Whom To Vote For? (Uri Avnery)

[Violet_Crumble]

I BELIEVE this must be about the 15th time that I am writing an article like this one. On the eve of every national election I set out my doubts and hesitations. I do not tell people how to vote. What I am trying to do is help voters (including myself) to organize their thoughts and reach a logical conclusion, each according to his own conscience and understanding.

I know, of course, that none of us makes this choice solely on the basis of logic. Many factors influence a voter on the way to the ballot box, some conscious, some unconscious. Loyalty to family or rebellion against it, loyalty to a party, sympathy with one leader or dislike of another, membership of a group or community, the views of people around us - all have an impact. But rational and self-aware people will try, in spite of all that, to let logic, too, have its say.

My considerations can help only people whose views are similar, more or less, to mine. That means people who believe that the achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace is essential to the future of Israel, that ignoring morality and justice cannot be in the national interest in the long run, that the continuation of the occupation is a calamity for us too, that peace can be achieved by negotiations with the Palestinian leadership, that it must be based on mutual recognition and respect between the State of Israel and the future State of Palestine, that the border between them must be based on the Green Line, that Jerusalem must be the capital of the two states.

With these views, who should one vote for?

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=9986

[Tom Joad]

1. Good article.

Goodness knows anti-war, pro-human rights folks here in the USA have their own moral dilemmas.

[bemildred]

2. Dilemma doesn't quite express it.

It's been like 30 years since there was anyone I could vote for that represented, at least in part, my political position. It's just one long string of suit-droids to select from, and the only criteria is which is the least dangerous stooge.