Anat Matar: Is Israel a democratic state?

Anat Matar is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Tel Aviv University and Chair of the Israeli Action Committee for the Palestinian Prisoners. She has recently published (in collaboration with Adv. Abeer Baker from Haifa University) an edited volume of essays, entitled Threat: Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israel (London, Pluto Press 2011). Matar has been a Leftist activist for many years, in particular in the refusal movement, in “Open Doors”, an activist group against administrative detention, and in “Who Profits?”, a research group exposing the Israeli Occupation industry. Anat Matar was invited to Prague by the Palestinian Club in the Czech Republic. There were two lectures which took place in co-operation with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) Czech Republic group, and the Association of Political Science Students of Charles University Prague. Anat Matar spoke on the issue of Palestinian political prisoners and land confiscation; and on the impact of the recent Israeli elections and the role of the international community. Questions asked by Petra Šťastná of ISM Czech Republic who strives for justice for Palestine. (-dk-)


INDEX:

00:13 Is Israel a democratic state?
02:12 Can you give examples of discrimination of Palestinian citizens of Israel?
05:02 Can you explain the significance of the Nakba Bill?
06:14 Can Palestinian citizens of Israel buy land or a house in Israel?
07:01 Can a Palestinian from East Jerusalem buy a house in West Jerusalem, as Avigdor Lieberman claimed on a state visit to Prague?
08:23 ...If they want to buy a new house, not go back, would it be possible?
09:05 Can you give examples why you say that Israel is an apartheid state?
10:59 What is your opinion of the one-state solution?
15:26 In the two-state solution, what would happen with the illegal Israeli settlers?
17:16 What should happen to the settlements, should they be destroyed as it happened in Gaza?
18:10 Regarding the two-state solution, what are the constraints of land swapping?
19:10 Can you talk about the Boycott Law of 2011? How does it affect you?
24:57 What was efficient in the boycott of South Africa?
26:53 ...Would this be the same for Israel?
27:57 What does the boycott law say about the nature of democracy in Israel?
28:26 Should Palestinian refugees be allowed to go back to Palestine 48, i.e. present day Israel, if they wish so?
31:12 Should Palestinians be able to go back to their original homes?
32:28 If Palestinian refugees decide not to return, who should pay the compensations?
33:21 What borders should there be for an independent Palestinian state?
35:47 What would be the status of Jerusalem in a two-state solution?
37:45 The Likud party has in its program considerable annexations of Palestinian land, what is your comment on this?
40:12 Should all Palestinian [political] prisoners be released?
43:57 Czech people think that all Palestinian prisoners are terrorists. What is the number of people imprisoned for actually killing Israelis, and what about the rest of them, who are they?
46:34 Are all Palestinians terrorists? Many Czech people think so...
48:52 Do you feel any terrorist threat as an Israeli living in Tel Aviv?
50:52 Could you comment on state terrorism committed by Israel, and on the Jewish Underground organization? How about impunity, and extrajudicial executions?
57:56 What was the percentage of Israelis insisting on releasing those convicted from the Jewish Underground?