I have two words for the Israeli Parliament: wake up.
The Knesset, the Israeli equivalent of our Congress, passed a new law stating that any non-Jew who wishes to become an Israeli citizen must “pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.” While this may seem initially a non-issue, as every country requires new citizens to pledge allegiance to their country, I see many problems with this new law, both as an American and an Israeli citizen.
These “loyalty oaths” will merely add fuel to the fire raging in the Middle East.
Instead of trying to accomplish full peace, the Israeli government is starting to exclude people based on their perceived loyalty to the state. Sounds painfully similar to what other corrupt nations have done in the last century. Do Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman really want peace? Or do they want to further advance racist goals?
For starters, not everyone in Israel is Jewish. Why should the Arabs living in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem be forced to pledge to a religious ideology that is not their own? Will my loyalty be questioned on my trip back to Israel as an open atheist? This new law gives an excuse for the ultraconservative right wing of Israeli politics to strip non-Jews of their citizenship. In other words, these loyalty oaths are similar to our “Patriot Act,” which racially profiles non-Whites in some misconceived notion that only Arabs commit terrorist acts.
The conservatives’ reasoning for this new law is to demand recognition of the Jewish state. It is undeniable that many nations do not recognize Israel as a legitimate state, but you don’t gain respect by jamming it down people’s throats. As the Knesset Speaker put it, “the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel was an ethical act” and that does not warrant a law recognizing this.
If Israel is to truly be a democracy, this law is a step in the wrong direction, fostering religious domination within a society. The Dark Ages taught us something: religious rule does not fair well for most people. Then how is it possible for a people who have suffered so much and endured the worst of crimes committed against them, that they are now using similar methods to weed out “enemies of the state?”
In refusing to extend the settlement-building freeze, passing this new law and hiring a known and open racist as foreign minister, Prime Minister Netanyahu is sending Israel into a diplomatic abyss. I do believe in the right for Israel to exist. I also believe in the right for Palestinians to eat in the same café’s as I do, to visit the same beautiful beaches as I do and to worship the religion of their choice. Lieberman and Netanyahu have reared their ugly smirks at the rest of the world and spat in the face of the countries working so hard to see peace in the region.
American Jews expressed immense outrage when the law was first introduced to the Knesset floor. What I wanted to see was condemnation from the Obama administration. Current conservative policy in Israel is seriously making me question just how much influence the United States has in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. In my opinion, we are not pressuring the current Israeli administration hard enough. As an Israeli citizen, I do not want to see my parents’ homeland get destroyed by war or politics. Unfortunately, it becomes clearer to me that America has to make some difficult choices in how we support Israel.
For over 60 years, men and women have fought for the right to exist. My parents immigrated to America so that my siblings and I would not have to face those same battles. But what does it say when people our age are still fighting this war?
Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations and states are not helping the situation either. At some point though, we need to point the finger at ourselves and ask: “what are we doing wrong? What can we do better?” For sure we can do better – America and Israel. It was a disgrace when the prime minister was elected. Everyone knew his stance on the conflict.
What we get in return is alliances with ultraconservative parties and futile peace talks. The arrogance, intolerance and stupidity of the current Israeli administration will tear the region apart. The sad part is that this law may only be the tip of the iceberg. If the religious faction gains more power in the Knesset – a faction no different from the radical Islamic and Christian terror groups – Israel will lose any support it has in the world.
Many people can ignore this situation and live their lives without ever hearing about the Knesset, the Palestinian Liberation Organization or Hamas. If we let politicians in Israel and America fail at signing peace with our enemies, the hole left to the east of the Mediterranean will create a vacuum of bureaucracy, terror and hopelessness.
Israel is on the verge of becoming a permanent warring state. The only way to prevent this from happening is to reverse the racist laws, permanently remove all the settlements and remove the few individuals representing the minority. When a minority like the conservatives in Israel rule, it is no longer a democracy, but a militant, theocratic state.
Roy Ribitzky is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].
Andrew • Oct 17, 2010 at 4:40 am
It’s comments like these that make me lose faith in the rationality of human beings:
“Should Israel allow large numbers of new citizens whose purpose it is to overthrow the government?”
So you are suggesting that everyone who is not Jewish (and therefore has problems swearing loyalty to a “Jewish state”) wants to overthrow the Israeli government? Seriously?
Similarly, Jerry’s comments imply that Jews cannot live in a country with large numbers of Gentiles because the Gentiles will sooner or later try to kill them. This is precisely the wrong lesson to draw from the long history of persecution against Jews: “Everyone is out to kill us because they want to purify their countries of ethnic minorities like us – therefore we can’t allow large ethnic minorities in our country!” Oh, the irony…
Arafat • Oct 14, 2010 at 11:50 am
Roy writes, “Prime Minister Netanyahu is sending Israel into a diplomatic abyss.”
Obama is senidng Israel into a diplomatic abyss. I think Obama should live next to the following people before he dictates terms to Israel.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/01/hamas-in-their-own-voices.html
Eli Gottlieb • Oct 13, 2010 at 10:07 am
Goddamnit, aren’t Israel-Palestine articles supposed to be banned?
peter • Oct 12, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Wrong!
Is being a Jew being a member of a religion or of a race?
You mis-interpret the need for the “loyalty oath.” It’s not meant to discriminate against anyone. It’s a legal tool to discourage subversive activities of new citizens.
Ever hear of “right to return?” Should Israel allow large numbers of new citizens whose purpose it is to overthrow the government?
It’s not a board game. Sitting in the U.S., giving advice about what it takes to survive in an unfriendly environment is pretentious and ignorant.
PAUL • Oct 12, 2010 at 11:41 pm
To be jewish or pledge allegiance to a jewish state is not a religious but an ethnic question. The race of jewish people have come back to israel and their right to exist as a jewish state is not just a religious statement. So why would you have a problem with them expecting people who want to be a part of that society acknowledging theire right as a people to have a home land?
MB • Oct 12, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Roy is wrong on more than a few counts, but the biggest one is that Israel is a Jewish country, founded specifically for the Jewish people so that we can return to our land after all the massacres committed against us by the rest of the world. Even the flag is a Star of David, the accepted religious symbol of Judaism. Unfortunately, the generations after the first few founding generations have lost this ideal in a wave of post Zionist ignorance and lack of history and moral and religious grounding. Because of the secular character of Zionism these generations will grow up not knowing why its important to live in a Jewish country on Jewish land. Roy is a perfect example of such a person, someone so disconnected from reality and influence by radical leftist thought and moral relativism that he blames himself for attacks from others and has no idea what is really brewing under the surface in the Middle East.
Jerry • Oct 12, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Roy Ribitsky wrote, “Why should the Arabs living in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem be forced to pledge to a religious ideology that is not their own?”
I do not accept his formulation of the problem, but here are reasons for Israel to require a loyalty oath.
1) Israel is facing an existential threat from its enemies and now its “friends” as well. I refer here to Mr. Obama who demands a “settlement in two years.”
2) Israel is being asked to weaken its geopolitical circumstances to benefit the Palestinians. It needs to preclude internal forces that would continue to seek its destruction even as it relinquishes territory for a future Palestinian state – which will be apartheid, as Mr. Ribitsky probably knows.
3) Jews represent a cultural lineage and history worth preserving, not in museums as was Hitler’s approach, but in real life. Israel is the center of that Jewish life. Self-rule is the best solution for Jews, given its history in the Diaspora.
4) Support by leftist ideologues for one-state for all its peoples represents a pernicious surety of the future that Jews will be safe in such a circumstance Perhaps they won’t be. OK, so the Left may be wrong in its projections! Their attitude is, “So what!” Unacceptable!
Typical of those who use hyperbole to win points otherwise not available to them, Mr. Ribitsky claims that Gentiles are being asked to swear allegiance to religious ideology not their own. No one has asked that. Judaism, in three thousand years, has rarely accepted all comers as valid converts. Modern Israel merely wishes to preserve a safe haven for Jews, which the world has on the whole refused to supply. So far, America in the 21st century is an exception. Europe is currently a place where the safety of Jews qua Jews is questionable, as is South America, South Africa, Russia, and much of Eastern Europe, in particular, Hungary.
In short, Mr. Ribitsky offers no solutions that do not require the dissolution of the the Jews as a unique people and culture, but merely the equivalent of ad hominem attacks.
Victor Williams • Oct 12, 2010 at 11:16 pm
“remove the few individuals representing the minority”
Which minority would that be? When some on the right wing advocate for removing those Arabs which are hostile to the state which gives them shelter, people scream “racism”. When some on the left advocate for removing religious and political conservatives, people nod and say “justice”. How about “double standard,” or “hypocrisy” instead?
James • Oct 12, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Roy, you remind me of arab propaganda. Get real. There is nothing wrong with having a loyalty oath.