This week, Israel
Goes to the polls.
The election campaign
In the past months
Was conducted on
Two separate floors.
On the brightly lit
Upper floor
The Israeli public is
Split and polarized between
Two evenly-matched camps,
Headed for a decision
By a hair’s breadth majority.
One bloc seeks toReturn NetanyahuTo power,
Along with his partners
From the extreme right
And the even more extreme right.
The other bloc
Is determined
To stop Netanyahu
And protect what remains
Of Israeli democracy.
While this struggle wages
On the top floor,
A completely different struggle
Is underway in
The dark basement.
In the Occupied Territories,
Only the settlers have the vote.
They will go to polling stations
In their fortified enclaves.
Many of them will vote for
The extreme right.
All around them are
Millions of Palestinians
Who have no share
In Israel’s democracy.
For the last 55 yearsThey have lived under
A tough and brutal
Military dictatorship
Imposed on them
By the government
That the Israelis elect.
Exactly when the Israelis
Go to the polls,
Young Palestinians
Take up arms,
In rebellion
Against occupation and oppression.
Only a few in
The Israeli political system
Dare to point out
The direct connection between
The oppression in the Occupied Territories
And the threat to democracy
In Israel itself.
These voices must be
Sustained and strengthened
In the elections on November 1.