A new amendment to the Citizenship Act will be presented at the next government meeting in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in the next few days. An amendment according to which anyone seeking Israeli citizenship has to declare “loyalty to a Jewish and democratic State of Israel.” I read the article in Hebrew, then searched for the English version, because I know that English versions of news articles often don’t match their original Hebrew. Thus, the English article doesn’t mention one small – but very significant – detail. This amendment, should it pass, will not be applicable to new immigrants who are seeking Israeli citizenship by virtue of the Law of Return. Now here’s the twist: the Law of Return is based on a racist ideology, granting the Right of Return only to Jews. Following simple logic, not only is the amendment in itself racist as well, applying to certain religious and/or ethnic groups, but it is outright ridiculous. Since Palestinians and/or other Arabs who don’t already hold citizenship are not entitled to citizenship in the first place, and since new immigrants seeking citizenship under the Law of Return are exempt from declaring their loyalty to a “Jewish and democratic State of Israel,” then who in the world is the amendment supposed to be applicable to?
p.s. please bear with me - there's just so much going on here, and I'm trying to write about everything, but just don't have the time - I've got 3 articles in the process right now, so hopefully I'll be posting them soon.
