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| Thousands of Druze protest against Israel's Jewish nation law | ||
| 2018-08-05 | ||
| [Al Jazeera] A rally against a "discriminatory" law that declares Israel the exclusive homeland of Jewish people has gotten under way in Tel Aviv. Druze community members, who organised the event, estimate 150,000 people will take part in Saturday's protest, held under the motto, "Equal rights for all citizens". The Druze are an Arabic-speaking group with their own distinct religious and cultural traditions. They make up two percent of Israel's 8.8 million population and are found mainly in the northern regions of Galilee and Carmel. The Druze have had special status since the 1950s, when they were drafted into the military, unlike Israel's Moslem and Christian populations. Salma Zeidan is a minority Druze whose two sons were killed during military service for Israel. "If this law doesn't change, I will get your bodies exhumed from this military cemetery and bury you in your grandfathers' land," Zeidan said in an interview with Al Jazeera. Critics say the new legislation makes Israel's non-Jewish minorities into second-class citizens, further marginalising some 1.8 million Paleostinians with Israeli citizenship and other smaller minorities, including the Druze. The Basic Law, which has standing similar to a constitution, gives only Jews the right to self-determination. The new law also strips Arabic of its official language designation, downgrading it to a "special status". Reporting from Tel Aviv, Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons said one of the main issues of controversy has to do with military service. "[There's] massive unrest about people who have served in the army now not having full citizenship according to the campaigners," Simmons said. About six out of 10 Druze men have served in the Israeli army.
Leaders of the Druze community were among the key organizers of the demonstration. Members of the community serve in the Israeli army and have expressed particular outrage at the law’s provisions, saying it renders them second-class citizens. Former Labor MK Shachiv Shnaan, a member of the Druze community who lost his son Kamil Shnaan, 22, last year in a terror attack at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, gave a moving address to the crowds, lamenting the law. The demonstration took place amid heightened tensions over the legislation. The nation-state law — which for the first time enshrines Israel as “the national home of the Jewish people” and says “the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people” — has sparked widespread criticism from Israel’s minorities and opposition, the international community, and Jewish groups abroad. In an interview with Hadashot TV on Saturday night, Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan suggested that people with an anti-government political agenda were “stirring divisions” in Israeli society over the legislation. Erdan insisted that the government greatly appreciated the Druze community’s contribution to Israel, and that “we agree with all the Druze demands” as highlighted by the rally — but said such demands were already met, anchored in existing laws. “This rally has nothing to do with the nation-state law,” he said. This law merely “completes” existing laws to stress that Israel is the national home of the Jewish people. “There is not a word in this law that hurts the Druze community or any other community,” Erdan said. Unlike Arab Israelis, members of both the Druze and Circassian minorities are subject to Israel’s mandatory draft and serve in large numbers alongside Jewish soldiers in some of the IDF’s most elite units. On Thursday, Netanyahu angrily walked out of a meeting with Druze leaders when a prominent Druze activist and former IDF brigadier general criticized the controversial nation-state law passed last month. Netanyahu was apparently enraged by Brig. Gen. (res.) Amal As’ad accusing him of turning Israel into an “apartheid state” and calling the law “evil and racist.” As’ad on Friday told Hadashot news he said no such thing, implying Netanyahu was looking for an excuse to end the meeting. “I wrote a post 10 days ago in which I wrote that if that law is realized Israel is on the path to apartheid, and I’m not the only one saying that,” he said. He also insisted that he had not crashed the meeting, contrary to some accounts. But Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who was in the meeting, disputed his account. “I heard with my own ears the outrageous statement that Israel is an apartheid state,” said Levin. As’ad, a former infantry commander and veteran of multiple wars who lost a brother in fighting in the Gaza Strip, in the past expressed support for the Likud party. He urged Druze to come to Tel Aviv on Saturday and take part in the protest, saying the “demonstration is for the state of Israel, not against it.” Netanyahu has been trying to placate Druze anger at the new law with a package of benefits. A concession plan envisions new legislation to anchor the status of the Druze and Circassian communities in law and provide benefits to members of minority groups who serve in the security forces, the PMO said in a statement Wednesday. Support of Druze religious, education, and culture institutes would also be included in the legislation. In addition, recognition of the contribution made by all minorities and communities that participate in the defense of the state would be written into the country’s Basic Laws.
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| Posted by:Fred |