ISRAELI ARABS - SOME SUGGESTIONS

It is difficult to deny that Israeli Arabs suffer unofficial discrimination in Israel. Such discrimination requires attention and even affirmative action. For example, the number of Israeli Arabs employed in the public sector (languishing at around 6%) should be more or less relative to their proportion of the general population. However the need to counter and amend such discrimination does not diminish the need for Israeli Arabs to take a serious look at themselves in the mirror and decide where their loyalties lie: as Israeli citizens loyal to the State or to its enemies.

It is totally unacceptable when Israeli Arab members of Knesset engage in activities or make political utterances which show a fundamental disloyalty to Israel. Praising the Hizballah in the recent Lebanese Conflict,visiting Syria and expressing support for President Assad,advocating the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by Palestinian terrorists andcomparing the Israeli Army and Police to Nazis exemplifies how Arab Knesset members exploit their democratic rights (including the freedom of expression) in order to undermine (and ultimately) topple the Jewish State.

Living in a democratic state implicitly means that a citizen has rights and obligations and not rights alone. A citizen's basic obligation is his loyalty to the state whose citizenship he holds. Imagine how Americans would view Congressmen who dared to side with America's enemies or how Englishmen would view Parliamentarians who advocated the killing of British soldiers. Such people would quite rightly be tried for treason.

Israeli Arabs need to be fully integrated into Israeli Society. I would advocate them even being obliged to do national service. Their footballers would be obliged to sing the Israeli anthem when playing for the national team. In short they should (like all citizens) be obligated to be and to act loyally to Israel and not to its enemies.


Parallel to a firm commitment by Israeli Arabs to fully integrate into Israeli society, Israel as a state should respond by positively dealing with the very real discrimination suffered by Israel's Arab citizens.