With fragile peace talks still on hold, Arab commentators respond to the latest controversy in Israel, a proposed "loyalty oath," which would require non-Jewish citizenship applicants to declare loyalty to Israel "as a Jewish and democratic state."
Responses to this development, as with similar demands made during the peace process that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, hinge upon what is meant by "a Jewish state," and what this might mean for non-Jewish citizens of Israel.
Ramzi Hakim in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat writes that in light of numerous recent laws he sees as discriminatory, and statements by political figures such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that paint Palestinian Israelis as a demographic threat, as well as a physical threat, loyalty to the Jewish state in fact means loyalty to a state in which non-Jews are second-class citizens:
Such statements indicate intentions and a strategy of action that are ready to be pulled out of the drawer in the future. It marks a new stage, 62 years since the foundation of Israel, of Israel wanting to return to defining itself by isolation from the Arab presence within the concept of "the Jewish state". This concept is not only "an expression of the right to self-determination for the Jews", but is clearly saying that for the Arabs some rights are conditional on loyalty to the land, but "they have no rights to the land", a phrase uttered by David Ben-Gurion and also repeated by Sharon.
هذه التصريحات تدل على نوايا وعلى استراتيجية عمل جاهزة في الجارور قد يتم اللجوء إليها في المستقبل. وهي تدشين لمرحلة جديدة، في الستين الثانية لقيام إسرائيل، تريد إسرائيل فيها إعادة صياغة تعريف ذاتها بمعزل عن الوجود العربي ضمن مفهوم «الدولة اليهودية». فهذا المفهوم ليس «تعبيرا عن حق تقرير المصير لليهود» فحسب، وإنما هي مقولة واضحة بأن للعرب بعض الحقوق المشروطة بالولاء في الأرض، ولكن لا «حقوق لهم على الأرض»، وهي جملة قالها دافيد بن غوريون وكررها أيضا شارون.
From Jordanian newspaper
, Arib al-Rantawi sees the loyalty oath as the consequence of a rightward shift in Israel:
This is, then, a wave of right-wing, racist hysteria, which has swept society, the political class, and the ruling elite in Israel. It's led the Hebrew state to an unparalleled swamp of racism, based on hatred, rejection of the other, and racial discrimination. It's a wave that comes as result of a shift within Israeli society to the right with both secular and religious wings.
هي إذن ، موجة هسيتيرية يمينية - عنصرية ، تجتاح المجتمع والطبقة السياسية والنخبة الحاكمة في إسرائيل ، تأخذ الدولة العبرية إلى مستنقع عنصري لا نظير له في أزمنتا الراهنة ، مبني على الكراهية ورفض الآخر و"التمييز العنصري" ، هي موجة تأتي كثمرة لانزياح المجتمع الإسرائيلي نحو اليمين بجناحيه العلماني والديني
Nahum Berna' in an opinion for the Al-Quds al-Arabi argues that the measure is self-defeating, exposing the Israeli administration's racism without achieving its goal:
The amendment won't make Israel any more Jewish. Those who want Israeli citizenship just have to make a false declaration. A large proportion of the Arab and Ultra-Orthodox MPs revel in the deception of their oath of allegiance to the Knesset. This amendment will serve only to give a boost to the global campaign which criticizes Israel as an apartheid state. The fallout will detriment its politics, PR, and economics. With this law, Israel is buying an exit ticket from the comity of nations and is purchasing an entry ticket into the Kahane family. This law is quite anti-Zionist, actually.
لن يجعل تعديل القانون دولة اسرائيل أكثر يهودية. فمن يريد الجنسية الاسرائيلية يصرح تصريحا باطلا ويحصل على شهادته. إن جزءا كبيرا من اعضاء الكنيست، من العرب والحريديين يصرحون تصريحا باطلا في نطاق قسم ولائهم للكنيست ويعايشون هذا في لذة وكذلك اعضاء حكومة. لن يصنع التعديل سوى شيء واحد وهو أن يعزز الحملة الدعائية العالمية التي تعيب على اسرائيل كونها دولة عنصرية. الضرر سياسي وصوري واقتصادي. إن اسرائيل تشتري بهذا القانون بطاقة خروج من عائلة الشعوب وبطاقة دخول في عائلة كهانا. انه قانون معادٍ للصهيونية.
Ghassan Al-Mufallah writes in Elaph that the root of the problem is the mixing of religion and politics:
Religious theatrics in Israeli society cannot be separated from political theatrics, given how they form the basis of the Zionist state. Against the backdrop of all these competing political interests, these religious symbolisms exploit history. Israel cannot continue as it is without recruiting religion. But this rhetoric is exploited by not one Israeli organization, but many, all of which project their political presence within the organs of the Jewish state.
إن التمثيلات الدينية في المجتمع الإسرائيلي لا يمكن لها أن تنفصل عن السياسية، ولا يمكن للسياسة أن تنفصل عن هذه التمثيلات المؤسسة لدولة إسرائيل، هذه التمثيلات في ظل ما تخلقه السياسة وتعدد المصالح، يجعل التاريخ عبارة عن لحظات مزايدة، بين هذه التمثيلات الدينية/ السياسية، وإسرائيل لا يمكن لها الاستمرارية على هذه الشاكلة دون تعبئة دينية، وهذه التعبئة الدينية لا تقوم بها مؤسسة إسرائيلية تمثل يهودها، بل جملة من المؤسسات، التي جلها يتمتع بتواجد سياسي داخل الحكومات والبرلمانات الإسرائيلية.
Syrian daily
also devotes an editorial to the topic, arguing that the loyalty oath is symbolic of an outdated notion:
This issue once again demonstrates that the "Jewishness" of the Israeli state isn't just a bargaining chip used to blackmail the Palestinians and the Arabs in general, but a racism practiced daily by the occupation forces on the ground. Similarly, the "oath of allegiance" discriminates against every non-Jew, making it painfully clear that citizenship is based solely on ethnic affiliations which spring from a Biblical paradigm that has no meaning in the twenty-first century.
من هنا أن طرح «يهودية الدولة» داخل «إسرائيل» يؤكد مرة ثانية أن «الدولة اليهودية» ليست شعاراً مطروحاً على طاولة المفاوضات لابتزاز الطرف الفلسطيني والجانب العربي بشكل عام، بل هي ممارسة عنصرية يومية تقوم بها سلطات الاحتلال على الأرض. كما أن مطلب «قسم الولاء» يميّز ضد كل من هو ليس يهودياً، ويجاهر بأن قاعدة المواطنة لا تمتّ للمواطنة بصلة بل تمتّ لانتماءات اثنية مستندة لرؤية توراتية لا علاقة لها بعالم القرن الحادي والعشرين.
Meanwhile Abdul Hakim Mufeed, writing for Arab-Israeli news site Palestine 48, warns that:
We have to deal with this law in reverse. The question of what we will get by recognizing Israel as a Jewish state is unimportant, as this isn't even an option for the Arabs. The reverse question is the most important: How will they treat whoever does not recognise Israel as a Jewish state? It's not right now that's important for this law, but what follows.
على هذا القانون يجب أن نجيب بالمقلوب, السؤال على ماذا سنحصل إذا اعترفنا بيهودية الدولة هو غير مهم, لأنه ليس هذا المطروح بالنسبة للعرب، السؤال العكسي هو الأهم, كيف سيتم التعامل مع من لن يعترف بيهودية الدولة، ليست اللحظة الحالية هي المهمة في القانون، بل اللحظة القادمة.
Thanks to Ahmed, Kate and John for their contributions and translations. The views in this post are taken from diverse sources and should not be taken as the views of Meedan. You can add your view in two languages on news.Meedan.net
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