Nurit
Greenger
A
nation has an anthem, a nation has a flag and a nation has an ethos.
When one decides to immigrate to a new country, one knows, in advance,
that in order to become part of the host country's fabric, he or she will have
to adapt to the host country, meaning, adopt the ethos, sing the anthem and
salute the national flag. Become a true and loyal citizen.
The
Land of Israel was an unlucky one. Since the Romans expelled the Jews from
their homeland to all four corners of the world, it has seen nothing but
foreign hands brush through its soil, leaving behind, as written in the pages
of history, rivers of blood, chaos and desolation. While the Jews were yearning
for their Jerusalem, foreign hands were mishandling their holy city.
Then,
the Jews hit a lucky strike, when in 1922, they were given the Mandate for
Palestine, the right to return to their ancient homeland and make the land
their nation state again.
With
their land the Jews "gained" Arab population. A continuous flow of
Arabs into the land began in the late 19th century when Jews, running
away from Russian Pogroms or other persecutions that took place in other
countries, arrived to the land and created attractive economic opportunity. The
arriving Jews began purchasing land and cultivate it, which created a need for
labor, a need Arabs from neighboring states filled. The more Jews succeeded
economically the more attractive the land became to Arabs. During the British
Mandate in Palestine, from 1920 till 1948, the British authorities encouraged Arabs
to come live in the land they themselves designated for the Jews. One reason,
to make sure that Jewish population remains a minority; another reason, the British
disdain for Jews, thus they saw the Arabs a helpful fighting force in their
objection to the influx of Jews into the land and to their Zionistic ethos in
its full transformation; and third reason, among others, is the black oil; the
need of Britain to appease the Arab oil producing nations gave them
justification to prefer Arabs over Jews, when managing their mandate in
Palestine.
That
Arab population that remained in Israel when the 1948 Israel War of
Independence ended, never integrated, never became a genuine part of the state
of Israel fabric. The 1967 war added a new dimension to the Israeli-Arab
society. Now they could openly side with their brethren the "Palestinians."
In fact call themselves Palestinians rather than Israeli-Arabs and fight for
their fellow Arabs' justice, not the justice of the state of Israel. The
Israeli-Arabs identify with the Arabs Israel "gained" in the Six Day
War more than they identify with the country in which they hold
citizenship. This is a very dangerous
state of affairs for the Jewish state, Israel.
In
recent months the government of Israel has been dealing with equal
responsibilities and obligations of all its citizens. It all began with the Tal Law that exempts
Hareidi [very religious men] from serving in the army. The Israelis who serve
in the military say that if the Hareidi sector is a recipients of all of the
state's benefits, and if the state protects them in war time, then, they need
to give back; they need to serve in the military like all others.
And
that debate has now expended to the Arab sector, which receives all the state's
benefits and gives nothing back to the state.
In
the recent years the Israeli Arab society has radicalized. Their political
leaders, serving as members of Knesset, are hostile to the state; they spit
anti-Israel rhetoric from the Well of the Knesset and act seditious. They use
the democratic system to incite against the country in which they hold
citizenship and demonstrate overt loyalty to Israel's enemies.
In
the past I have made a clear statement that the Arabs holding Israel
citizenship are simply Israel's 5th column. People who cannot relate
to the national anthem and the national flag of their country, who do not see
themselves as part of their country's ethos and see themselves as
"Palestinians" rather than Israelis simply do not belong.
To
growing demands that the Israel-Arabs comply with responsibilities and
obligations to the country, from which they were exempt since the Jewish State
was established, their reply as read in Ynetnews, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4249047,00.html,
"We are a part of the Palestinian nation, and there is no way we will ever
fight our Palestinian brothers." And, "Israel's Arabs cannot serve in
an occupying army at a time of war." That sums it all up; we do not really
belong to the state of Israel.
So
as I predicted years ago, Israel's 5th column is now raising its ugly head; the
moment of truth has arrived. The Arabs living in Israel are NOT Israelis, they
are part of the "Palestinian" nation, whatever nation it is. The Arabs
who found themselves living in the independent nation state of the Jewish
people, Israel, were lucky but they do not see it this way. They want to receive
all of a citizen's benefits but participate in none of the citizen's obligations.
They want to have all the benefits of living in a democratic system while
siding with terrorist organizations and the world's worst tyrannies.
The
question is, are they hanging in there, dodging the bullets of civil
obligations with the hope that their Arab-Palestinian brothers will win the
battle against the state of Israel? Or, that Israel will either be dismantled
or give in as a Jewish state and they then won the battle they started in 1948?
Otherwise, what is the real reason for
them staying in Israel, a land to which they have no obligations and which they
see its creation as a disaster-a nakba?
The
Arabs say, the State must not put their loyalty to the test; loyalty to whom?
Hmmmmm. The moment of truth, which Israel had brushed under the carpet, or hid
in the closet has come to haunt and Israel probably wishes this moment would
have never arrived!
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