Ideological shifts do not appear and disappear overnight. Regardless of the outcome of Israel’s protests, the ideological shifts there are seismic and long-lasting. For now, liberal Zionists and their Western allies must accept the historical truth that Herzl's “clergymen” have escaped the "temples” and are running the country.
Since Israel has always defined itself as a Jewish State, its future is mostly linked to its ability to maintain a Jewish majority in historic Palestine.
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The Israeli Knesset is fast-tracking a “nation-state bill” which opposition groups have denounced as “institutionalizing the apartheid regime”. Knesset members approved the final draft of the bill defining Israel exclusively as a nation for Jews.
The “Zionism’s flagship bill”, as it’s been described by Israeli politicians, will permit Jewish-only communities and mark a dangerous turning point for Palestinians whose democratic rights will come under greater threat.
More than a decade ago, US President Jimmy Carter warned that Israel was practising apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories. But in truth, it would be more accurate to say Israel itself is an apartheid state.
After seven years of delays, Israel's governing parties agreed the final terms of controversial new legislation that would define Israel exclusively as "the nation-state of the Jewish people". It effectively blocks any chance for Israel's large Palestinian minority - one in five of the population - to reform Israel in the future into a normal, Western-style democracy.
Israel Claim to be a Jewish State and a Democratic State: Legalism versus Justice
New legislation to cement the definition of Israel as a state belonging exclusively to Jews around the world is a "declaration of war" on Palestinian citizens of Israel, the minority's leaders have warned. Critics are also concerned that the Jewish Nation-State Bill is intended to stymie prospects of reviving peace talks with the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The Israeli West Bank “Barrier”, often called the ‘apartheid wall’, which surrounds much of the territory illegally occupied by Israel, as it passes through Bethlehem Aida refugee camp. (Photo: The Advocacy Project/Flickr)
Israel’s parliament gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill defining the country as the “national home of the Jewish people” which downgrades Arabic from official language status.
[Prefatory Note: Below is the text of a report co-authored by Virginia Tilley and myself, commissioned by the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) that examines the argument for regarding Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ with respect to the whole of the Palestinian people, that is, not only those Palestinians living under occupation, but also those living as residents of Jerusalem, those living as a minority in Israel, and those enduring refugee camps and involuntary exile.
Israeli President Shimon Peres, right, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits between them during the annual ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, Israel (AP/Gali Tibbon)
