I switched on the television the other night and I could have sworn that I was watching a Fellini film. It turned out to be the Likud central committee election festival, a veritable circus, which was grossly juxtaposed with the news of a missing two-year old girl. Benjamin Netanyahu and company were conspicuously absent from the carnival. They had to have been there, but I guess the media just felt that losers don?t deserve coverage. But then there was a 95% voter turnout from a people who are desperate to live, and the results were more than surprising (at least to the media). Netanyahu supporters and Likud hawks grabbed 9 out of 10 of the list?s top spots and finished overall far better than Prime Minister Ariel Sharon?s cronies.
Was it just two weeks ago that only 46% of Likud members voted in what the Israeli media had promised to be a rout by Sharon? The polls leading up to the vote were obscenely inaccurate, as were the exit polls. Channel 1 reported that Sharon had won 61% of the votes against Netanyahu?s 37%, and commentator Amnon Abramovich exclaimed, "He wasn't just defeated, he was humiliated." The actual results were 56% for Sharon and 41% for Netanyahu.
Just how powerful is the media anyway? Anyone want to commission a poll to determine just how many Netanyahu supporters stayed home due to discouraging media coverage? Or, how about asking how many Likud Knesset members and right-wing activists kept their support for Bibi and his policies under wraps, rather than appear to endorse an unpopular candidate? It seems that we may be living in a very unhealthy democracy and freedom of the press has gone berserk. At times like these, what?s the public to do?
Well, the hawks are assured healthy places in the Likud line-up, but Sharon will, more than likely, have plenty of room to maneuver and he is still touting a national unity government, protecting Yassir Arafat, and advocating a two-state solution (why don't we just call it partition - chilling thought, isn't it?). According to Labor prime ministerial candidate, Amnon Miztna, ?Ariel Sharon will have trouble implementing the moderate line that he is trying to present." Mitzna may have half a brain after all (the left half). But the mess we're in calls for some creative and intuitive thinking. It appears that anybody who wants to assure that the plug on Oslo is pulled permanently would do well to reinforce a hawkish Likud by voting farther to the right.
There are other steps we as citizens can take to try and correct the current situation outside of exercising our inalienable right to vote.
How about calling for a boycott of the election advertisements - both print and broadcast. We should restrict ourselves to official postings of party platforms until this nation can grow up. It sounds a bit drastic, but these are desperate times and we already know the following: a) pictures of eminent rabbis plastered on the sides of busses do not protect the passengers from suicide bombers; b) catchy jingles have little to do with official party policy; c) heaps of flyers trash our streets and waste a precious resource; d) the Israeli public is fair game for gimmicks and scams and the media/marketing masters know it all too well.
So, with all this in mind, turn off your televisions and spend time with your spouse and kids, and try saying these new proposals three times fast:
1) Only Official Party Platforms should be Posted in Public Places;
2) Pretty Publicity Pictures are no longer Permissible;
3) Preachy Political Pundits and Political Polls are Petty;
4) We Want the Truth (yes, I know this last one is not a tongue twister, but you can?t make a mistake when you say it).
Now here?s a novel political ploy that just may garner a few votes - which party will be the first to donate their generous advertising campaign budget to the impoverished and underprivileged of this country?
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Ellen Horowitz, a painter and writer, lives on the Golan Heights with her husband and six children. She can be reached at ilan-acu@netvision.net.il.
Was it just two weeks ago that only 46% of Likud members voted in what the Israeli media had promised to be a rout by Sharon? The polls leading up to the vote were obscenely inaccurate, as were the exit polls. Channel 1 reported that Sharon had won 61% of the votes against Netanyahu?s 37%, and commentator Amnon Abramovich exclaimed, "He wasn't just defeated, he was humiliated." The actual results were 56% for Sharon and 41% for Netanyahu.
Just how powerful is the media anyway? Anyone want to commission a poll to determine just how many Netanyahu supporters stayed home due to discouraging media coverage? Or, how about asking how many Likud Knesset members and right-wing activists kept their support for Bibi and his policies under wraps, rather than appear to endorse an unpopular candidate? It seems that we may be living in a very unhealthy democracy and freedom of the press has gone berserk. At times like these, what?s the public to do?
Well, the hawks are assured healthy places in the Likud line-up, but Sharon will, more than likely, have plenty of room to maneuver and he is still touting a national unity government, protecting Yassir Arafat, and advocating a two-state solution (why don't we just call it partition - chilling thought, isn't it?). According to Labor prime ministerial candidate, Amnon Miztna, ?Ariel Sharon will have trouble implementing the moderate line that he is trying to present." Mitzna may have half a brain after all (the left half). But the mess we're in calls for some creative and intuitive thinking. It appears that anybody who wants to assure that the plug on Oslo is pulled permanently would do well to reinforce a hawkish Likud by voting farther to the right.
There are other steps we as citizens can take to try and correct the current situation outside of exercising our inalienable right to vote.
How about calling for a boycott of the election advertisements - both print and broadcast. We should restrict ourselves to official postings of party platforms until this nation can grow up. It sounds a bit drastic, but these are desperate times and we already know the following: a) pictures of eminent rabbis plastered on the sides of busses do not protect the passengers from suicide bombers; b) catchy jingles have little to do with official party policy; c) heaps of flyers trash our streets and waste a precious resource; d) the Israeli public is fair game for gimmicks and scams and the media/marketing masters know it all too well.
So, with all this in mind, turn off your televisions and spend time with your spouse and kids, and try saying these new proposals three times fast:
1) Only Official Party Platforms should be Posted in Public Places;
2) Pretty Publicity Pictures are no longer Permissible;
3) Preachy Political Pundits and Political Polls are Petty;
4) We Want the Truth (yes, I know this last one is not a tongue twister, but you can?t make a mistake when you say it).
Now here?s a novel political ploy that just may garner a few votes - which party will be the first to donate their generous advertising campaign budget to the impoverished and underprivileged of this country?
--------------------------------------------------------
Ellen Horowitz, a painter and writer, lives on the Golan Heights with her husband and six children. She can be reached at ilan-acu@netvision.net.il.