Israel is the Middle East’s only “free” state, the US-based Freedom House wrote
in its annual report last week, a ranking in stark contrast to claims by the
country’s critics – both domestic and international – who argue that the Jewish
state’s democratic values are steadily eroding “Israel remains the region’s only
free country,” read the report, called Freedom in the World 2013, released just
days before Israel goes to the polls.
“In recent years, controversies
have surrounded proposed laws that threatened freedom of expression and the
rights of civil society organizations,” the report read.
“In most cases,
however, these measures have either been quashed by the government or
parliament, or struck down by the Supreme Court. Israeli politics have
also been roiled by an escalating controversy over the role of ultra-Orthodox
Jews and their positions on issues such as military service and gender
equality.”
Israel’s ranking is completely dissimilar to that given the
West Bank and Gaza – one under Palestinian Authority control and the other under
Hamas rule – which are both classified as “not free.”
Likewise, the
report found, Israel is surrounded by countries where freedom is not exactly the
watchword.
The report, which ranks the world’s countries by political
rights and civil liberties, characterized Jordan and Syria as “not free,” and
Egypt and Lebanon as “partly free.”
Of the “worst of the worst”
countries, the nine countries given the absolute worst ratings in the world, two
were in the region: Saudi Arabia and Syria. Sudan was also rated in the bottom
nine.
Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates
and Yemen all also received the “not free” ranking, and Tunisia, Kuwait, Libya
and Morocco were defined as “partly free.”
Interestingly, while Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan consistently slams Israel for alleged human
rights violations, his country earned only a “partly free” ranking from Freedom
House.
According to the report, during his early years in power Erdogan
pushed through important reforms that enshrined civilian rule, enhanced fairness
at the polls, and made halting steps toward greater minority
rights.
“More recently, however, his government has jailed hundreds of
journalists, academics, opposition party officials, and military officers in a
series of prosecutions aimed at alleged conspiracies against the state and
Kurdish organizations,” the report read.
“Turkey currently leads the
world in the number of journalists behind bars, and democracy advocates are
expressing deep concern for the state of press freedom and the rule of law,” the
report read.
According to the report, “the past year has provided more
evidence that Middle Eastern countries long subject to the dictator’s heel are
quickly developing resilient and informed civil societies willing to push back
against attempts to curb freedom of expression and thought, distort the
electoral process, or concentrate power in the hands of military or religious
authorities.
“In this context, factions or governments that seek to
reduce freedom could find it increasingly difficult to do so.”
At the
same time, “while the Middle East experienced some of the most significant
improvements, it also registered major declines, with a list of worsening
countries that includes Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, and the
United Arab Emirates.”
In the Freedom House ratings, a “free” country is
one where there is open political competition, a climate of respect for civil
liberties, significant independent civic life, and independent media.
A
“partly free” country is one in which there is limited respect for political
rights and civil liberties, and a “not free” country is one where basic
political rights are absent and civil liberties widely and systematically
denied.