Israeli Arab leaders and the Israeli Left are making
a concerted effort to annul the Jewish-Zionist character of the State of
Israel and to establish a "State of all its Citizens" in its place. They
demand that the national anthem, the flag, the Menorah and other
Jewish-Zionist symbols, be abolished, to be replaced by universal symbols.
The justification for this demand is that a
Jewish-Zionist state is not democratic, is discriminatory and undermines
the Arab minority’s right to self-determination.
At the same time, Israeli Arabs are undergoing an
accelerated process of Palestinization that is characterized by an
all-embracing identification with the Palestinian component of their
identity, solidarity with the Palestinians and unequivocal support for the
Palestinian Authority’s positions in its negotiations with Israel.
The Israeli Left, in their unqualified support,
ignore the fact that these demands are being made by an estranged
population that seeks autonomy and that by acceding to them, they will be
depriving the Jewish population of their right for self-determination.
