ReadingPost.Com
Political
Newsletter and Liberal Rant
Index
Page: enter
Volume
I No. 90
08-06-03
A
Little Bit Of Prejudice Goes A Long Way
{
Bigotry Against Palestinians And Arabs
In The State Of Israel }
author:
Vance Cureton
©
Copyright 2003
The controversy about
"gay this" and "gay that" has dominated
the airways in the United
States this summer. From the Supreme
Cout ruling against
a Texas law concerning sodomy between
consenting same-sex
adults, to the most recent of controversies,
the apparent confirmation
- as Bishop of New Hampshire - of an
openly gay clergyman
of the Episcopal Church.
And that is not to mention
the raging debate about gay marriage
or same-sex unions.
And the rising number of gay-themed shows
on both cable and broadcast
television.
But, there has been a
quiet controversy elsewhere in the world,
that has been strangely
absent from national news feeds. -- No,
nothing about those
"weird" Canadians, this time. There was a
law passed recently
in Israel that
prohibits citizenship for any
Palestinian that marries
an Israeli and wants to live in Israel.
This would seem to be
an issue that most progressive-minded
individuals would jump
all over. But, like the continuing and
inexcusable religious-based
bigotry against the lower castes in
India, or the intentional
dilution of Tibetian culture on the
"Chinese" mainland,
this issue has no legs whatsoever in the
American mainstream
media.
The Israeli-Palestinian
conflict has so many angles that it would
take more than a human
lifetime to examine them all. We will not
try to do that here.
But Israel proclaims itself as the only true
democracy in the Middle
East. And that is certainly more fact
than fiction.
What is also a fact is
that Israel receives "billions" of dollars in
US aid. And the state
has no doubt where additional help will be
coming from { military
and otherwise } should the "really big one"
ever break out between
the Jewish state and its contentious Arab
neighbors.
Israel may be the only
democracy in the Middle East but the
ratification of this
law that greatly discourages intermarriage
between Israeli-Arabs
{ Arabs living legally within Israel }
and Palestinians {
from the occupied territories } who commit
the mortal sin of falling
in love, is a huge disappointment.
And doesn't the US -
a nation that sends billions of dollars in
aid money to its Middle
Eastern ally - have right to question
the moral principles
of the nation that money is sent in support
of?
The Israeli law is based
upon prejudice and suspicion. It in effect
labels all Palestianians
as potential terrorists, and disregards the
uniqueness of the individual.
Prejudice is based upon fear, and
an "us" versus
"them" mentality. -- This law in effect codifies
Palestinians as the
awful - and never to be trusted other.
We have experience with
such laws in the United States, during the
Jim Crow era and when
segregation was the law of the land. Race
mixing { miscegnation
it was called here } was frowned upon. And
in fact, many states
had laws banning marriages between blacks
and whites. Those laws
just like the new Israeli law were to somehow
protect the sanctity
of one race against the "bad blood" from the
other.
In fact, this new law
is justified politically in Israel, "as protecting
the sanctity of the
Jewish state."
How chillingly
similar are those words to what was once heard
across the bigoted American
south.
The reason this story
has received so little airtime may simply be
because of the high
profile news stories hinted about in the first
paragraph of this article.
And of course, there is the Kobe Bryant
case. And now, the fire-breathing
man-child, Mike Tyson will
soon be in bankruptcy
court.
But, this new Israeli
law is one that deserves much more attention
and examination than
it has received so far. -- Whatever the reason
it has been ignored.
Israel is in a unique
situation. Neighboring states want to see the
Jewish entity destroyed.
-- Despite the conciliatory words of
diplomats and politicians
from those same Arab states. Bombs
destroy buses on the
morning commute. Restaurants and even
university campuses
are regarded as legitimate targets by soulless
suicide bombers. Surely,
to live in the State of Israel is to know a
kind of anxiety, that
we in the United States can only imagine.
Yet, democracy and the
freedom
to choose that goes in hand with
democracy do not arrive
without cost. Or without risk. For the
state must trust in
the wisdom of its own citizens, and forever be
at the political mercy
of those citizens. Thus the nation-state that
chooses the path of
democracy must sometimes make a leap of faith.
If all the citizens
of that democracy are to enjoy true freedom and
true citizenship.
After the elimination
of anti-miscegnation laws, and the end of the
Jim Crow era. America
is still a strong sound country. We made the
right choice. By believing
in ourselves we, in the end, became more
united. Not less, so.
The people of the state
of Israel need to make a similar leap of faith.
And must begin to trust
in their own democracy and the principles
of freedom and equality
that a democracy - if it is a true one - should
stand for.
If the Israelis only
regard the Palestinians - who are their permanent
neighbors - and the
Israeli-Arabs who reside in Israel, as the enemy.
Or the never to be trusted,
"other." Then that is what they indeed
will always be. An enemy
of a million faces. All the same. Without
individuality. Or uniqueness
of character.
The prophecy as it
were, will become self-fulfilling.
The small number of Israeli-Arabs
and Palestinians who will meet
and fall in love, are
no threat to the security of Jewish state. This is
reasoning blinded by
fear. Israel belongs to the Jews. But, it is not
an island. And it can
never
survive as an island. Isolated and alone.
Neither will this senseless
law eliminate the suicide bombings. Or
cause the Infitada to
cease. But, it may, in some small measure, be
yet another straw placed
heavily upon the camel's back.
{ note: It is already
forbidden by law for Jews and non-Jews to marry
in the state
of Israel. This group also belongs in the equation. }
ReadingPost.Com
© Copyright
2003
_______________________________
Liberal
Rights Announcement Group
Enjoy
this article? Subscribe to our list and
have
our latest liberal rants delivered right
to
your mailbox. We will never SPAM
you.
Comments
about this article? Send to editor.
Would
you like to republish this article? Ask,
and
we'll send along our republishing guidelines.
Comments
sent to editor may be republished
on
our site or in our announcement list at our
discretion.
Comments containing crude language
and/or
vulgarites will be deleted and your
email
address permanently banned.
_______________________________
Detective
Service Or Detective Software?
Your
Choice...
Net
Detective Software
Web
Detective Service
_______________________________
ARTICLE
SEARCH:
use
keywords or phrases to locate
other
ReadingPost.Com
articles
_______________________________
_______________________________
ReadingPost.Com: Home
Page
Previous
Article | Next
Article
letters
to the editor | archives1
| archives2 | donate
|
link directory
| liberal rights
_______________________________
|
