Israel To Require 'loyalty Oath' For Non-jews Seeking Citizenship

Sunday October 10, 2010 23:55 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Israeli occupation government cabinet passed a law Sunday requiring all non-Jewish applicants for citizenship to take a 'loyalty oath' confirming their support for Israel's 'Jewish character' as a state. A number of prominent lawmakers, including former candidate for Prime Minister, Tzipi Livni, have come out against the controversial law, saying that it defines Israel as a theocratic state and undermines democracy.

Palestinian-Israeli members of the Knesset spoke vehemently against the law. MK (Member of the Knesset) Ahmed Tibi told reporters, "The government of Israel has become subservient to Yisrael Beiteinu and its fascist doctrine. No other state in the world would force its citizens or those seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to an ideology."

Another Palestinian-Israeli Knesset Member, Talab al-Sana said the new law "will cause the exclusion of 20 percent of the country's citizens... [It] will situate Israel as the successor of Apartheid-era South Africa."

The law was proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who stated, "There is no other democracy in the Middle East. There is no other Jewish state in the world. The combination of these two exulted values, a Jewish state and a democratic state, expresses the core of our existence and the essence of the state of Israel and whoever wants to join us must acknowledge this."

People who will be required to take the loyalty oath include non-Jewish spouses of Israeli citizens and non-Jews seeking refugee status in Israel.

Twenty percent of Israeli citizens are not Jewish, with the majority of that number being indigenous Palestinians who remained inside the borders of what is now Israel when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled to refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan when Israel was created on Palestinian land in 1948.

But that percentage is growing, as Jewish immigration into Israel slows and the birth rate among Palestinian-Israelis far exceeds that of Jewish Israelis. This trend led now-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to call Palestinian-Israelis a 'demographic threat' and openly advocate for their expulsion from the Jewish state.

Supporters of the law made no secret of the fact that they wish to target Palestinians who have Israeli citizenship with the new 'loyalty oath' law.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai specifically referenced Palestinian-Israeli Knesset Members Azmi Bishara and Hanin Zoabi as potential targets of the new law, adding, "Anyone who betrays the state will lose his citizenship."

Labor Party Knesset Member Isaac Herzog said that the new law indicates that Israel is on a slippery slope toward fascism.

Israeli cabinet approves loyalty oath to Jewish state

Published yesterday (updated) 11/10/2010 12:49

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) --

The Israeli occupation government on Sunday approved a proposal to require every non-Jew wishing to become a citizen to swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state (targeting the indigenous Palestinian population in an attempt to deny them citizenship or withdraw it from them in the future).

Twenty-two ministers voted in favor of the proposal, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. Eight ministers were opposed.

Speaking ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the amendment to the citizenship law would require that "anyone seeking to become a naturalized Israeli citizen will declare [that] he or she will be a loyal citizen of the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

"No one can preach democracy or enlightenment to us," Netanyahu said, adding that "There is no other democracy in the Middle East."

Critics of the proposal question the democracy of forcing non-Jews to swear allegiance to a Jewish state. The bill will primarily affect Israel's Palestinian minority as Jewish immigrants to Israel usually enter on the state's Jewish Law of Return. Around 20 percent of Israel's population are non-Jewish Arabs.

Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouthi said the move was "the last straw in the consolidation of a racist, apartheid system in Israel," describing the law as "an official declaration of apartheid."

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy panned the move in a piece published shortly after the vote. "Remember this day," he wrote. "From now on, we will be living in a new, officially approved, ethnocratic, theocratic, nationalistic and racist country. Anyone who thinks it doesn't affect him is mistaken."

During peace talks in Washington last month, President Mahmoud Abbas refused Israel's request to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state," saying that it would forfeit the right of return of Palestinian refugees, a final status issue in negotiations. Further, he said it would threaten the civil rights of Palestinians living inside Israel.

Negotiations have reached a deadlock over Netanyahu's refusal to stop building settlements on Palestinian land. At an Arab League summit in Libya on Saturday, Abbas said the international community realized the "absurdity" of continuing to negotiate with Israel while it expanded settlements and unilaterally imposed borders.

Fat'h: Loyalty oath attempt at ethnic cleansing

Published yesterday (updated) 11/10/2010 09:29

HEBRON (Ma'an) --

The Israeli occupation government's approval of a bill requiring non-Jews seeking citizenship to swear loyalty to a 'Jewish state' clearly indicates a policy of ethnic cleansing, a Fat'h spokesman said Sunday.

Usama Al-Qawasmi said the amendment to the citizenship law targeted Palestinians, and undermined Israel's claim to democracy.

At the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his support for the bill, and said "No one
"No one can preach democracy or enlightenment to us," adding that "There is no other democracy in the Middle East."

Al-Qauasmi said the decision clearly showed Israel was "the most racist and dictatorial state in the whole world."

The bill showed the Israeli government was adopting the right-wing extremism of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Fatah official said. The amendment was one of a series of 'loyalty laws' proposed by Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party.

Lieberman recently told world leaders at UN General Assembly of his proposal to move Israeli borders "to better reflect demographic realities." Under his plan, residents of Arab towns would have their Israeli citizenship revoked.

Al-Qauasmi said the addition to the citizenship law was an attempt to side-step international law and UN resolutions which protect the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

President Mahmoud Abbas has refused requests by Netanyahu to recognize Israel as a Jewish state on the grounds that it would forfeit the right of Palestinian refugees to return, as well as delegitimizing the civil rights of Palestinians inside Israel.

Israeli Artists, Intellectuals Protest Against New Israeli Bill

Monday October 11, 2010 09:58 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Shortly after the Israeli cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu passed a bill on Sunday requiring all non-Jewish citizens to pledge allegiance to Israel not only as a state but as a “Jewish and democratic state”, hundreds of Israeli intellectuals and artists held a protest rally in Tel Aviv to challenge the new bill.

Speaking to the rally, Professor Yaron Ezrachi said that “Israel is deteriorating to the level of a fascist state and that “the children of Israel will either leave the country, be imprisoned or just fight in the streets."

Professor Gabi Solomon stated that with this new bill, “Israel is burying its declaration of independence”, and ironically added that “the Arabs will stab us in the back. The reason they did not do so since Israel’s establishment 62 years ago is irrelevant."

The new bill passed by 22 to 8. It still needs to be approved by the Knesset in which the right wing Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, enjoys a vast majority.

The ministers who voted against the bill are Ehud Barak and all of the ministers of his Labor Party, and Likud party ministers, Dan Meridor, Michael Etan and Beni Begen.

Head of the National Democratic Assembly, Arab member of the Knesset Dr. Jamal Zahalka, called for an international campaign to protect the Arabs and Palestinians in Israel from what he called “Israeli racism”.

He said that such a campaign is needed to protect Palestinians amidst Israel’s escalating attacks and violations against their legitimate rights.

Dr. Zahalka said that the fact that a vast majority in the Israeli government approved this bill means that “there is a fascist and racist majority in this government, and a similar majority in the Knesset”.

“This law means that the indigenous Arabs in this country will become hostages to the definition of the Jewish state”, Zahalka said. "The worst of all is that they want this Jewish state to be a source of humiliation to every Arab and Palestinian, especially those who are seeking family reunification in order to be able to live with their spouses and children”.

Prior to the meeting and the vote, Israeli Social Affairs Minister, Yitzhak Hertzog, stated that what is happening now in Israel threatens its democratic nature”, and added that there are some “fascist elements emerging in the Israeli society," the Arabs48 news website reported.

Israeli Justice Minister, Ya'akov Ne'eman, stated during the voting session that this bill should also oblige Jewish immigrants to the country to take the same oath, but his proposal was not adopted.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Minister of Minorities, Avishay Braverman, told the Israeli paper, Haaretz, that this bill does not benefit Israel, carries a problematic message towards the minorities, and shows Israel as an evil state.

Bahar: Amendment to Israeli citizenship law a humanitarian crime

[ 11/10/2010 - 06:42 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

First deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Dr. Ahmed Bahar said the Israeli government’s decision to approve an amendment on its citizenship law is a “legal and humanitarian crime”.

Israel recently voted for a new law forcing indigenous Palestinians to announce loyalty to the Israeli state as a Jewish and democratic state as a condition for citizenship.

The law aims to falsify the Palestinians’ history and right to the land, he said, adding that Israel wants to impose its “sick perception” of history by force.

“This new law intends to send a clear message to the world that means Israelis are the indigenous people of the land and the Palestinians are the aliens on this land,” Bahar added.

“This is the result of 20 years of catastrophic negotiations, killing, destruction, settlement activity, judiazation of Jerusalem, stolen land, and falsification of history,” the PLC official continued.

Bahar called on the UN and international human rights organizations to stand up to the new Israeli law, also appealing to Arab countries to revoke the Arab initiative and back the Palestinian people politically, materially, and morally.

He called on Abbas to immediately pull out of the pointless peace talks with Israel and not to grant a cover for racist laws such as this one.

On the other hand, during a ceremony honoring distinguished employees and retirees staged by the civil servants bureau in Gaza on Monday, Dr. Ahmed Bahar said the Arab summit held recently in Libya has not offered anything for the Palestinians, stressing that the summit’s results were disappointing to the hopes of the Palestinian people and their aspirations.