I believe this to be false. Is there anything in Israel's constitution which bars an Israeli Arab from being head of state?
Even if the constitution allowed it, which I doubt is the case, there will never be an Arab prime minster of Israel.
There is no comparison , its irrelevant as Mani pointed out. And I never said Israelis should leave the region , they are entitled to the land the UN portioned to them , if you look at the 1947 map , the UN agreed to give the European Jews 33 % of the land , but when they came they took 55 % of that portioned land , and now look at how many new settlements Israel has built on the land that wasn’t even portioned to them . My point is that , ever since Israel’s creation in the ME they have expanded their land and built new settlements and kicked out more natives , and that’s not justified .
there may never be a women president in the US or an african american president. So what is your point? The reality is that an Arab can be head of state in Israel. A women can be president of the US. But in your home country, a woman can not be the leader.
Israel might claim that Israeli-Arabs have equal rights in politics , but that’s simply not true . There are Arab judges and political parties in Israel but they will never lead Israel . You can compare this to the treatment of African American in the US in the 2nd half of the 20th century , they passed laws saying black has the same rights , but how long did it take till African Americans actually enjoyed those rights? How come we never seen a African-American become the president ? Powel and Rice I think are the most powerful African Americans in the history of the US government ( correct me if I am wrong ) but I don’t think there will be a African-American as the president of the United States in our life time .
What a lame attempt at diverting the discussion ....An Arab can not be head of state in Israel, but an Azeri is the head of state in Iran. To compare Arabs in Israel to Azeris in Iran is a faulty analogy. That was my whole point if you read my initial post on this thread.
Here's an interesting piece of info: "Former Prime Minister MK Shimon Peres started with a description of the ways in which Israel discriminates against its Arab citizens at many levels: Their schools or poorer, the quality of their education is lower, their municipal budgets are not proportional to those of Jewish towns – all these things harm the Arabs as citizens. We made even greater mistakes in the past – such as the military government and the unjustified seizure of lands – which, thankfully, we no longer make.... ...It is time, Peres said, we had an Arab justice on the Supreme Court, and an Arab minister in the government.... Former Prime Minister and current Finance Minister MK Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to the natural tension between Arab rights to equality and the Jewish goal of securing Israel as a Zionist state with a clear Jewish majority. We use the Supreme Court and the Knesset to guarantee full individual equality, but we give Jews preferential collective treatment with such tools as the Law of Return. We must live with this duality. Israel acts to maintain the Jewish majority, and it should continue to do so. We do offer Jews collective privileges that we do not offer Arabs, but we must do this honestly. Israel’s problems of discrimination are real and must be addressed. Netanyahu pointed to steps that had been taken and needed to be continued to improve Druze and Bedouin schools, and to extend police coverage into under-policed Arab towns currently. Netanyahu concluded that Israel needs equal rights for all, but to pursue a collective goal of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. He vehemently opposed legislation designed to ensure specific collective rights for any particular minority, calling it the beginning of disintegration – you would soon see autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev, he posited. The responsibility for protecting collective minority needs must lie with the executive. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel loses its meaning and its raison d’etre if its constitution fails to protect any one of its three founding principles: Judaism, Democracy, or Zionism. Israel must protect its minorities’ individual and collective rights; but the collective politic is Jewish, Democratic, and Zionist... Israel is mandated, by its Jewish Halachik and legal standards, to protect the non-Jews in its land. But the phrase “State of all its citizens” has long since turned into a political code-word for a bi-national state. Israel is first of all the Jewish nation-state, and was created to serve as the Jewish National homeland. Barak recognized the importance and urgency of full individual equality and of the freedom of an Arab community from Jewish standards, but stopped short of offering collective rights. He considered the Jewish character of the state of Israel of prime importance and something that must be fiercely protected." Emphasis is mine. Guess the source. "Fundamentalists" such as Al-Jazeera? "Lily-livered apologists" such as the BBC? Wrong. Its the Constitution For Israel website. http://www.cfisrael.org//a564.html?rsID=26#par7
Thank God, will there be a French or an Italian as the President of the United States? No, they have to be an American, just like in Israel, which is a Jewish State, a president needs to be someone of a Jewish decent. Can a Jew be a president of Iran?
If that’s the case , why does Israel claim that Arab-Israelis have equal rights? Your comparison is just dumb, I cant stop laughing , sometimes I really underestimate your dumbness , "ill there be a French or an Italian as the President of the United States" !!!
Well, the Arabs can form their own nation as they did with Egypt and Jordan and Syria and whine all they want there. The Arabs in Israel at their lowest level have 1000% more rights than Jews in Arab countries, that is if they would be allowed to go there.
Tell us, if anyone can, what happens if you are caught with a Bible or a Torah in Saudi Arabia? Yeah some equal rights you have in those arab lands.
This is even dumber than usual. In related news, the American Heart Association is a health agency whose mission is to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases.
SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! You aren't allowed to point out the truth as it is in Iran. You anti-irani you.
Arabs do have equal rights in Israel Arabic is an OFFICIAL language of Israel, all government documents need to be in both langauges There have been Arabs on the Supreme Court of Israel (one was Christian, one Muslim) Arabs have served in all sorts of political parties and in the foreign service (the Israeli Ambassador to Finland is Arab and so is the one of the top people in the Israeli Finance ministry). Israeli Arab citizens have MORE rights in Israel than they do in ANY Arab country. Compare this to Syria, where if you get into a cab the driver is scared to talk about politics except to say "Assad number 1, Assad good." Even for those Arabs who dislike Israel, they can protest. Azmi Bishara, Ahmed Tibi, these men are allowed to speak their minds, run for elections, hold rallies. Syrian Arabs have no rights politically, they can just support the Alawite dictator in power. Look at Egypt, where are their equal rights. They discriminate against Coptic Christians and anyone criticizing Mubarak is in trouble of arrest or censure. No Iranian should claim that Israel treats its minorities worse than Iran. I realize Azeris are well integrated, but other ethnic minorities are far less provided for. BTW, is Azeri an official language of Iran, do all government documents have to be in Azeri. Does Iran fund Azeri language TV? What about funding Kurdish or Arabic tv and radio? There are flaws in terms of allocating funding and so forth and Israel should not be complacent. But they are DECADES ahead of any Arab state when it comes to tolerance. Compare how the Arab nations treated their Jews (beatings, pogroms) to how Israel treats its Arabs who are citizens. A huge difference right there.
The only difference is the fact that no Arab country claims to be Democratic, so you making another faulse comparison. Someone posted a great article about the REAL treatment of Arabs in Israel , you should read it. And Iran doesn’t require all government documents to be in Azari and Farsi because there are many minority languages in Iran , Kurdish , Arab , Turkish ect.. But most people can read and write Farsi no matter what their ethnicity . For example my mother is from the North of Iran , she is a gilaki , she speaks gilaki and Farsi . The ethnic groups in Iran are now integrated into the Persian culture , this includes understanding Farsi at all levels
Oh so that makes it ok? I bet you would love living there. In fact why don't you leave and go find out. I hear iran is in crisis because their overhyped, terrible player karimi can't even make it in Germany. And this is the guy you thought would win the Golden Boot in the WC. LOL!
Never said it was ok , but we are talking about Israel here who claims that it treat its citizens equally and who claims to Democratic , I thought Israeli’s hold themselves to higher standards , so why are you comparing Saudi Arabia to Israel? Does Saudi Arabia actions justify Israel’s treatment of Arabs? The way your asking the question , your making it sound like its ok for Israel to treat Arabs like crap because Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries are just as bad.
But as shown here by numerous people, Israel treats Arabs in Israel far far better then Jews are treated in Arab countries. Not that you care being irani you hate both Jews and Irani's.