Democracy Education in Israel

1
Democracy Education in Israel

• Raphael Cohen-Almagor
• Director, Center for Democratic Studies,
  University of Haifa

2
Preliminaries

• Israel was established as a Jewish democracy
• Based on Liberal-Democratic values
• AND
• Jewish values

3
Preliminaries

• Authoritarian regimes surround it.
• The key factor for its success is its
  relationships with our neighbours.

4
Preliminaries

• Israel survived seven wars and two Palestinian
  uprisings in 58 years of independence.
• It is hard to maintain normality under such a
  hostile environment.

5
Preliminaries

• Security expenses exhausts a third of our budget,
  leaving insufficient resources for the
  development of other spheres.
• The constant security threat destroys the tourism
  industry and preempts external investments
  essential for economic growth.

6
Preliminaries

• Unemployment continues to be significant.
• Salaries going down in real terms.
• Welfare benefits are cut.

7
Societys Profile

• No shared raison d'être
• 20 wish to transform democracy into theocracy
• 20 do not endorse the Zionist ethos
• 20 of the population are immigrants from the
  former Soviet Union where no democracy existed

8
Background - Schisms

• In addition, Israel suffers from internal
  schisms
• between Israeli-Palestinians and Israeli-Jews
  inside the Green Line
• between Palestinians under the Palestinian
  Authority and Jews
• between orthodox Jews and secular Jews

9
Background - Schisms

• between the ideological right and the ideological
  left,
• between Sephardim and Ashkenazim
• between socialism and capitalism, and
• between cities and kibbutzim

10
Major Problems

• No shared raison d'être
• Many schisms
• Not-so-friendly neighbours
• Terror

11
Major Problems

• Shaky economy
• Problematic election system that brings about
  unstable Knesset and corruption

12
Major Problems

• Racism
• Culture in which generals are heavily involved in
  politics during and after service

13
Education

• Our greatest asset is education
• But it is not in the governments priorities
• 20 cut in universities budget since 2001

14
Universities

• Almost no new hiring
• Israelis study in the finest universities in the
  world, and then cannot find a job in their home
  country

15
The Declaration of Independence

• The Declaration of Independence holds that Israel
  will foster the development of the country for
  the benefit of all its inhabitants that it will
  be based on the foundations of liberty, justice
  and peace

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The Declaration of Independence

• that it will uphold complete equality of social
  and political rights to all of its citizens
  irrespective of religion, race or sex, and that
  it will guarantee freedom of religion,
  conscience, language, education and culture.

17
Important Remedies

• Need to strengthen the democratic foundations
• Promote Democratic Culture

18
Democratic Education

• At present there is no standard democracy
  education In Israel.
• There is a great need to equip our youth with
  understanding of democratic values and
  principles.
• For years, the State of Israel has neglected this
  subject.

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Democratic Education

• All that exists is citizenship education, taught
  for two or three years, one hour per week, in
  which only the formal procedures and mechanisms
  are explained.
• The substantive issues of what does it mean to
  live in a democracy are neglected.

20
Current Situation

• The result is most unfortunate.
• The majority of people in Israel take democracy
  for granted, fail to understand the values of
  democracy, or contest democracy.

21
Current Situation

• Bearing in mind that twenty per cent of the
  population are immigrants from the former Soviet
  Union where no democracy existed, and that large
  segments within Israeli society wish to transform
  democracy into theocracy, or preach one state for
  all Jews and Palestinians on the western side of
  the Jordan River, which would effectively mean
  the end of Israel as we know it, make us realize
  how vulnerable Israeli democracy is.

22
Polls

• Indeed, repeated public polls have shown that
  some thirty percent of Israeli citizenry wish to
  transform democracy into "a government based on
  strong hand", limit free expression and freedom
  of the press so as to have "better control".

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To cheer you upUfff
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Center for Democratic Studies

• http//cds.haifa.ac.il/

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Center for Democratic Studies

• The aim of The Haifa Center for Democratic
  Studies is to promote awareness and understanding
  of civic culture in democracy.

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Center for Democratic Studies

• Recognizing the growing need to secure the
  foundations of democracy and to facilitate
  conditions for pluralism, the Center establishes
  a national and international forum for
  deliberation and discussion.

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Center for Democratic Studies

• The Center aims to increase public awareness of
  liberal democratic values liberty, tolerance,
  justice, equality and peace

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Center for Democratic Studies

• Focus is on the role of ethics and justice in all
  spheres of public life politics economy
  culture academy business law media and
  medicine.

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Center for Democratic Studies

• Strengthening of active participation in public
  life, professional ethics, accountability for
  ones actions, multiculturalism, diversity, and
  civic equality
• http//cds.haifa.ac.il/

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Center for Democratic Studies

• The Center also focuses attention upon abuse of
  power and violation of basic human rights. It
  encourages open debate on the vital importance of
  freedom of expression, in its broad sense, in
  democratic life.

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Center for Democratic Studies

• On this front the Center sees an urgent need for
  education on all levels primary schools, high
  schools and universities.
• Develop a broad curriculum of recent history and
  civics, empowering civic education.

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Democratic Education

• Liberal Ideology
• Putting the Individual at the Center
• John Locke society, tolerance, property, pursuit
  of happiness
• John Stuart Mill Harm Principle, Truth principle

33
Democratic Education

• Liberal Ideology
• Emanuel Kant Dignity, Respect for Others,
  Perceiving People as Ends Rather than Means

34
Democratic Education

• Rights
• Human Rights
• Civic Rights
• Social Rights
• Health Rights
• Minority Rights
• Women Rights
• Rights of Physically and Mentally Challenged
  People

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Democratic Education

• Foundations
• Liberty

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Democratic Education

• Basic Liberties
• Free Expression, including freedom to demonstrate
  and to picket, free media, artistic freedom, and
  academic freedom.
• Free Assembly
• Free Association
• Freedom of Religion
• Freedom from Religion

37
Democratic Education

• Foundations
• Tolerance
• Peace
• Equality
• Justice
• -- multiculturalism,
• -- mutual understanding and diversity

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Mutliculturalism

• Studies of all religions that exist in Israel
  should be made available.

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Democratic Education

• Mechanisms
• Representation
• Active participation in public life

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Democratic Education

• The participatory mechanisms need to be
  strengthened, otherwise the decision-making
  process will be left in the hands of partisan
  politicians whose interests do not necessarily
  coincide with the interests of the people.

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Democratic Education

• Through participation and representation
• -- professional ethics
• -- accountability for ones actions

42
Democratic Education

• Comparative Studies
• Learning from Experience of other democracies
• The United Kingdom
• The United States
• Germany

43
Democratic Education

• Weaknesses of the Democratic Regime
• The Paradox of Tolerance
• The Democratic Catch
• The Tyranny of the Majority
• The Tyranny of the Minority

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Conclusion

• Democracy should be nurtured and sustained
  through active education and through constant
  efforts on the part of the citizenry who care for
  the society in which they live.

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Conclusion

• Through education, we should invest our energies
  to promote liberty, tolerance, equality, justice,
  peace and multiculturalism in our troubled
  society.

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Thank you