Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu is promoting a law which would declare Israel to be a Jewish State. At the same time he affirms that it will also be a democratic state. This is a step in the wrong direction and a contradiction because a democratic state cannot grant favored status to one part of its citizens.
Twenty percent of the Israeli population consists of Palestinian Arabs. They are already marginalized and such a law would codify their status as pariahs. Israel is de facto a Jewish State. The “Law of Return” guarantees that every Jewish person will be accepted and welcomed wherever he or she comes from. Israel’s Declaration of Independence also defines it as a Jewish State, but also pledges to ensure complete equality of political rights to all its citizens.
The proposed law would enshrine the rights of the majority over those of the minority. Currently the status of the Arabs is murky and ambiguous, but as long as it is uncodified there remains room for maneuvering and a possibility of gradual reform. The passage of this law would slam the door on reform and encourage those who view Israel as an Apartheid State.
Imagine this happening in the U.S. with Barack Obama asking Congress to declare the U.S. as a Christian State. His rationale could be that the majority of this country is inhabited by Christians and that it was founded by Christians fleeing persecution in Europe. Unthinkable, right?
In practice Israel already is a Jewish State. In Israeli homes there is a mezuzah on the doorpost which designates the home as Jewish. Woe to the family who does not observe Yom Kippur or Passover. No buses or elevators run on the Sabbath and Kashrut (religious food laws) is observed in public institutions. A bar mitzvah is the norm for every Jewish boy. Religious tribunals control marriages, divorces, circumcision, funerals and burials. How much more Jewish can you get?
Religion is already playing a disruptive role in Israeli life. The ultra-religious settlers provoke the Palestinians and cause most of the current bloody confrontations. Because Netanyahu needs the support of the Orthodox parties to hold his government together, he is beholden to their wishes and the State suffers.
Israel has already lost much of the international political and moral support it has historically enjoyed. It is time to stop alienating the remaining people who still love Israel.
Well said, Simone. Your writing is so clear and has good examples to illustrate your primary idea. Thank you very much for this important post. I am going to print it.
Read your blog on Israel. We (my husband and I) have had
Privileges of having Jewish professors, bosses, and friends last fifty + years ever since we came to America.
But I agree with what you say. I saw Five Broken Cameras, a documentary from Palestinian experience. The movie made me to believe after all not all Palestinians are terrorists.
I agree entirely…this is just another step by right wingers who want to ensure no peace is ever possible.
This reminded me of a related issue. It would probably surprise most people to know that it is not so easy for Jews to prove that they qualify for citizenship in Israel. The Israeli powers that be require a very high level of proof that you are Jewish including a letter from an Orthodox rabbi in your country who certifies that your parents and grandparents were Jewish. They are very particular about which rabbis are acceptable. This is particularly difficult for Reform, Conservative, and Secular Jews.
People are always like to be identified by some group and get in to it but we forget by doing so we drop bigger part from society and that causes trauma which usually creates all kind of problems now on the stage of world . Thanks Somone its great your work!