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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israeli president slams bill that could lead to Jewish-only communities |
| 2018-07-11 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Israeli President Reuven Rivlin criticized a proposed law Tuesday that would open the door to the establishment of Jewish-only communities in the country. Rivlin's comments marked a rare intervention in politics by the country's president, whose role is mainly symbolic. He voiced his concerns in an open letter, pointing to a clause in the proposed legislation that defined Israel as the "national home of the Jewish people." The so-called nation-state law, which the government hopes to have approved by the end of the month, could become part of the country's basic laws which serve as a de facto constitution. The clause Rivlin criticized would allow the state to "authorize a community composed of people having the same faith and nationality to maintain the exclusive character of that community." That was seen as allowing towns to exclude Arab citizens, who account for some 17.5 percent of Israel's population, or even other Jewish communities. Rivlin said that the legislation "could harm the Jewish people worldwide and in Israel, and could even be used as a weapon by our enemies." "Do we want to support the discrimination and exclusion of men and women based on their ethnic origin?" he wrote. He said that the bill could allow the establishment of towns that would, for example, exclude Jews of Middle Eastern origin, ultra-Orthodox Jews or homosexuals. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Do we want to support the discrimination and exclusion of men and women based on their ethnic origin? Yes. If the ethnic/religious origin associated with unremitting hostility to Jews and Israel. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-07-11 06:20 |
| #1 Rivlin forgets the rebuilding the Wall of Jerusalem lesson (Nehemiah 1:1-7:73) and the impact of "opposing peoples". |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2018-07-11 05:56 |