I know Jason has already covered the elections, but I just could not let the whole thing pass without adding my 2 agurot.
I can't say that I am thrilled with the outcome of the Beit Shemesh (soon to be renamed Beis Sheemish) elections. But, as in a deomcrasy it is the rule of the majority, I can accept the fact that my "team" lost. I can deal with that. Happened all the time in Canada. Ok, so we hope the new guy will not be as bad as we fear and move forward.
But truth be told, I can not say that I am thrilled with any part of the electoral process.
I am not normally a political person. Sure I always vote- not so much because I think it is my civic duty or anything like that, but instead because I feel that if you remove yourself from the process, than you have no right to complain about the results or their repercussions. As we all know that I like to complain, I make sure to get out and vote.
For the first time since I turned 18 I was actually relatively excited to vote. Getting my voter card here was exciting. I am an Israeli and thus have a right to have a say in how my own little piece of our ancestral land is going to be governed. (This is even more meaningful since we are not sure we will get to vote in the Federal election in February as we will have been here less than a year.)
But I was REVOLTED by how the campaigning and elections were run. It made me sick to see the dirty tactics and disgusting behavriour by the candidates and their followers. I know that I needed to expect a difference in cultural attitudes towards elections, but what I saw bordered on needing to bring in a neutral observer with trained military personel in order to make sure we had a free and fair election!
Beit Shemesh has an online list (henseforth referred to as "the list") and the Ramah has a second online list all its own (henseforth referred to as "rbs2"). The shmutz going back and forth on the lists for weeks has been disgusting. Everything from "Gedolim say you MUST vote for our candidate or you are voting against Hashem and the Torah" to "I saw candidate X and his followers throwing campaign litter on a street" to baseless accusations of backroom deals and purchased votes from all parties.
It got so bad that both lists refused to allow any more election related posts to go up, and sending them in could lead to an immidiate posting ban from the poster. The Lashon Harah on the list was so bad they were coming it faster that you could read them.
Consistency is good. It is nice to know that sinat chinam is just as bad now as it was when Hashem destroyed the Beit Hamikdash.
Add to that the vote tampering and rampant cheating that goes on in this country at election time, and rather than being proud to be part of the system, it made me embarrassed to be Israeli.
Showing posts with label Elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elections. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Israeli Elections (Where fraud is normal)
Being able to vote is one of the ultimate acts of citizenship. As politics is something I have always been interested in, I was very excited to be able to vote. Instead of being proud to be a voter and active in the political process, I am embarrassed witnessing first hand the worst of what our political system has to offer.
I tried on a number of occasions to volunteer for one of the parties. First they did not respond to my request. I finally got sent down a chain of volunteers of who directed me to the person I should talk to. He responded with just show up at a particular location whenever you feel like it. This morning I called the party for a ride to the polling station. An hour later I called again and they finally arranged a ride for us. A party representative that I have a lot of respect for was at the booth across from the polling station. I asked if I could help after the polls close. They made some phone calls and told me I was out of luck. Later in the evening, an e-mail went out on the list asking for after the polls close help. I called the campaign manager who I have met. He told me to call another number. They told me that they would call me if they needed me. I tried to help. Nobody wanted it.
I am used to parties not campaigning on election day. There were cars driving around all day playing loud music with election posters. Garbage was everywhere as parties scrambled to put up their own last minute election signs and tear down those of their opponents. Streets were littered with garbage everywhere. Campaign booths were set up accross from polling stations.
On the plus side I met a candidate that I had sent my resume to earlier in the morning. He showed me on his phone that he had the e-mail and he would be reading it.
After voting I became very concerned about how easy it is to manipulate the election, through ballot tampering or misleading information. As the day went on there were more and more reports of vote tampering. (Details on how votes are cast is in my politics blog). Last report police were investigating 420 seperate incidences.
We have been here for almost 3 months. Today was the first time I have been embarrased to call myself and Israeli. I was so upset that I sent an e-mail to Elections Canada requesting that they lend their expertise in ending the election corruption. Afterall they are the same organizaiton that helps such advance countries as Iraq, Haiti and Afghanistan have free and fair elections. I just hope the people's choice is the actual winner.
I tried on a number of occasions to volunteer for one of the parties. First they did not respond to my request. I finally got sent down a chain of volunteers of who directed me to the person I should talk to. He responded with just show up at a particular location whenever you feel like it. This morning I called the party for a ride to the polling station. An hour later I called again and they finally arranged a ride for us. A party representative that I have a lot of respect for was at the booth across from the polling station. I asked if I could help after the polls close. They made some phone calls and told me I was out of luck. Later in the evening, an e-mail went out on the list asking for after the polls close help. I called the campaign manager who I have met. He told me to call another number. They told me that they would call me if they needed me. I tried to help. Nobody wanted it.
I am used to parties not campaigning on election day. There were cars driving around all day playing loud music with election posters. Garbage was everywhere as parties scrambled to put up their own last minute election signs and tear down those of their opponents. Streets were littered with garbage everywhere. Campaign booths were set up accross from polling stations.
On the plus side I met a candidate that I had sent my resume to earlier in the morning. He showed me on his phone that he had the e-mail and he would be reading it.
After voting I became very concerned about how easy it is to manipulate the election, through ballot tampering or misleading information. As the day went on there were more and more reports of vote tampering. (Details on how votes are cast is in my politics blog). Last report police were investigating 420 seperate incidences.
We have been here for almost 3 months. Today was the first time I have been embarrased to call myself and Israeli. I was so upset that I sent an e-mail to Elections Canada requesting that they lend their expertise in ending the election corruption. Afterall they are the same organizaiton that helps such advance countries as Iraq, Haiti and Afghanistan have free and fair elections. I just hope the people's choice is the actual winner.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Local Elections - Bet Shemesh
As not to bore you with local politics, I have posted details of this weeks local elections on my politics blog.
http://frozenpolitics.blogspot.com/2008/11/local-elections-bet-shemesh.html
http://frozenpolitics.blogspot.com/2008/11/local-elections-bet-shemesh.html
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Mixing Religion with Politics
The battle for Mayor and city council has really been heating up over the past two weeks. The streets are littered with garbage campaign material. Accusations are flying about the dangers of voting for other candidates and the risk of vote splitting.
On Shabbos the Rabbi of our shul stepped in with his own take on the campaign. He had been asked earlier in the week to endorse the Haredi candidate because all of the Gedolim were endorsing him. He immediately challenged their definition of "all." A delegatation was then sent to tell him what a great guy the Haredi candidate was. He responded that there were people he knew that could spend just as much time, telling him what a great person another one of the candidates were. On Shabbos morning he announced that he was endorsing everyone to come out to the debate tonight and make a decision for themselves.
After Shabbos in a less public setting he added onto his views of the election. He could not tell is Mizrachi following to vote for the Haredi candidate when the first thing he will do is funnel education dollars into the haredi school system. In other words he will not sell out his congregation. This is especially comforting considering the school he is the principal of would be the beneficiery of the shift in school funding. I really like our Rabbi.
On Shabbos the Rabbi of our shul stepped in with his own take on the campaign. He had been asked earlier in the week to endorse the Haredi candidate because all of the Gedolim were endorsing him. He immediately challenged their definition of "all." A delegatation was then sent to tell him what a great guy the Haredi candidate was. He responded that there were people he knew that could spend just as much time, telling him what a great person another one of the candidates were. On Shabbos morning he announced that he was endorsing everyone to come out to the debate tonight and make a decision for themselves.
After Shabbos in a less public setting he added onto his views of the election. He could not tell is Mizrachi following to vote for the Haredi candidate when the first thing he will do is funnel education dollars into the haredi school system. In other words he will not sell out his congregation. This is especially comforting considering the school he is the principal of would be the beneficiery of the shift in school funding. I really like our Rabbi.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Election Campaign
Elections here are very different than what we are used to. When voting each party and candidate is assigned a letter or letter combination. A voter than chooses the letter corresponding to who they wish to vote for. I will discuss this more in depth after the November 11th municipal elections.
When we arrived in August election signs were already up. There are different strategies for elections signs. Some have pictures of candidates, some have the party name. The mayor has been running with the slogan יהיה טוב (it will be good). When his signs first went up it was not clear if it was political campaign or random anonymous Rosh Hashanah greetings. In the last few days the strategy is changed. Posters are up everywhere prominantly displaying the letter the candidates will be running under.
At around 6:45 tonight we heard loud music followed by the sound of cars honking. It was a 50(yes, I counted) car parade including the mayor's campaign bus. The cars had baloons and the letters עד (witness) prominently displayed. I must admit that I really don't get it, but it did add 10 minutes of entertainment to my evening.
When we arrived in August election signs were already up. There are different strategies for elections signs. Some have pictures of candidates, some have the party name. The mayor has been running with the slogan יהיה טוב (it will be good). When his signs first went up it was not clear if it was political campaign or random anonymous Rosh Hashanah greetings. In the last few days the strategy is changed. Posters are up everywhere prominantly displaying the letter the candidates will be running under.
At around 6:45 tonight we heard loud music followed by the sound of cars honking. It was a 50(yes, I counted) car parade including the mayor's campaign bus. The cars had baloons and the letters עד (witness) prominently displayed. I must admit that I really don't get it, but it did add 10 minutes of entertainment to my evening.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
We got our Voter Cards :)
That means that somewhere, somehow, someone knows that the Swirsky family is now Israeli and living in RBS and needs to vote.
Sorry, this sounds silly, but it was a "living the dream" moment for me. I used to feel like I had no right to kvetch about Israeli politics as frankly, it was none of my darn business. Now it is :) It is my business (and in fact a major source of pride around here) to kvetch and bitch about the government!
Ok, Ok, so I know Jason is more the politics guy, but I think it is kind of neat.
Sorry, this sounds silly, but it was a "living the dream" moment for me. I used to feel like I had no right to kvetch about Israeli politics as frankly, it was none of my darn business. Now it is :) It is my business (and in fact a major source of pride around here) to kvetch and bitch about the government!
Ok, Ok, so I know Jason is more the politics guy, but I think it is kind of neat.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Update: Bris, Job Hunting, Elections
Today I went to the first Bris Milah I have been to in Israel. It was for my roommate when I was in Yeshiva's third son. It was nice to see him and his sister who I am also friends with. I also met up with someone who used to be in my shiur in Yeshiva. We had a nice time chatting. He has been learning in Kollel and is now looking to doing an online nursing or paramedics program. He helped guide me through the social norms that I am not used to.
The first major difference was that davening was not part of the bris. It was called for 9:15 which was late enough in the day for people to have already davened on their own. The father had to put on his tefillin again for the bris. After the bris there was a small kiddush before the meal. The meal consisted of chicken. Being fleish at 10:00 am is a little early even for me. There were four a total of four speeches with everything wrapping up at 11:15.
In the afternoon I went to Jerusalem to meet with a job councillor. She made some suggestions to improve my CV and where to start the job search. If anybody is on linkedin and has not joined my network, please add me to yours.
We received our voters cards for next month's municipal election. I have updated my politics blog with some commentary on the upcoming municipal and national elections. Speaking of elections Channah had a great insight this week. She saw a bus with a Shas election sign on it. She asked me if it was a "Pirate Bus". Given the way the negotiations to form a new government broke down, she is not that far off.
The first major difference was that davening was not part of the bris. It was called for 9:15 which was late enough in the day for people to have already davened on their own. The father had to put on his tefillin again for the bris. After the bris there was a small kiddush before the meal. The meal consisted of chicken. Being fleish at 10:00 am is a little early even for me. There were four a total of four speeches with everything wrapping up at 11:15.
In the afternoon I went to Jerusalem to meet with a job councillor. She made some suggestions to improve my CV and where to start the job search. If anybody is on linkedin and has not joined my network, please add me to yours.
We received our voters cards for next month's municipal election. I have updated my politics blog with some commentary on the upcoming municipal and national elections. Speaking of elections Channah had a great insight this week. She saw a bus with a Shas election sign on it. She asked me if it was a "Pirate Bus". Given the way the negotiations to form a new government broke down, she is not that far off.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Yes, We know Harper called an election
Many people have asked us if we are going to be voting in the upcoming Canadian election. I have covered the topic on voting overseas and voter eligibility in my politics blog. I am following the election as carefully as I can from here and plan to keep the blog up and running. This will be a good litmus test to how the blog should be retooled for an overseas perspective.
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