SHAMELESS HYPOCRISY WATCH: REJECTING ISRAEL AS A JEWISH STATE (I)
Examiner.com
July 13 2009
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s June 14 speech brought
fresh scrutiny to the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. Netanyahu
accepted that there should be a Palestinian Arab state, but considered
that the Palestinians should also accept that Israel is a Jewish
state. He was immediately denounced as setting unreasonable conditions
and murdering the peace process.
For example, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter criticized the speech
on the basis of the "Jewish state" issue: "My opinion is he raised
many new obstacles to peace that had not existed under previous
prime ministers. . . He demands that the Palestinians and the Arabs
recognise Israel as a Jewish state, although 20% of its citizens here
are not Jews. This is a new demand."
Influential Middle Eastern Studies professor Juan Cole sang the
same tune: "Netanyahu wants the Palestinians to acknowledge that
Israel is a ‘Jewish state.’ I don’t understand this demand. Israel
is not a Jewish state, it is a multi-cultural state, with about
half a million non-Jewish Russians and Ukrainians and 20% of its
population is Arab. . . . If "Jewish" is meant racially, then it is
a particularly shameful demand. It is like demanding either that the
US be recognized as a "Christian" country or as a "white" country."
Much of this sort of criticism of the Israeli desire to live in a
recognizably Jewish state–a country where Hebrew is the dominant
language, Jewish culture is pervasive, and Jews are the majority–is
hypocritical, in at least three ways. Here, we’ll focus on one:
an obsessive, disdainful focus on Israel as the state of the Jewish
people, while ignoring other countries with officially-declared ethnic
identities, or in which citizenship is defined ethnically.
Here are some examples:
The constitution of Afghanistan defines who is an Afghan in detailed
tribal terms in Chapter 1, Article 4: "The nation of Afghanistan is
comprised of the following ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara,
Uzbek, Turkman, Baluch, Pashai, Nuristani, Aymaq, Arab, Qirghiz,
Qizilbash, Gujur, Brahwui and others."
The preamble of the constitution of Algeria defines "the fundamental
components of its identity which are Islam, Arabity and Amazighity
[referring to the Berbers]."
Armenia has a "law of return" for ethnic Armenians, similar to that of
Israel: "Individuals of Armenian origin shall acquire citizenship of
the Republic of Armenia through a simplified procedure." (Article 14.)
Chapter I, Article 1 of Bahrain’s constitution also declares the
Arabness of the country: "The Kingdom of Bahrain is a fully sovereign,
independent Islamic Arab State whose population is part of the Arab
nation and whose territory is part of the great Arab homeland." Yet
an estimated 46% of Bahrain’s population is non-Arab.
Egypt as well constitutionally defines itself as an Arab country in
Chapter One, Article 1: "The Egyptian people are part of the Arab
nation and work for the realization of its comprehensive unity."
The constitution of Eritrea defines citizenship ethnically: "Any
person born of an Eritrean father or mother is an Eritrean by
birth." (Article 3.)
Citizenship in Germany is based primarily on blood: If your
parents are German, you are German, even if you never lived in
Germany–indeed, even if your family has lived outside of Germany for
many generations. As the German Embassy in the U.S. explains: "As a
general rule, a child born to a German citizen parent automatically
acquires German citizenship at birth through jus sanguinis, regardless
of the place of birth." Yet nearly 10% of Germany’s population is
not ethnically German.
In Title II, Article 11, the constitution of Haiti gives citizenship
to ethnic Haitians: "Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian
mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced
their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at the time of birth."
The same rule applies in Iraq: "Anyone who is born to an Iraqi father
or to an Iraqi mother shall be considered an Iraqi." (Article 18.)
Another Arab country, Jordan, hinges the right of citizenship on
being Arab: "The people of Jordan form a part of the Arab Nation
. . . ." (Constitution, Chapter One, Article 1.)
In Kuwait, more of the same: "The people of Kuwait is a part of the
Arab Nation." (Constitution, Article 1.) However, only about 57%
of the population is Arab.
The preamble of the constitution of Lebanon contains the same ethnic
principle of nationality: "Lebanon is Arab in its identity and in
its association."
The Constitution of Libya in Article 1 enshrines the ethnic
definition of who is a Libyan: "The Libyan people are part of the
Arab nation. Their goal is total Arab unity." Thus, not only are
Libyans defined as Arabs, but they are part of a transnational Arab
ethnic identity.
The island of Madagascar is, under its constitution, the homeland of a
particular ethnic group: "(1) The Malagasy people shall constitute a
Nation organized as a sovereign, secular State. (2) This State shall
be a Republic, unique and indivisible, and shall be named ‘Republic
of Madagascar.’" (Article 1.)
Article 1 of the constitution of Qatar, in common with many other
Arab countries, identifies citizenship with being Arab: "People
of Qatar are part of the Arab nation (ummah)." Yet 60% of Qatar’s
population–the majority!–is non-Arab.
Thus, numerous countries constitutionally define themselves in ethnic
terms. And many, many more which do not, are ethnically-based as a
matter of fact (for example, the Italianness of Italy). In short,
the fact that Israel is an ethnic nation-state merely means that it
is a normal country. And as shown above, the fact that it contains
an ethnic minority is not a stop-the-presses revelation, either.
There is only one country in the world–Israel–where this normal
state of affairs upsets people–enrages them to the point of denying
the legitimacy of the state. The fact that Israel is surrounded by
Arab states that define themselves as ethnically Arab makes this
unreasonable focus even more striking. This blatant use of double
standards to delegitimize the Jewish state is anti-Semitism–whether
thoughtless or deliberate, it’s anti-Semitism.