Posted on 04/13/2022 4:15:43 AM PDT by Kaslin
If there was ever proof that Israel is not an apartheid state actively discriminating against its Arab minority, all one needs to do is look at the recent statement of Israeli Arab Knesset member Ayman Odeh. Not only does this reflect the reality that Israeli Arabs are equal parts of Israel’s democracy, that he can make statements that go against the interest and security of the state shows what a hyper-democracy Israel in fact is. As all this has unfolded, the thought I cannot shake is how much Israel’s Arabs deserve better.
Odeh used the occasion of a recent Ramadan greeting from Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, just outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City to make such outrageous remarks that the backlash is even coming from Israel’s Arabs. Odeh said he hoped to see Palestinian flags flying there one day. He said he had spoken with, groups of “young Palestinians with Israeli citizenship” in what he calls “occupied Arab Jerusalem,” saying they were being “humiliated” by Israel’s security forces.
That Odeh speaks of “Palestinians with Israeli citizenship,” and does so in the capital of Israel while declaring it “occupied” underscores the earlier point of no apartheid, and Israel’s hyper-democracy. Such comments would never be tolerated under actual apartheid. But I digress.
Like many Israeli Arab leaders, Odeh rightly complains that the Israeli police should do more to reduce Arab crime. Israeli Arabs make up 20% of the population, but their crime rate far outpaces their percent of the population. Last year, a record 126 Israeli Arabs were killed amid Arab-on-Arab crime, much of it stemming from Arab mafia, along with the perversely termed “honor-killings” of women. It’s correct that Israel needs to do more, and correct for Israeli Arabs (and Jews) to advocate for that.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
arabs in Israel have more rights than they have in any given arab country...
Sad but true. And no one will openly state it.
[snip] Odeh rightly complains that the Israeli police should do more to reduce Arab crime. Israeli Arabs make up 20% of the population, but their crime rate far outpaces their percent of the population. Last year, a record 126 Israeli Arabs were killed amid Arab-on-Arab crime, much of it stemming from Arab mafia, along with the perversely termed “honor-killings” of women. It’s correct that Israel needs to do more, and correct for Israeli Arabs (and Jews) to advocate for that. [/snip]
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