Lamis Andoni writes on the Al Jazeera English website:
For if Israel is a Jewish state, in the sense that Jews are the indigenous population, that means the West Bank is not an occupied territory and the Palestinians are there as an accident of history.
The basis of the Palestinian claim to nationhood and independence rests on the fact that Israel was established on Palestinian land. But Israel is demanding that Palestinians not only forget but legitimise their own dispossession by accepting the essentially racist claim that Israel is a Jewish state.
[Avigdor] Lieberman has always managed to strip the sugar-coating off Israeli demands. On Sunday, he again insisted that Palestinian-Israelis should have to prove their loyalty to Israel. His party, Yisrael Beiteinu, has been – so far unsuccessfully – trying to pass a law that would force Palestinian-Israelis to swear an oath of loyalty to Israel.
He cited the examples of Knesset member Haneen Zoabi and Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, as Arabs who should not be in Israel, but could serve in the parliament of Gaza or the PA since they cannot “hold the stick at both sides”.
But Ahmad Tibi, another Arab member of the Knesset, has responded forcefully to Lieberman, who was born in Russia but migrated to Israel in the 1990s. “It is outrageous that a new immigrant who arrived in the late twentieth century wants to expel us, the indigenous people, from our homeland,” Tibi declared. “We have been here long before him, this fascist who came last has to leave and not us.”
Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath has reiterated that Israel’s demand and Lieberman’s statement “are utterly unacceptable”. But it is unlikely that Israel will drop its stipulations now.
As divided as the Palestinians are, they are united in their refusal to deny their very identity and history in their homeland. For if Palestinians accept the Jewishness of Israel there will be nothing left to negotiate over and they will be reduced to simply struggling to improve the conditions of their submission.
Update: “Ros-Lehtinen to introduce resolution urging Palestinian leaders to recognize Israel’s right to exist as Jewish state”
The following is a press release from Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee:
(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is seeking bipartisan support for a resolution she will introduce later this week reaffirming U.S. support for Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and urging the Palestinian leadership to finally recognize that right. The resolution also calls for full implementation of the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, which conditions U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority on, among other things, the PA “publicly acknowledge[ing] the Jewish state of Israel’s right to exist.” Ros-Lehtinen’s resolution comes as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) again refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:
“U.S. law is very clear: the Palestinian Authority must recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State, and stop all anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incitement. Abu Mazen and other Palestinian leaders have been just as clear in their rejection of their obligations to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and to root out violent extremists.
“Israel’s status as a Jewish state is non-negotiable. Make no mistake: When Palestinian leaders refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, they refuse to make a true and lasting peace.
“Middle East peace can only be achieved when Israel’s neighbors demonstrate leadership by foreswearing Israel’s destruction and instead committing to mutual recognition and coexistence.
“The U.S. cannot and must not accept Ramallah’s refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and must, in accordance with U.S. law, insist they meet that very basic benchmark.”
BACKGROUND: In an interview published September 7, 2010 by the Palestinian daily newspaper al-Quds, Abu Mazen expressed “firm rejection of the so-called Jewishness of the state [of Israel],” stating that “This issue is over for us; we have not and will not recognize it.” At the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting on September 12, 2010, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “we… demand and expect the Palestinians to recognize a Jewish state, the State of Israel, as the national state of the Jewish people. This is the true foundation of peace.”
