Conservatives Go After Arab Israelis
Feeling their power, Israel's conservative parliamentarians are drafting laws that appear to target Arab citizens, causing both allies and civil libertarians to cringe. One measure would create a loyalty oath, while another would punish any "call to negate Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state" with a year in jail.
Feeling their power, Israel’s conservative parliamentarians are drafting laws that appear to target Arab citizens, causing both allies and civil libertarians to cringe. One measure would create a loyalty oath, while another would punish any “call to negate Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state” with a year in jail.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...Haaretz:
MK Haim Oron (Meretz) attacked the proposal, saying “this insane government, what exactly are you doing? Creating a thought police? Have you run off the rails?”
Oron said that even though he disagrees with those who do not support Israel’s identity as a Jewish, democratic state, there is no reason to make it a criminal issue.
Civil rights activists have cautioned that this and other legislation threatens to curb the rights of Arab citizens.
Its approval on a preliminary reading showed how Israeli support for laws seen as targetting Israeli Arabs has grown since a right-wing government was sworn in after a February election.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
The result appears to dash the long-serving leader's hopes for a decisive victory as his trial on corruption charges nears.
For more than a century Zionists and, later, Israelis have pursued a project to seize and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land.
The prime minister is slated to appear in a Jerusalem court as a defendant just two weeks after the March 2 vote.
As the U.S. hurdles toward war with Iran, the Truthdig columnist reminds viewers why it's so important to recognize our shared humanity.
His two terms were marked by partisan rancor, scandal and, for many Americans, betrayal by the president.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.