Public Comment

The sham that Israel is a democracy has once again been exposed with the announcement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that “his” country’s existence as the “nation-state of the Jewish people.”  

Israel cannot claim to be a nation of the Jewish people and a democracy, - the two are incompatible. A true democracy affords equal rights to ALL its citizens, Christians, Jews and Palestinians. 

What about the rights of the indigenous people, the Palestinians who were ethnically cleansed by the Israeli terror groups Hagana, Irgun and the Stern Gang? This inconvenient truth was confirmed by Israeli Jewish historians Ami Pedahzur, Arie Perliger, and Benny Morris. 

The new law declares “Jewish settlements as a national value” and that the state will “encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation” – code language which will be used to further colonization of Palestinian lands throughout all the territories occupied or controlled by Israel. 

The law’s endorsement of Jewish settlements removes any geographic limits, which means it encourages Israel’s ongoing colonization of the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. 

There are currently more than 65 Israeli laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens in Israel and Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories. 

Here are a few examples: 

Israel forbids Palestinians from mourning the loss of their country, called the Nakba, when 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homeland.  

The Israeli finance minister reduces funding to any institution that commemorates the Nakba. 

Israel stipulates “Israeli lands” can only be leased or sold to Jews. 93% of the land belongs to the state and Palestinians are virtually locked out of any land purchase. 

Ban on family unification plan prevents family unification when one spouse is an Israeli citizen and the other is a resident of the occupied territories. 

The draconian Absentees' Property Law confiscates the land, homes and personal assets of Palestinian refugees who were driven from their homes in 1950. At the same time, the Law of Return (1950) gave Jews from anywhere in the world the right to automatically become Israeli citizens. 

According to the Interior Ministry. since 1967, nearly 15,000 Palestinians from East Jerusalem have had their residency rights revoked. The remaining Palestinians, can have their residency rights revoked if they leave Jerusalem for an extended period. According to Human Rights Watch revocation of residency rights is a clear violation of International law.