Close Menu
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    Middle East Transparent
    • Home
    • Categories
      1. Headlines
      2. Features
      3. Commentary
      4. Magazine
      Featured
      Headlines POLITICO

      Leo is America’s first pope. His worldview appears at odds with ‘America First.’

      Recent
      11 May 2025

      Leo is America’s first pope. His worldview appears at odds with ‘America First.’

      5 May 2025

      Most U.S. Catholics Say They Want the Church To Be ‘More Inclusive’

      4 May 2025

      As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope

    • Contact us
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Middle East Transparent
    You are at:Home»Categories»Headlines»Where Is This ‘Israel’ They Talk About?

    Where Is This ‘Israel’ They Talk About?

    0
    By Salman Masalha on 22 July 2018 Headlines
    File photo: A Land Day protest in Kfar Arava.Gil Eliyahu 

    The nation-state law has not one but several intolerable clauses. All those who spoke out against only two of its clauses are full partners to this fraud that is supposedly Israeli, humane and liberal

    In view of the Zionist debate over the nation-state law, it’s time to put things straight and make some unequivocal statements.

    First, the nation-state law, which lawmakers of the Smotrich and Dichter breed have promoted, has not one but several intolerable clauses. All those who spoke out against only two of its clauses are full partners to this fraud that is supposedly Israeli, humane and liberal.

    At first glance at its wording, one can see that the opening clause is groundless. This “Israel” that appears in it cannot be the “historic homeland of the Jewish people” as long as the borders of the “state of Israel” have not been drafted by those lawmakers who advanced the law, and as long as these borders have not been granted international recognition and legitimacy.

    The third clause, which deals with “whole and united Jerusalem” as Israel’s capital, seems to be mistaken in the same way as is the term “Israel.” This clause is likewise groundless because this “Jerusalem” is extremely liquid. Nobody knows where its borders begin and end.

    Clause 7, which raised a great tumult due to its blatantly racist wording, was replaced with the more general phrasing: “The state sees developing Jewish settlement as a national value.” This sentence is a renewed recitation of a Zionist principle, which has existed since this movement came into the world. There’s nothing new under the sun. This is how all the pre-state Zionist institutions acted and have been acting since Israel’s establishment. The state’s symbols – the flag, the menorah and the anthem – are the most blatant expression, reflecting the exclusion of one fifth of the state’s citizens.

    As for the clause stipulating that Hebrew is the state’s “official” language, which changes the Arab language’s status from an “official” one to one with a “special” status – the Arab lawmakers in the Knesset have cooperated throughout the years with this process. If the Arab MKs had one iota of respect for their tongue they should have made all their speeches from the Knesset podium in Arabic. If you demand respect for the Arab language you should show it in action. The Arab MKs didn’t do so and with this behavior they pushed Arabic’s status with their own mouths out of the public sphere.

    Suffice it to visit Arab communities to see that the Arabs themselves have downgraded the Arab language’s status, and signposts in Hebrew prevail in their streets and on their businesses. Nobody stopped the business owners from putting up signposts in Arabic. The Arabs themselves belittled Arabic’s status.

    Every Smotrich, Dichter, Slomiansky, Ohana and their kind should know that the mere sound of their family name attests like a thousand witnesses to their origin and descent, which are alien to this place.

    This must also be stressed. I, the oversigned, hereby announce to all and sundry: This country is my country and homeland, and anyone who even thinks of doubting this fact of life should be thrown into the dustbin of history. And the sooner the better.

    Haaretz
    IN PLACE
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Copy Link
    Previous Articleفكرة اسمها الكويت
    Next Article Tüpraş ‘reduces Iranian crude purchases’ as US sanctions loom
    Subscribe
    Notify of
    guest

    guest

    0 Comments
    Newest
    Oldest Most Voted
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    RSS Recent post in french
    • Al-Charaa en visite à Paris : « Les Européens se laissent berner parce qu’ils prennent leurs rêves pour des réalités » 8 May 2025 Hughes Maillot
    • Au Yémen, la surprenante résilience des rebelles houthistes 6 May 2025 Georges Malbrunot
    • Walid Joumblatt, chef politique des Druzes du Liban : « Le pire des scénarios serait que les Druzes syriens soient poussés dans une enclave » 5 May 2025 Laure Stephan
    • Robert Ageneau, théologien : « Il est urgent de réformer, voire d’abolir, la papauté » 4 May 2025 Le Monde
    • Trump veut un pape à son image 3 May 2025 François Clemenceau
    RSS Recent post in arabic
    • رامي مخلوف يُعلن تشكيل “ميليشيا” خاصة للدفاع عن “الطائفة” 10 May 2025 سويس أنفو
    • وجهة النظر المضادة: الشرع راديكالي يتظاهر بالإعتدال، والأوروبيون يخلطون أحلامهم بالواقع 8 May 2025 خاص بالشفاف
    • في اليمن: الصمود المفاجئ للمتمرّدين الحوثيين 6 May 2025 جورج مالبرونو
    • ليس هناك وقت أفضل لنزع سلاح “حزب الله” 5 May 2025 ديفيد شينكر
    • “البابا ترامب” مزحة أم محاولة لوضع اليد على الكاثوليكية؟ 5 May 2025 بيار عقل
    26 February 2011

    Metransparent Preliminary Black List of Qaddafi’s Financial Aides Outside Libya

    6 December 2008

    Interview with Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed

    7 July 2009

    The messy state of the Hindu temples in Pakistan

    27 July 2009

    Sayed Mahmoud El Qemany Apeal to the World Conscience

    8 March 2022

    Russian Orthodox priests call for immediate end to war in Ukraine

    Recent Comments
    • Edward Ziadeh on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • Victoria Perea on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • Victoria Perea on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • M sam on Kuwait: The Gulf state purging tens of thousands of its citizens
    • Aadam Peer on How important is the Dome of the Rock in Islam?
    Donate
    Donate
    © 2025 Middle East Transparent

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    wpDiscuz
    loader

    Inscrivez-vous à la newsletter

    En vous inscrivant, vous acceptez nos conditions et notre politique de confidentialité.

    loader

    Subscribe to updates

    By signing up, you agree to our terms privacy policy agreement.

    loader

    اشترك في التحديثات

    بالتسجيل، فإنك توافق على شروطنا واتفاقية سياسة الخصوصية الخاصة بنا.