[Thunderhawk]

Israel passes "basic law" (like a constitutional amendment) that declares Israel a Jewish Nation.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/worl ... rabic.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/19/middleea ... index.html

I see condemnations making it akin to apartheid. I can see it as a foundation to build first/second class policies, actions and laws from. It would make such actions official rather than under the table. Yet there are many nation states in the world, some with substantial minorities, and more from history to draw lessons from. Is this really unexpected? unprecedented? Will it heighten discrimination or just rubber stamping the status quo?

[Ter]

With some countries and especially Iran and the BDS movement attempting to de-legitimise the State of Israel, with the demand that 6 million offspring of Arabs who used to live nearby be allowed to return to Israel and take it over demographically, with increasing aggression from Islamic countries and Islamic minorities and of course the leftists and liberals all over the globe, Israel implemented this law to make it understood once and for all that there is no discussion about the Jewish character of the Jewish State.
For better or for worse.
I am personally not happy about this but I understand why they did it.
The more Israel get attacked militarily and politically, the more their people will vote for rightist governments. And these are the consequences.

[anarchist23]

There is a thread on this subject..

viewtopic.php?p=14932920#p14932920

[MadMonk]

The more Israel get attacked militarily and politically, the more their people will vote for rightist governments. And these are the consequences.

And by that logic, the more Palestinians get attacked militarily and politically, the more their people will vote for rightist governments. And then it becomes a 'chicken or the egg' on who is more guilty of atrocities, each side believing they are the greater victim. And then we refresh the violence so that it continues for generation after generation after generation.

I used to belive there was a peaceful solution to Israel/Palestine, today that hope is vanishing...

[Ter]

And by that logic, the more Palestinians get attacked militarily and politically, the more their people will vote for rightist governments.

Yes I agree.
It is already happening. Who did the Arabs vote for the last time they were allowed to vote ? Hamas.
Fifty years a go, there were many truly socialist kibbutzim in Israel and a strong labour party, often in the government. The Arabs, with their unreasonable demands and intifadas, made sure that the labour party in Israel withered away, making place for hawks and other rightists.
It is sad but it is the truth.

[anasawad]

I don't really see much point of going into these endless discussions about Israel-Palestine any more.

Personally, I doubt Israel will continue to exist through out my life time, like wise I doubt most of its neighbors will continue to exist or atleast in their current form.
The current world order under the US control is fading away, so we'll be seeing a new set of rules to how nations behave soon enough.
And for the middle east, its pretty much going through a filtration process right now where all the weaker factions are being killed off and within a decade or two, only the imperialists factions will remain standing.

The clerics in Iran are on their way out, and they'll most likely be replaced with a monarchic dynasty taking over like always.
Iraq and Syria are already in the process of being dissolved.
Lebanon will most likely expand to include a part of the Syrian coastline with the Alawites and Christians of Syrian, and mostly with Iranian and European support.
Palestine will be swallowed completely by Israel sooner or latter, but then Israel will be facing a variety of rising imperial forces (the ones that are already on the rise all over)from all directions and its highly unlikely it'll be able to withstand its positions indefinitely so that.
Jordan alike is already rapidly being swallowed up by Saudi Arabia.
And if the current Saudi regime couldn't overhaul the country away from oil dependency, we'll be seeing other factions in the country rising up as they already are starting to. With the country either being taken over by Hijazis or by clerics. With the Shia minority of the north east mostly heading towards being ethnically cleansed from the country as their only hope of going independent would be with heavy Iranian support.
The same goes from Northern Yemen with the Houthis.
Egypt is also highly unstable and we'll be seeing a much stronger regime taking over with force sooner than latter, and its highly unlikely to be pro-Israel, more likely either Pro-Saudi or Pro-Iran as the country is currently split on those lines, and in both cases, Israel wont fare well.

So Israel will be surrounded from all sides with much stronger and much more hostile and aggressive enemies in the upcoming decades, and ones with much more readiness and willingness to go to war, whether against each other or Israel. As such, with a rapidly declining US, Israel will either cease to exist all together, or will become a vassal state of one the regional powers. And it doesn't have the potential of achieving a high-power status in the region, it lacks manpower and resources, as well as popular support among the region's residents.

Turkey could also make it through as a major power, though it needs to solve a number of problems first. Mainly the Kurdish problem.
Its much easier for Iran to solve the Kurdish problem, but Turkey is too closely connected to Europe to solve it efficiently so it needs to move away from Europe if it intends on pursuing major power status.

EDIT:
And before anyone starts screaming about how Israel is special and amazing and the regular "god's chosen people" bullshit. It's not. This is the middle east, nations are created and killed off all over the place on routine basis. Israel plays under the same rules irregardless of how many die hard supporters it has in the west.

[Sivad]

[One Degree]

A Jewish state passing laws demonstrating they intend to remain a Jewish state should not be considered outrageous. Their religion is the main component of their culture. If you don’t like it, don’t go there. I don’t understand the demand everyone must sacrifice their culture to a universal ‘generic culture’.

[anarchist23]

THERE IS AN OLDER THREAD ON THIS VERY SUBJECT.

viewtopic.php?p=14932920#p14932920

[anarchist23]

.

[Thunderhawk]

I was wondering if there would be a discussion about the law and how it will change policy. From what people here have said, it seems like it is viewed not as a major change to the country, but just another stepping stone on the path they are currently paving.

[skinster]

...path of self-destruction.

[Decky]

Is this even news? The zionist entity has been openly fascist every year since it started.

"A familiar style. The Zionist gang will never manage to steal another's land. Neither bullets nor napalm will help the policy of robbery and terror!"

[pugsville]

A Jewish state passing laws demonstrating they intend to remain a Jewish state should not be considered outrageous. Their religion is the main component of their culture. If you don’t like it, don’t go there. I don’t understand the demand everyone must sacrifice their culture to a universal ‘generic culture’.

Well as the Jewish population of Palestine is a relatively recent arrival why didn't this principle apply in the 1930s?

Why must the Palestinians in the West Bank continue to be marginalised by massive Jewish immigration?

[skinster]

Birds of a feather...

[ThirdTerm]

Probably Benjamin Netanyahu felt empowered by Trump's support for Israel and he thought it was the right time for Israel to come out of the closet as a Jewish state. The Basic Law will not change Israel's immigration law, stating that the state will be open to Jewish immigration and to the gathering of the exiled. It also declares that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. One possible problem is that Palestinian Arabs will be delegated to second-class citizens or residential aliens just like Korean Japanese in Japan, who are stuck in a foreign country. However, the Basic Law further states that the Arabic language has a special status in the state; the regulation of the Arab language in state institutions or when facing them will be regulated by law. By this clause 2b, Palestinian Arabs may enjoy a special protected status in the multicultural state.

Basic Law: Israel - The nation state of the Jewish people

1. The State of Israel
a) Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people in which the state of Israel was established.
b) The state of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, in which it actualizes its natural, religious, and historical right for self-determination.
c) The actualization of the right of national self-determination in the state of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.

2. National symbols of the State of Israel
a) The name of the state is Israel.
b) The flag of the state is white, two blue stripes near the edges, and a blue Star of David in the center.
c) The symbol of the state is the Menorah with seven branches, olive leaves on each side, and the word Israel at the bottom.
d) The national anthem of the state is "Hatikvah"
e) [Further] details concerning the issue of state symbols will be determined by law.

3. [The] unified and complete [city of] Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

4. The Language of the State of Israel
a) Hebrew is the language of the state.
b) The Arabic language has a special status in the state; the regulation of the Arab language in state institutions or when facing them will be regulated by law.
c) This clause does not change the status given to the Arabic language before the basic law was created.

5. The state will be open to Jewish immigration and to the gathering of the exiled.

6. The Diaspora
a) The state will labor to ensure the safety of sons of the Jewish people and its citizens who are in trouble and captivity due to their Jewishness or their citizenship.
b) The state will act to preserve the cultural, historical and religious legacy of the Jewish people among the Jewish diaspora.

7. The state views Jewish settlement as a national value and will labor to encourage and promote its establishment and development.

8. The Hebrew calendar is the official calendar of the state and alongside it the secular calendar will serve as an official calendar. The usage of the Hebrew calendar and of the secular calendar will be determined by law.

9. National Holidays
a) Independence Day is the official holiday of the state.
b) The Memorial Day for those who fell in the wars of Israel and the Memorial Day for the Holocaust and heroism are official memorial days of the state.

10. Saturday and the Jewish Holidays are the official days of rest in the state. Those who are not Jewish have the right to honor their days of rest and their holidays. Details concerning these matters will be determined by law.

11. This Basic Law may not be altered except by a Basic Law that gained the approval of the majority of the Knesset members.

[skinster]

The Palestinians aren't the foreigners though, they're the natives. The foreigners are those who come from Europe, America and Russia, to settle in Palestine.

[Albert]

If Israeli state should ever collapse like the South African colonial apartheid state did, it will be the end of Jews in Middle East. Arabs will do much worse to the Jews then what blacks are doing to the whites in South Africa.

Freedom fighters are not thinking of the future of what will happen after if they actually won their struggle.

[Oxymandias]

@Albert

They probably won't or at least be unable to. There is a higher chance of Jews in Palestine have autonomy (kind of like China's one country two systems type of thing). Jews won't have a lot of land and probably won't be admitted into the army nor Jerusalem, but they will probably survive. There is a bigger chance of Israelis leaving by themselves instead of staying there. So much for the promised land.

[Albert]

How do you know they wont? As far as I know every decolonized country deported European settlers or they left themselves because of persecution and being no longer protected by the state. Why would not the same happen in Palestine when Jews relinquish their power?