J’accuse? Non, J’excuse

Hold onto your hats, folks. Azmi Bishara, the Arab member of the Israeli Knesset who is about to be charged with espionage and treason for aiding Hizbullah in the Second Lebanon War, is likening himself to Alfred Dreyfus. Say hello to yet another example of the Palestinians trying to co-opt Jewish symbols.

And of course, it’s in the LA Times. Grab your hankies, people, it’s a tearjerker.

I AM A PALESTINIAN from Nazareth, a citizen of Israel and was, until last month, a member of the Israeli parliament.

But now, in an ironic twist reminiscent of France’s Dreyfus affair — in which a French Jew was accused of disloyalty to the state — the government of Israel is accusing me of aiding the enemy during Israel’s failed war against Lebanon in July.

Israeli police apparently suspect me of passing information to a foreign agent and of receiving money in return. Under Israeli law, anyone — a journalist or a personal friend — can be defined as a “foreign agent” by the Israeli security apparatus. Such charges can lead to life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

The allegations are ridiculous. Needless to say, Hezbollah — Israel’s enemy in Lebanon — has independently gathered more security information about Israel than any Arab Knesset member could possibly provide. What’s more, unlike those in Israel’s parliament who have been involved in acts of violence, I have never used violence or participated in wars. My instruments of persuasion, in contrast, are simply words in books, articles and speeches.

These trumped-up charges, which I firmly reject and deny, are only the latest in a series of attempts to silence me and others involved in the struggle of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel to live in a state of all its citizens, not one that grants rights and privileges to Jews that it denies to non-Jews.

Once again, what is going to convict Bishara?

His own words.

The case was built using wiretappings conducted by the Shin Bet during the Second Lebanon War.

[…] In one of the conversations Bishara was asked an unusually direct question by his Hizbullah contact who wanted to know how Israel would respond if it were hit by long range missiles which would reach beyond the city of Haifa. Bishara mumbled and admonished his contact, hinting that the conversation may be monitored, but after a short while his aspirations got the best of him and he told the Hizbullah man that such an action would serve Hizbullah’s goals. Several days later rockets began hitting targets south of Haifa.

Here we have the kind of prevarication that is most common from the “oppressed minority” p.o.v.:

I have certainly ruffled feathers in Israel. In addition to speaking out on the subjects above, I have also asserted the right of the Lebanese people, and of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to resist Israel’s illegal military occupation. I do not see those who fight for freedom as my enemies.

This is what he considers “freedom fighters” and “ruffling feathers.” But the fact of the matter is, he doesn’t get to “think” these are his enemies. They are, by their actions, legally and physically enemies of the State of Israel, and he was, until last week, an officer of the government of Israel.

Bishara never equivocated about his loyalties, which invariably lay with Israel’s foes. After the IDF’s retreat from Lebanon in 2000, he crowed at an Umm el-Fahm rally: “Hizbullah won and for the first time since 1967 we taste victory. Hizbullah is justly proud of its achievement in humiliating Israel.”

He later repeated the same sentiments in Damascus, leading the Knesset to lift his parliamentary immunity, facilitating an indictment for supporting terrorist organizations. The Supreme Court, however, let Bishara off the legal hook. Likewise, in 2003, the Court overturned a Central Election Committee decision to disqualify Balad from the Knesset race.

Despite such tolerance, Bishara hectored in Beirut: “We don’t want your [Israel’s] democracy. Give us Palestine.”

This time, Bishara isn’t getting off the hook, and he knows it. This time, he’s going down for treason and espionage. That’s why he fled. Don’t expect him to come back. He knows they have the goods on him.

In his own words.