Communique #1 - Democracy or Rebellion

Democracy or Rebellion supports the ultra-Orthodox struggle for freedom Solidarity with the ultra-Orthodox protest rally against forced conscription,
Jerusalem, 16 May 2013
We, members of action group Democracy or Rebellion, support the ultra-Orthodox communitys struggle for spiritual and cultural freedom, against forced conscription and against the ongoing incitement by the oppressive regime. The regime of the State of Israel deliberately denies equality among human beings and the equal rights of the sons and daughters of this land. One of the affected communities is the ultraOrthodox community which fights for its freedom. We oppose the aggressive and unsubstantiated incitement against the ultra-Orthodox community which attributes to it the behavior of parasites and leeches under the guise of financial exploitation. Finance Minister Yair Lapid argues against the Haredim that the deficit is under your name. We claim that the responsibility for the wretched poverty which is only worsening, is on the regime of the State of Israel which denies the social rights of all the inhabitants of this land. The incitement against the ultra-Orthodox community is a political tool of the regime, acting with a divide and rule policy to prevent the sons and daughters of this land from uniting as a multicultural civil society and exercise their sovereignty and their democratic rights, including: the right to intellectual freedom, the right of each community to live according to its unique culture and lifestyle, and the right to be full and equal partners in the decision-making and setting of the public-civil agenda. This mechanism of dividing is designed to prevent the sons and daughters of the land from resisting together against oppression and exploitation, and work together in the creation of an egalitarian social contract, which will be worthy and acceptable to one and all. Equality in the burden which is promoted by the regime - distracts us from the core issues: equal rights for all, equal partnership in establishing a regime which is appropriate for the variety of people living in this land, and the role of (wo)man and citizen in such a regime. We are humans, we are civilians - not soldiers. Our first civil duty is the brotherhood and sisterhood among all people and the common struggle for our freedom, our rights and our sovereignty. We are tired of the burden of the oppressive regime, we had enough of the killings and the military culture that robs us of our humanity, in the name of wars that protect the interests of a small elite that governs us by force and terror, not by common agreement. We oppose and resist forced conscription. In any case, a regime which denies equality, civil rights and sovereignty lacks democratic virtue. A regime which imposes sanctions on its subjects without their consent, requires a civil resistance. We turn to the Haredi community and all the sons and daughters of the land, those who live here and those who were expelled from here by force, calling on you to oppose the regime of the State of Israel by nonviolent means and to work for the establishment of a truly democratic government in which every individual or collective participates in the decision making process which will be fact based and transparent, in a joint creation of a civil consensus - for the sake of living together in harmony among different and equal . Sincerely, Democracy or Rebellion.