Israel's Arab minority rallies against new nation-state law

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Thousands of protesters rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday against Israel’s new law declaring it the nation-state of the Jewish people, legislation that has angered the country’s Arab minority and drawn criticism abroad.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended the law, which says only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country and downgrades Arabic from an official language, saying it is necessary in order to fend off Palestinian challenges to Jewish self-determination.

The protesters, mostly Israeli Arabs, waved Palestinian flags and held up signs that read "equality" in Arabic and Hebrew.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during his speech at the International Homeland Security Forum in Jerusalem, June 14, 2018. /VCG Photo

“The law legitimizes racism,” said Laila al-Sana, 19, from a Bedouin village in Israel’s southern Negev desert.

“It’s very important to show we are here, to resist,” she added.

Israel’s Arab population comprises mainly descendants of the Palestinians who remained on their land after the 1948 war at the time of the state of Israel was established.

Hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes or fled.

Israeli Arabs and their supporters take part in a rally to protest against the Jewish nation-state law in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, August 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

Many of Israel’s Arab citizens also identify as Palestinian. They make up about a fifth of the country's population of 8.71 million.

Israeli law grants them full equal rights, but many say they face discrimination and are treated as second-class citizens.

“When I heard about the law I felt I should defend my hometown, our land, the land of my ancestors,” said 68-year-old Sheikha Dabbah at the rally.

Critics have said the new law is undemocratic because it differentiates between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. Its defenders say civil equality is guaranteed in existing legislation.

Arab leaders in Israel have said the law verges on apartheid. Rights groups and Jewish groups in the diaspora have spoken against the legislation, as have the EU, Egypt and Israel’s own president.

Source(s): Reuters