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alexist at 10:07pm on 27/08/2003
alexist at 10:07pm on 27/08/2003http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1029793,00.html
First, it would be nice if the Guardian's editors and fact checkers did their job. Jews and Arabs are not forbidden to marry in Israel. That statement implies that the state actively prohibits it. It does not. The truth is that in Israel, matters of personal status, such as marriage and divorce, are solely the province of the various religious communities. There is simply no provision for civil marriage. There have been proposals to rectify this, but religious-party pressure to maintain the dominance of the rabbinate in Jewish affairs has doomed it so far (though there was serious talk of permitting civil marriage for those unable to obtain a religious ceremony). Secondly, although 90%+ of Israel's land is owned by the Israel Lands Administration and the Keren Keyemet L'Yisrael, "absorption committees" govern admittance only to communal settlements such as kibbutzim. In addition to that, the Supreme Court has ruled that the ILA and KKL can no longer refuse to lease or sell lands to Arabs.
The whole tone of the article annoys me. It presents the viewpoint of one woman as fact. Why does she think her experience disproves so much? It doesn't. While Arabs would prefer economic and legal equality with Jews, and many would call for the de-Judaification of the state, that doesn't mean they want to live amongst Jews. It's a question of culture as much as politics. Individual Jews and Arabs can live together in peace--there are mixed parts of Haifa, too. It does not mean that people want a shared national identity and politics.
It goes on to repeat the old canards about the "Zionist propaganda machine", apartheid, and the right of return. Millions of refugees? Only because Palestinian refugees are counted differently from others. Normally, the only people counted as refugees are those who flee--that was about 600,000 in 1948. About 200,000 are left today. But counts of Palestinian refugees include all their descendants. Of course the nature of citizenship is somewhat different for Jews and Arabs. Israel is the Jewish state. The Palestinian right of return will apply to a Palestinian state. And, as always, it ignores the hundreds of thousands of Jews forced to flee their homes in Arab countries following 1948. None has ever received compensation.
I'm not trying to whitewash the real problems Israeli Arabs face. There is still discrimination in employment and allocation of public funds. But progress has also been made, and will continue to be made. The situation is a little more analogous to 1960s America than 1980s South Africa.
First, it would be nice if the Guardian's editors and fact checkers did their job. Jews and Arabs are not forbidden to marry in Israel. That statement implies that the state actively prohibits it. It does not. The truth is that in Israel, matters of personal status, such as marriage and divorce, are solely the province of the various religious communities. There is simply no provision for civil marriage. There have been proposals to rectify this, but religious-party pressure to maintain the dominance of the rabbinate in Jewish affairs has doomed it so far (though there was serious talk of permitting civil marriage for those unable to obtain a religious ceremony). Secondly, although 90%+ of Israel's land is owned by the Israel Lands Administration and the Keren Keyemet L'Yisrael, "absorption committees" govern admittance only to communal settlements such as kibbutzim. In addition to that, the Supreme Court has ruled that the ILA and KKL can no longer refuse to lease or sell lands to Arabs.
The whole tone of the article annoys me. It presents the viewpoint of one woman as fact. Why does she think her experience disproves so much? It doesn't. While Arabs would prefer economic and legal equality with Jews, and many would call for the de-Judaification of the state, that doesn't mean they want to live amongst Jews. It's a question of culture as much as politics. Individual Jews and Arabs can live together in peace--there are mixed parts of Haifa, too. It does not mean that people want a shared national identity and politics.
It goes on to repeat the old canards about the "Zionist propaganda machine", apartheid, and the right of return. Millions of refugees? Only because Palestinian refugees are counted differently from others. Normally, the only people counted as refugees are those who flee--that was about 600,000 in 1948. About 200,000 are left today. But counts of Palestinian refugees include all their descendants. Of course the nature of citizenship is somewhat different for Jews and Arabs. Israel is the Jewish state. The Palestinian right of return will apply to a Palestinian state. And, as always, it ignores the hundreds of thousands of Jews forced to flee their homes in Arab countries following 1948. None has ever received compensation.
I'm not trying to whitewash the real problems Israeli Arabs face. There is still discrimination in employment and allocation of public funds. But progress has also been made, and will continue to be made. The situation is a little more analogous to 1960s America than 1980s South Africa.
annoyed
(no subject)