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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (25049)	7/1/2003 1:20:11 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25898

Israel officially defines itself as a "democratic Jewish state" How does the existence of such a large sector of the native Arabs affect this definition? Can a democratic state with so many non-Jewish citizens be "Jewish"? Can a Jewish state with so many non-Jewish citizens really be democratic? Hmm... Can Jordan declare itself to be a Hashemite Kingdom when so few Hashemites live there (in comparison to the Palestinians population)? Can Palestine be a true democracy when only Muslims and Christians can own land or hold office (death penalty for selling land to Jews)? I'm not particularly keen on Israel defining itself as a "Jewish state", anymore than I resent Arabs refusing to grant democratic rights to their own populations.. Do these Arab Israelis consider themselves to be Israeli, or merely Palestinians living in Israel? Do they feel any loyalty to that state.. Or would they feel it were it no longer a "Jewish State"?? So many complex questions that can only be answer through the passing of time and healing powers of tolerance and mutual self-interest. Hawk

To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (25049)	7/3/2003 3:42:58 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

Re: "My tragedy is that my State is at war with my people," complained the late Knesset member Abd-alAzizi al Zuabi, a statement that has already become a classic. Every fifth Israeli citizen is an Arab Palestinian. Indeed, the Arab citizens of Israel are, proportionally, one of the largest national minorities anywhere in the democratic world. Yet Israel has never come to grips with this elementary fact. Israel officially defines itself as a "democratic Jewish state" How does the existence of such a large sector of the native Arabs affect this definition? Can a democratic state with so many non-Jewish citizens be "Jewish"? Can a Jewish state with so many non-Jewish citizens really be democratic? Israel has solved this problem by not solving it, indeed, by never squarely facing up to it at all. In a form of denial, official documents frequently identify Arab citizens as "sons of minorities". The above scrap could readily be rephrased into: "My tragedy is that my State is at war with my people," complained the would-be European Parliament member Abd-alAzizi al Zuabi, a statement that has already become a classic. Every fifth European citizen is an Arab immigrant. Indeed, the Arab citizens of Europe are, proportionally, one of the largest national minorities anywhere in the democratic world. Yet the EU has never come to grips with this elementary fact. Europe officially defines itself as a "democratic European union" How does the existence of such a large sector of the native Arabs affect this definition? Can a democratic union with so many non-white citizens be "European"? Can a European union with so many non-white citizens really be democratic? Europe has solved this problem by not solving it, indeed, by never squarely facing up to it at all. In a form of denial, official documents frequently identify Arab citizens as "sons of minorities".