re israel not an apartheid state in article spam maths adelaide edu au jaskew spam maths adelaide edu au joseph askew writes in article se ninnfo early bird think com shaig think com shai guday writes in article spam maths adelaide edu au jaskew spam maths adelaide edu au joseph askew writes there are arabs in cabinet but look how long it took and to what insignificant positions they are assigned and this is based solely on race not political belief or security as jewish members of the same party have always been welcome just not their fellow arabs first of all the arab standing in any party or as any party is solely dependent upon the amount of political power they can wield effectively it is not a question of an individuals standing when a party puts up an arab for a cabinet post and that arab is rejected but the position is given to a jew from the same party we are not talking about power but racism not necessarily as shai points out political appointments are based on power they are also based on favors owed coalition building and deal making while this may have a racist element to it i think that its much more fair to attribute it to the old boy nature of politics now i ll freely admit that the old boy system has racist and sexist effects but i don t think that those are its purpose whether in the us israel or elsewhere in the past they have not been effective at garnering votes and forming a single bloc in the knesset on the few occasions when this was done some of the parties took stands that were extremist and ineffect precluded themselves from forming a coalition and participating in the cabinet not their party them as individuals even when they belong to nice peaceful zionist mainstream parties they are not welcome arabs are excluded on ficitious security grounds which are just an excuse it sure looks like racism to me here again you miss out on the old boy nature of politics and the existance of back room deals as individuals these arabs may not be as well connected as the jew who gets the job i don t like this aspect of politics but i understand it exists adam adam shostack adam das harvard edu if we had a budget big enough for drugs and sexual favors we sure wouldn t waste them on members of congress john perry barlow
