Mar 10, 2019

the Arab parties never wanted in

There's a brouhaha going on with Televisio celebrity Roten Sela having said, or written on social media, a response to the talk of "we won't sit with the Arab parties" asking what is the problem with the Arabs??? Dear god, there are also Arab citizens in this country. When the hell will someone in this government convey to the public that Israel is a state of all its citizens and that all people were created equal, and that even the Arabs and the Druze and the LGBTs and — shock — the leftists are human,”.

To that Netanyahu shot back saying that we recently passed the nation state law stating that the State of Israel is not for the Arabs, Israel is not a nation for all its citizens, Israel is a country for the Jewish people, and while Arab citizens have full rights, the country is here for its Jewish citizens. Miri Regev also weighed in attacking Sela, and the fighting continues.

The truth is they are all right. Israel is a country for the Jewish people. This is a Jewish and democratic state, and it was so before the passage of the nation state law. The Arab citizens, and LGBT and all other types and races and minorities, all have equal rights and full rights and benefits and are all humans and must be treated with dignity, but the country is one for the Jewish people.

That being said, Sela's attack, and that of her backers and supporters, are all missing a point. As much as the Jewish parties have been saying they won't sit with the Arab parties, the Arab parties have always refused to sit with the Jewish and Zionist parties in a government. Even when approached for consideration they said no. They at times have been willing to support government initiatives form the outside, but as much as the Jews kept the Arabs out of government coalitions, the Arabs have kept themselves out as well, always refusing to even discuss entry..

Whether or not that might change at any time in the future I do not know, but as of now, the Arab parties have never been willing to consider joining a government.

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3 comments:

  1. You are correct but are addressing the wrong point. Stick to netanyahu's lashing responsa. Guess he is willing to sacrifice the slogan Israel is the only democracy in the middle east to appease his right wing that wants to pack up the arabs and send them on Carnival Cruise ships. So much for democracy

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    1. I feel the term "democracy" means different things to different people. As a description of a form of government, Israel has been, and will continue to be, a democracy. As a description for a particular liberal form of social organization, in which rights for all citizens are acknowledged, Israel wavers somewhere between the extremes. Some citizens are definitely more equal than others. Whether that negates labeling Israel a democracy depends on perspective, and not on objective definition.

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    2. I dont think anything he said takes away form the democracy of Israel. Israel was always Jewish and a democracy and it is that way now. as he said, Arab citizens have full rights, can vote and be voted for, but they must know that the state is Jewish and is really the home of the Jewish nation

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