Sham Democracy of Israel
The law stipulates the following:
- It states that “the right to exercise national self-determination” in Israel is “unique to the Jewish people.”
- It establishes Hebrew as Israel’s official language, and downgrades Arabic — a language widely spoken by Arab Israelis — to a “special status.”
- It establishes “Jewish settlement as a national value” and mandates that the state “will labor to encourage and promote its establishment and development.”
For the Arabs of 1948, the new law was a slap in the face. When the law passed, Arab parliamentary members ripped up copies of the bill and shouted, “Apartheid,” on the floor of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament).
Ayman Odeh, the leader of a coalition of primarily Arab parties then , said in a statement that “Israel” had “passed a law of Jewish supremacy and told us that we will always be second-class citizens.”
As for the Christian community the bishops, heads of the Latin, Syriac, Armenian, Catholic, and Greek Melkite Catholic churches, said in a joint statement, “It is our duty to draw the attention of the authorities to a simple reality, which is that our Christian believers, as well as the Muslims, Druze, and Baha’is, are all Arabs, and are no less citizens in this country”.”
No article in the law refers to equality between citizens or to the demographic character of the state, which raises major concerns, especially among minorities.
Reem Haddad
Editor-in-Chief