; it has had rocky relations with the rest of the government. In this paper, we will discuss the history, ideologies, and platform of the Balad political party in Israel. The first section of the discussion will explore the history of the party, including a summary of its creation, voting trends, and party leadership. We will then turn to a more in-depth examination of the party’s ideologies, including ideas about foreign policy, ethnic identity and pluralism, democracy, and the role of religion in the state. Finally, we will suggest what Balad’s campaign platform might look like if elections were to take place in 2010.

A Brief History of the Balad Party
Since its beginnings, Balad has had a fairly close partnership with several other predominately Arab parties. In its first election run (1996), the NDA ran on a joint list with the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (DFPE).1 Three years later, it joined the Arab Renewal Movement, though the partnership broke down less than a year into the term.2 In recent elections, the party has run on its own.
A simple analysis of a party’s strength in the Israeli government can be done by looking at the number of seats held by the party in the Knesset. Because Knesset seats are allocated on the basis of vote acquisition, the number of seats won by a party is indicative of the proportion of the population that voted for that particular party. In its first two Knesset runs (the fourteenth in 1996 and the fifteenth in 1999), Balad won two seats (though the 1999 run was a joint list that later broke up, so some say Balad had only one seat). In 2003, Balad’s electoral support increased. It won three seats in the Sixteenth Knesset and has remained at that strength since.3
But the simple glance at seat number may be deceitful, partially due to joint ticketing with other parties. The party describes its own strength on its website, primarily in terms of how widespread it is throughout the country: “In just a few years, the NDA became one of the most popular parties among the Palestinian citizens of Israel, establishing over 60 branches in Arab towns throughout the state. “ Defining strength through a different lens, we might look at what percentage of different electoral subgroups a party wins. For example, even though Balad won three seats in both 2003 and 2006, its popularity declined among Arab Israelis, dropping from 30.9% in 2003 to 28.4% of the Arab Israeli vote as split between the NDA, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, and the joint United Arab League-Arab Movement for Change list. In order to win that third seat in the Knesset, it had to negotiate vote reallocation with the DFPE.5 Moving from the 2003 to the 2006 elections also showed a drop for Balad in the Bedouin and Druze voting blocs.5 Examining these trends is important for the party in order to make policy adjustments that might increase the party’s power.
“It is not uncommon to hear people speaking of ‘the party or movement of this or that person’…Balad of Bishara. “ This statement reflects the importance of party leadership in Israel’s political system, especially among smaller parties who have only a few people actively working as the face of the party. Azmi Bishara was a former member of the Knesset under the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (suggesting the origins of the close relationship between the two parties), though he left the Communist party after the upheavals of 1989. Born in Nazareth in 1956, Bishara earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Humboldt University in Berlin. He headed the NDA in every election through the 2006 run for the Seventeenth Knesset, even vying for prime minister in 1999, becoming the first Arab Israeli to do so. During the time of his leadership, he underwent a trial after making some statements seemingly in support of the Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation. These statements include a press release on the party’s official website declaring the Palestinian people “will never surrender “ and a keynote speech made at a conference with the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy on Septemer 3rd, 2002, during which he asserted it was “clear that this form of occupation cannot be ended without a resistance strategy. “ Today, Bishara is suspected of aided Hizbollah in the 2006 War with Lebanon; he is now living abroad and resigned from his position as MK.
Following Bishara’s dramatic exit from the Israeli government, another member of the Balad party made a remarkable entrance to the political stage and has continued to draw attention. Hanin Zoabi was born in 1969 and lived in Nazareth. Zoabi studied at Haifa University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In many ways, Zoabi was an average candidate for a Balad MK. Placed in the third slot on NDA’s list, Zoabi had a good chance of being elected. So what made Zoabi’s win so remarkable? She was the first female to be elected to Parliament from an Arab party. The few Palestinian women who served as Knesset members previously came from leftist Zionist parties, particularly Meretz and Labor.
If her election created waves, though, her statements since have caused hurricanes. In early 2009, Zoabi asserted her support for Iran’s having nuclear weapons, desiring a Cold War-esque Mutually Assured Destruction phenomena in which Iran plays the “counter-power to Israel…something to balance [Israel’s] power. “ This spring, she literally caused waves as she sailed on the flotilla into Gaza. In a press conference following her release from police custody, she was unapologetic, asserting that “Israel is used to doing whatever it wants with the Palestinians. “ In July 2010, the Knesset voted 34 to 16 to withhold a diplomatic passport for Zoabi and deny her subsidized legal counsel. Some have expressed concern that this action puts into question Israel’s democratic nature; Zoabi expressed her frustration that the Knesset did not “protect me from racism which targeted me for my views.21”
It has not only been her own actions that have threatened Zoabi’s political career. Her service as an MK was precarious even before she was elected. Israel’s Central Elections Committee disqualified the NDA from running in the 2009 elections by a vote of twenty-six to three in early, on the grounds that the party “does not recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland. “ Just after a week later, the High Court overturned the decision, asserting the case was based on “flimsy evidence. “ Balad Chair Zahalka called the overturn “a blow to Lieberman and the fascist Right...Balad stands by its platform. The court’s decision is a victory to the Arab public and to anyone who seeks democracy...we call on everyone to back the notion of ‘a people’s state’ and a life of equality and no discrimination. “ With that statement by the current chairperson of the National Democratic Alliance, we will turn to examine the political ideology of the Balad party.

Core Political Ideologies of the National Democratic Assembly
One of the policy areas which Balad has been most involved with is the occupation of Palestine and the peace process. The most detailed piece of their party platforms is:
To support the full withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967 and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the implementation of UN resolution 194 regarding the right of return to Palestinian refugees.
They are extremely explicit about their vision for a future Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with a divided Jerusalem as its capitol. Within Israel, they support giving a right of return to Palestinians so that they may re-settle in their historic homeland. The typical argument against the right of return, that it would corrode the Jewish character of the state, holds no importance to Balad. The idea of a non-strictly Jewish Israel will be explored later.
Continuing with foreign policy, Balad is in favor of improving relations with Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East. As an Arab Nationalist party, the National Democratic Assembly identifies with the larger Arab world. In 2006, a delegation of Balad members made an unapproved diplomatic trip to Syria where they met with President Basher Al-Assad. The NDA has made similar motions towards Lebanon, the aforementioned delegation also visiting Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri. Even more controversially, the envoy included a stop at a Hezbollah stronghold. In regards to diplomatic tour, Mohammed Miari said:
Personal identification with the Lebanese people and the preservation of their standing as a people is more important than formalities of the law…Our journey to Lebanon was rooted in the foundation of the Balad party platform, part of which states that we, the Arabs of Israel are an inseparable piece of the Arab nation.
With regards to Iran, Haneen Zuabi has made some very controversial statements regarding their nuclear program. Israel has typically been strongly opposed to Iran developing its nuclear technology out of a justified fear that they will develop nuclear weapons and pose a security threat. Zuabi, however, has stated that a nuclear Iran would form a legitimate power counterweight to the already nuclear Israel. Although she has gone on to say that she is not actually in favor of a nuclear capable Iran, this stance is still well outside the Israeli mainstream.
Outside of Middle Eastern politics, Balad, keeping with its leftist roots, recognizes global economic and political disparity. A part of their platform is “To struggle for an alternative world system based on equality, social justice and a fair distribution of wealth between north and south.”
Moving on to domestic politics, Balad is most concerned with protecting the rights and interests of Arab-Israelis. According to them, Arab communities receive a mere third of the financial support that Jewish communities do. Due to the inequality, Balad MKs voted against every national budget that is put in front of them. One of Balad’s goals, therefore, is to bring the two groups to parity or at the least lessen the wide disparity. Another concern is the unrecognized villages. There exist dozens of Bedouin communities in the Negev desert that do not officially exist. They do not appear on maps and lack government support and infrastructure. It is a goal of the NDA to recognize the villages and allow them access to electricity, water, and other government services. Yet another issue they stress is opposing the confiscation of Arab property under the auspices of eminent domain.31
Balad seeks greater autonomy for Israel’s Arab community and wants Israel to recognize the Arabs an official national minority with the collective rights thereof, “in particular, the right to autonomy in those domains which distinguish the minority from the majority e.g. education, culture and media.”31 They seek to establish stronger Arab institutions and civil society, including radio and television stations, cultural centers, business associations, etc. They also aim to allow for more independence in the education system.31 The main complaint is that Israeli schools do too much to teach the Zionist narrative and not enough to teach them about their Arab identity. From their official platform:
Through the state education process, the Arab citizens of Israel are psychologically and culturally being distanced from their heritage and language…The aim of this policy is to destroy the national identity of the Palestinians in Israel, and to prevent them from evolving into a recognized national minority with full rights.
The National Democratic Assembly is opposed to the idea of the Jewish state on both ethnic and religious grounds. Regarding the issues of religion and state as a whole, Balad believes in the full separation between Church and State. They consider many of the trappings of the state to be religious in nature and therefore incompatible with their secular outlook. In the words of Azmi Bashara, Israel should not be Jewish but instead “a state of all its citizens.32” Not only does the Jewish state create complications for religious minorities, but also ethnic ones. According to Haneen Zuabi, the whole idea of the Jewish state is “inherently racist.” By defining the state as being specifically for a single ethno-religious group, she continues, those outside of that group have difficulty being loyal.
“Rejecting the ‘Jewish state’ concept will block the road for anyone who demands our loyalty to such a state. There is no logic in demanding that I be loyal to an idea to which I do not agree to begin with, especially since I am proposing an alternative and fighting for it...The language of democracy does not speak of loyalty. This is a language of fascism, just like Lieberman. The language of democracy speaks of rights, equality, and values.34”
Economically, Balad can be found on the left end of the spectrum and can be considered Democratic Socialist. As previously stated, the NDA is extremely concerned with equitable distribution of government funds and services with regards to the Arab minority. However, they are also tied to the ideals of socialism and equal distribution of wealth in a more universal sense. In a practical sense, they support the capital gains tax and lower income taxes for low wage earners. This has shown historically with previous ties, and shared constituency, with Hadash, a mostly Arab Communist party. They also often have to compete for votes with the left-of center Labor party.
Additionally, the National Democratic Assembly supports full equality of the sexes (and is explicitly stated in their seventh of the “Party Aims and Objectives”). As previously stated, the first female Arab in the Knesset is an MK from the party.

2010 Campaign Platform
As a relatively recent political party, the National Democratic Assembly has not had a dramatic shift in ideology (as older parties such as the Likud and the Labor parties may have had). Thus, the political ideologies detailed in the above section remain much the same on the Balad political platform for the elections of 2010. Here, we will present a few current issues critical for the National Democratic Assembly in the voice they might use in current elections.
The “loyalty for citizens” bill proposed by Yisrael Beiteinu “is anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic in its character, and represents a blow to the Basic Law of the state on the basis of racism,” as so eloquently stated by our own Zoabi . The proposed bill would give graduates of the Israeli Defense Force and National Service job preference over those who “did not contribute of their time to the state,36” in the words of racist Foreign Minister Lieberman. We recently participated in a rally to oppose this bill and will continue to fight it and legislation that, like it, seeks to turn “a policy of inequality into law. “ Opposing this law is critical to our objective to “promote economic, political, and cultural rights” within the land of Israel .
Equally oppressive and undemocratic is the “Hanin Zoabi” bill presented in the Knesset, which we will also vigorously oppose. This bill will allow for the dismissal of a Knesset member who “acts in support of an enemy nation,” “rejects the existence of Israel as a democratic Jewish state,” or “participates in incitement to racism. “ The NDA finds this language almost laughable. Firstly, those who have proposed the bill were inciting racism even as they condemned others for it. And secondly, Balad has never requested anything other than a democratic Jewish state. Until the state becomes truly democratic, it is difficult to stand in full support, especially as bills of this nature are brought specifically to target Palestinian members of the Knesset. Our founder, Azmi Bishara, has recently been charged with “assisting Hezbollah in the Lebanon War.39” He has already been exiled from Israel as a result. Now, this bill – as shown clearly by its title – seeks to oust another of our members from the Knesset. Zoabi’s presence on the flotilla into Gaza was in no way an action against the state of Israel, but rather an exercise of her democratic right to criticize her own state. This bill would allow for a mere two-thirds of the Knesset – just 80 people – to oust any Knesset member they choose. Balad is not naïve: If passed, this bill will be used to repeatedly dismiss Palestinian MKs and directly challenges the existence of Israel as “a democracy for all its citizens.38”
Israel’s so-called “democracy” will never be complete until all of its citizens enjoy it. The Israeli government must mirror and create the hoped-for equality. A Palestinian party has never been involved in a coalition government. We believe this is reflective of Israel’s true status and results in continued inequality. Thus, Balad calls for all Palestinian Israelis, Palestinians living in Israel, Muslim Israelis, Arab Israelis, Christian Israelis, and democracy-supporting Jewish Israelis to vote for the NDA. We are at least 20% of the population. With every vote, we will win 24 seats in the Knesset, forcing other parties to consider us in coalition.
As part of a Coalition and with twenty-four seats in the Knesset, Balad will be able to realize its goal of cultural, economic, and political autonomy for the Arab citizens of Israel. We must be in control of our education, culture, and media in order that we might thrive and flourish on our own terms. In the Eighteenth Knesset, we will work for the recognition of Palestinians as a “national minority who remained in their homeland after the establishment of Israel. “ Apart from these critical material issues, becoming a part of the majority government will prove to us that Israel is serious apart its commitment to equal treatment, easing our “feelings of alienation and rejection from Israeli life. “
Recognition of the Palestinians as a national minority is a separate and distinct issue from the longed-for two-state solution; nevertheless, the continued mistreatment of Palestinians in Israel sends a signal to the Palestinian Authority that Israel is not yet prepared to allow the Palestinians the possibility of cultural autonomy. If there is any hope for peace, Israel must stop the creation of new settlements in the illegally-occupied Palestinian territories, its unjust policy of “land grabbing,” and admit to the Palestinian right of return. We are well aware that Israel believes Palestinians should have the right to return only to the land granted to the eventual state of Palestine and try to use this as a barrier to the creation of our state. Until the Jews give up on their “right of return” (as they claim the “right” to settle in territories that do not belong to them), though, it is racist to expect the Palestinians to do so. It is a great injustice to deny the Palestinian people, who have a very deep and historical connection to this land, the right to reclaim their legally-owned homes.
We would like to stress that the issues mentioned above are merely a few contemporary topics of concern for the National Democratic Assembly. But, as our name makes clear, we are most concerned with the existence of Israel as a democratic state. As so eloquently stated by Uriel Abulof's review of the Israeli Arab Future Vision Documents (texts which we urge every citizen of Israel to read thoroughly), an “ethnic democracy” is a democracy “of low quality. ” Regardless of whether or not a Palestinian state is formed, Israel must examine itself internally. We charge Israel to move towards a consociational democracy, in which all ethnicities and nationalities will be able to feel at ease with their state and engage fully in the political and social spheres.

No country in the world is entirely democratic yet or has achieved full equality. We believe that, with our help and guidance, Israel can be on its way to becoming close. Join us. Vote for democracy – for all. Vote for equality – for all. Vote for justice – for all. Vote for peace – for all. Vote for women. Vote for your children. Vote for yourself. Vote for Balad. After all, “Arabs aren’t the only alienated minority who would benefit from the strengthening of democracy in Israel. “
 
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