Israel is forever extolling its democratic principles and how its citizens are all equal. Look, they say, we even have Arabs as members of the Knesset. Not mentioned, for instance, is that the money spent for Israel's Palestinian citizens on schools and hospitals and infrastructure, generally, is a fraction of that spent on Israel's Jews.
Accuse Israel of being racist and the howls of protest are loud. So, what to make of this latest bit of racism sought to be established in Israel? - as Haaretz reports:
"Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party wants to ban Israeli Arabs from marking the anniversary of what they term "the Catastrophe" or Nakba, when in 1948 some 700,000 Arabs lost their homes in the war that led to the establishment of the state of Israel.
The ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party said it would propose legislation next week for a ban on the practice and a jail term of up to three years for violators.
"The draft law is intended to strengthen unity in the state of Israel and to ban marking Independence Day as a day of mourning," said party spokesman Tal Nahum.
The initiative could fuel racial tensions stoked by Lieberman's February election campaign call to make voting or the holding of public office in Israel contingent on pledging loyalty to the Jewish state.
Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Israel's population, said the allegiance demand was aimed at them and accused Lieberman of racism.
Israel celebrated its Independence Day this year on April 29, in accordance with the Hebrew lunar calendar. Palestinian refugees around the world and Israel's Arab citizens mark the Nakba on May 15, the day after the British mandate over Palestine ended in 1948."
Over at The Age, the first Palestinian woman member of the Knesset, Haneen Zoubi, in an interview in Israel [before her current visit to Australia] confirms the racist policies of the Israeli Government and how equality between Palestinians and Jews doesn't exist:
"When asked to cite an example of discriminatory behaviour at the hands of the state that she experiences in day-to-day life, Zoubi rolls her eyes and throws her hands in the air, as if to say: "Where do I begin?"
"Come to Nazareth," she begins. "Walk the streets of Nazareth. See the lack of facilities, parks, cultural institutions. See the lack of space and the overcrowding. See the state of the streets and the pavement, the disrepair of the buildings.
"Then go to Nazareth Illit, Upper Nazareth in Hebrew, and look at the difference," Zoubi says of the predominantly Jewish city that has grown alongside Nazareth.
In terms of area, Nazareth — with its 65,000 people — occupies 14 square kilometres. Nazareth Illit, which has a population of about 43,000 covers an area of 32 square kilometres.
"Count the parks, the sporting facilities, the cultural institutions, the number of cinemas, the number of schools, and tell me where the state is spending more money — in Nazareth or Nazareth Illit?
"We all pay the same taxes. So why the difference? Go to any Arab neighbourhood in Israel and tell me that the same amount of resources is being spent there as in Jewish neighbourhoods."
Accuse Israel of being racist and the howls of protest are loud. So, what to make of this latest bit of racism sought to be established in Israel? - as Haaretz reports:
"Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party wants to ban Israeli Arabs from marking the anniversary of what they term "the Catastrophe" or Nakba, when in 1948 some 700,000 Arabs lost their homes in the war that led to the establishment of the state of Israel.
The ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party said it would propose legislation next week for a ban on the practice and a jail term of up to three years for violators.
"The draft law is intended to strengthen unity in the state of Israel and to ban marking Independence Day as a day of mourning," said party spokesman Tal Nahum.
The initiative could fuel racial tensions stoked by Lieberman's February election campaign call to make voting or the holding of public office in Israel contingent on pledging loyalty to the Jewish state.
Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Israel's population, said the allegiance demand was aimed at them and accused Lieberman of racism.
Israel celebrated its Independence Day this year on April 29, in accordance with the Hebrew lunar calendar. Palestinian refugees around the world and Israel's Arab citizens mark the Nakba on May 15, the day after the British mandate over Palestine ended in 1948."
Over at The Age, the first Palestinian woman member of the Knesset, Haneen Zoubi, in an interview in Israel [before her current visit to Australia] confirms the racist policies of the Israeli Government and how equality between Palestinians and Jews doesn't exist:
"When asked to cite an example of discriminatory behaviour at the hands of the state that she experiences in day-to-day life, Zoubi rolls her eyes and throws her hands in the air, as if to say: "Where do I begin?"
"Come to Nazareth," she begins. "Walk the streets of Nazareth. See the lack of facilities, parks, cultural institutions. See the lack of space and the overcrowding. See the state of the streets and the pavement, the disrepair of the buildings.
"Then go to Nazareth Illit, Upper Nazareth in Hebrew, and look at the difference," Zoubi says of the predominantly Jewish city that has grown alongside Nazareth.
In terms of area, Nazareth — with its 65,000 people — occupies 14 square kilometres. Nazareth Illit, which has a population of about 43,000 covers an area of 32 square kilometres.
"Count the parks, the sporting facilities, the cultural institutions, the number of cinemas, the number of schools, and tell me where the state is spending more money — in Nazareth or Nazareth Illit?
"We all pay the same taxes. So why the difference? Go to any Arab neighbourhood in Israel and tell me that the same amount of resources is being spent there as in Jewish neighbourhoods."
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