Israeli pols take the first step toward making the country an officially racist state

Yariv Levin: laying the legal groundwork for Israeli apartheid

"If [Yariv Levin's proposed new Basic Law] will be accepted, Israel will be able to proudly hold the title of a Jewish and racist state, a unique political creation, which will certainly astonish the family of nations."

-- from an editorial in Haaretz [full text available
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by Ken

Will it really? I mean, would such a concrete step toward apartheid, if enacted, "certainly astonish the family of nations"?

To Israel's detractors it would hardly mean much more than a touch of honesty in the official policy of institutional denial of basic rights to the country's Arab citizens. Whereas those who support Israel blindly will pay it no attention, just as the "Israel can do no wrong" crowd habitually ignores the evidence of Israeli fascism.

This just leaves those of us who wish Israel well, but not in the form its extreme right-wing loons have increasingly enforced on their countrymen. And what could we do but throw up our hands once again in the face of yet more evidence that the no-criticism-allowed supporters of Israel truly want to see their state go up in flames.

People with open eyes and working brains have been pointing out for a long time now that Israel is a ticking demographic time bomb -- that since it insists on living in its illegal expanded borders, it's just a matter of time before it becomes a minority-Jewish state, at which point it can no longer claim to be both a Jewish state and a democratic one.

Of course the Israeli Right by and large doesn't care, having not even a sentimental attachment to the idea of democracy. Still, it's going to be a mighty embarrassment to the outside world, especially since there's a key element missing. As the Haaretz editorial we're going to look at in a moment puts it:

The exclusion of the Arab minority in Israel has until now lacked a vital basis to its institutionalization. There is no law discriminating against Arabs, limiting where they may settle, negating their language as an official language or determining that they are challenging the state's Jewish identity.

You'll recall that following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's surprisingly tepid performance in the last election, he now heads a coaltion government in which some surprising voices are making themselves heard.

Basic Law: Apartheid in Israel

The proposal put forth by Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin is nothing short of an apartheid law, aiming to provide a solid legal basis for the exclusion of Israel's Arab minority.

Haaretz Editorial | 30.05.13 |

The exclusion of the Arab minority in Israel has until now lacked a vital basis to its institutionalization. There is no law discriminating against Arabs, limiting where they may settle, negating their language as an official language or determining that they are challenging the state's Jewish identity.

Israel has been forced until now to rely on tricks, excuses and winks to prevent Arabs from working in so-called sensitive places of work, delay building plans in their communities, limit how many of them reside in Jewish communities and not enforce the use of Arabic in official correspondences. Only in a few instances did the High Court of Justice intervene and the government had no choice but to obey the ruling.

Coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin decided to put an end to this murky reality and provide the unofficial apartheid policy a legal basis. Levin is proposing the Basic Law: State of the Nation, which is nothing short of an apartheid law. If it will be accepted, Israel will be able to proudly hold the title of a Jewish and racist state, a unique political creation, which will certainly astonish the family of nations.

Levin proposes, among other things, mandatory construction of Jewish communities, while building Arab communities will need authorization; abolishing Arabic as an official language and mandating the courts to give precedence in their rulings to Jewish identity in questions of democratic values and equal rights. That is to say, to give precedence to "Jewish" over "democratic" in defining the state.

Arabs will enjoy at best the status of a tolerated minority, with the option of turning them into a non-tolerated minority down the line, one which needs to be rid of because its presence spoils the state's Jewish purity.

Levin and his comrades have a vision: The racist state won't suffice with its recognized borders. It will officially adopt the living space divinely promised to it. "The Land of Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and where the state of Israel was established," the bill reads. Finally, the messianic dream will have a geographic, legal identity, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.

Levin is no joke, and he is far from being the exception. He is continuing the way paved by Avi Dichter, who failed in his efforts to legitimize apartheid. Moreover, he is a competitor with MK Ruth Calderon, a member of Yesh Atid, who is promoting together with Habayit Hayehudi MK Ayelet Shaked a similar bill, which at its heart subjugates democracy to the state's Jewish identity.

Instead of purging elements of racism from within its ranks, it turns out that the present coalition is also promoting apartheid in the guise of "new politics."

Listen again to the editorial writer's summation of the proposal: "Arabs will enjoy at best the status of a tolerated minority, with the option of turning them into a non-tolerated minority down the line, one which needs to be rid of because its presence spoils the state's Jewish purity."

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