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"This was a planned terror attack and we find it extremely difficult to treat it as an individual action," Inbitawi told The Jerusalem Post. "It marks a certain trend that reflects a growing tendency of fascism and racism in Israeli society generally as well as the establishment towards the minority Arab community," he said.The Palestinians are the last people to be claiming that terrorist attacks neccesarily involve government sanction or even ambivalence. While the Israeli government may have been lax in dealing with Kach and its affiliated loose cannons (a fact they have recognized and are addressing), to claim they have any culpability in this attack is beyond ridiculous.
-Eric
Context and perspective is everything.
This report can only be judged properly if those same arab "leaders" tell us by way of background how the Jewish minority citizens are treated in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan...
* crickets *
They should move to stinking Arab countries and see how much worse it is.
If they find life in Israel sooo oppressive, there are 22 Arab-ruled, Muslims-only nations. But they still enjoy a higher standard of living in Israel.
"The decision to draw up the document was taken by the committee after the attack by Jewish terrorist Eden Natan Zada in Shfaram on Thursday in which four local residents, Muslims and Christians, were killed. Zada himself died, apparently after being lynched by an angry mob."
Are they going to include the numerous lynchings committed by Jews of the thousandfolds greater number of Arab terrorists?
Maybe they will be inclined to depart for the new Palestinian State.
Israel is racist? Yeah, right. Its Arab citizens enjoy voting rights, can get out of Army service (unlike most Jewish citizens), they get welfare, they get top notch medical care, they have the same benefits from the Israeli legal system as Israeli citizens, etc. Compare and contrast the situation of Jewish citizens of Arab countries...oh, that's right, the vast majority of Jews were "asked" (generally with the implied threat that they wouldn't survive long) to leave Arab lands in which their families had lived for hundreds or thousands of years right after Israel was created, and had their property either stolen or were forced to sell it for pennies on the dollar. Compare and contrast also with the Paleostinians, who absolutely refuse to live with Jews among them (which is why the Gaza Jews are being forcibly removed). Isn't that known as "ethnic cleansing?"
To be sure, Israel isn't a perfect nation - it is, after all, a country designed and run by fallible (and sometimes VERY fallible, i.e. Socialist) human beings. But to compare its actions with regard to Arab citizens as if they were equal to the treatment of Jews by Arab governments or the Paleos is absurd at best, and a calculated, vile and lying bunch of anti-Israeli and/or anti-Jewish propaganda.
If Israel is such a horrid place for them to live, then I invite them to not let the door hit them in their assets on their way out.
Get a load of this! Ping!
This hypocrisy leaves me otherwise speechless.
Part of my speechlessness stems from self-restraint.
Israel is one of the most open societies in the world. Out of a population of 6.7 million, about 1.3 million — 20 percent of the population — are non-Jews (approximately 1.1 million Muslims, 130,000 Christians and 100,000 Druze).
Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights; in fact, it is one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote. Arabs currently hold 8 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Israeli Arabs have also held various government posts, including one who served as Israel's ambassador to Finland and the current deputy mayor of Tel Aviv. Ariel Sharon's original cabinet included the first Arab minister, Salah Tarif, a Druze who served as a minister without portfolio. An Arab is also a Supreme Court justice.
Arabic, like Hebrew, is an official language in Israel. More than 300,000 Arab children attend Israeli schools. At the time of Israel's founding, there was one Arab high school in the country. Today, there are hundreds of Arab schools.
In 2002, the Israeli Supreme Court also ruled that the government cannot allocate land based on religion or ethnicity, and may not prevent Arab citizens from living wherever they choose.
The sole legal distinction between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel is that the latter are not required to serve in the Israeli army. This is to spare Arab citizens the need to take up arms against their brethren. Nevertheless, Bedouins have served in paratroop units and other Arabs have volunteered for military duty. Compulsory military service is applied to the Druze and Circassian communities at their own request.
Some economic and social gaps between Israeli Jews and Arabs result from the latter not serving in the military. Veterans qualify for many benefits not available to non-veterans. Moreover, the army aids in the socialization process.
On the other hand, Arabs do have an advantage in obtaining some jobs during the years Israelis are in the military. In addition, industries like construction and trucking have come to be dominated by Israeli Arabs.
Although Israeli Arabs have occasionally been involved in terrorist activities, they have generally behaved as loyal citizens. During the 1967, 1973 and 1982 wars, none engaged in any acts of sabotage or disloyalty. Sometimes, in fact, Arabs volunteered to take over civilian functions for reservists. During the outbreak of violence in the territories that began in September 2000, Israeli Arabs for the first time engaged in widespread protests with some violence.
The United States has been independent for almost 230 years and still has not integrated all of its diverse communities. Even today, 60 years after civil rights legislation was adopted, discrimination has not been eradicated. It should not be surprising that Israel has not solved all of its social problems in only 57 years.
unbelievable
What race do Arabs consider themselves and the Israelis to be?
First - Arabs are NOT a race.
Second - if they don't like to live in Israel, they are free to leave.
There are 22 Arab countries out there for them to choose.