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It’s not an apartheid nation. Over 20% of Israelis are Arab.

akira2501 3y ago
Are they represented in any way in the Knesset? Are they treated the same is Jewish Israeli citizens when travelling? What about the Arabs in East Jerusalem? Are non Jewish citizens actually afforded equal protections under the Basic Laws? Does the "Law of Return" apply to non-Jewish Israelis? Economically, how are the Arabs doing compared to the Jews?
- nsguy 3y ago
  Yes, Israeli Arabs are fairly represented in the Knesset, and in the courts, and everywhere. They carry an Israeli passport and are treated the same way and have the same travel rights. The people not treated the same are people that live in the occupied territories. The status of those territories has not been settled since 1967. I.e. the West Bank and Gaza. Israel accepts that those are occupied territories (it has not annexed them). The parties they were taken from (Jordan and Egypt) do not wish to take them back. So "Israel" proper does not discriminate against Arabs (broadly speaking) but the status of the occupied territories, that are under military rule, according to international law, is different. EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_citizens_of_Israel#Politics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_citizens_of_Israel#Politi...
  - bakuninsbart 3y ago
    According to international law, you have to adhere to local law in occupied territories, which Israel isn't doing.
- bigDinosaur 3y ago
  Indeed it does appear they have representation in the Knesset: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_members_of_the_Knesset https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_members_of_the_Kn... No idea about the rest of your questions, although the latter two are irrelevant (find any country where every group is doing just as well - it doesn't exist).
- strulovich 3y ago
  Yes to all but the last. (That’s not to say they’re not infringed implicitly in the same ways a minority group in the US or Europe is, but the law gives Israeli citizens generally the same rights whether they’re Arab or not.)
fathyb 3y ago
That's a weird argument: more than 60% of South Africans were Black during apartheid, where the term originates.
aprilthird2021 3y ago
Israel also controls the lives of all Palestinians, so the total % of Arabs out of controlled citizens by the Israeli government is over 50%, but most Arabs are disenfranchised by Israel, that's the fundamental root of why it is an apartheid state
- golemiprague 3y ago
  [dead]
worksonmine 3y ago
A girl I know (Jewish) told me about the time she and her boyfriend visited Gaza like it was a trip to the zoo (her words). To her it was so strange how she could come and go as she wished, but they couldn't leave, ever. Think about that for a moment. What would you call such a place? How would you feel being born on the wrong side of the fence?
- robertoandred 3y ago
  Who told you they couldn't leave? 40,000 people came and went every month.
  - worksonmine 3y ago
    She did, they needed a permit (work for example) and not everyone was able to get one. I don't have any numbers but they did not have the same rights as she and her boyfriend did. Foreign nationals might've had an easier time crossing.

Are they represented in any way in the Knesset? Are they treated the same is Jewish Israeli citizens when travelling? What about the Arabs in East Jerusalem? Are non Jewish citizens actually afforded equal protections under the Basic Laws? Does the "Law of Return" apply to non-Jewish Israelis? Economically, how are the Arabs doing compared to the Jews?

nsguy 3y ago
Yes, Israeli Arabs are fairly represented in the Knesset, and in the courts, and everywhere. They carry an Israeli passport and are treated the same way and have the same travel rights. The people not treated the same are people that live in the occupied territories. The status of those territories has not been settled since 1967. I.e. the West Bank and Gaza. Israel accepts that those are occupied territories (it has not annexed them). The parties they were taken from (Jordan and Egypt) do not wish to take them back. So "Israel" proper does not discriminate against Arabs (broadly speaking) but the status of the occupied territories, that are under military rule, according to international law, is different. EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_citizens_of_Israel#Politics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_citizens_of_Israel#Politi...
- bakuninsbart 3y ago
  According to international law, you have to adhere to local law in occupied territories, which Israel isn't doing.
bigDinosaur 3y ago
Indeed it does appear they have representation in the Knesset: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_members_of_the_Knesset https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_members_of_the_Kn... No idea about the rest of your questions, although the latter two are irrelevant (find any country where every group is doing just as well - it doesn't exist).
strulovich 3y ago
Yes to all but the last. (That’s not to say they’re not infringed implicitly in the same ways a minority group in the US or Europe is, but the law gives Israeli citizens generally the same rights whether they’re Arab or not.)

fathyb 3y ago

That's a weird argument: more than 60% of South Africans were Black during apartheid, where the term originates.

aprilthird2021 3y ago

Israel also controls the lives of all Palestinians, so the total % of Arabs out of controlled citizens by the Israeli government is over 50%, but most Arabs are disenfranchised by Israel, that's the fundamental root of why it is an apartheid state

golemiprague 3y ago
[dead]

worksonmine 3y ago

A girl I know (Jewish) told me about the time she and her boyfriend visited Gaza like it was a trip to the zoo (her words). To her it was so strange how she could come and go as she wished, but they couldn't leave, ever. Think about that for a moment. What would you call such a place? How would you feel being born on the wrong side of the fence?

robertoandred 3y ago
Who told you they couldn't leave? 40,000 people came and went every month.
- worksonmine 3y ago
  She did, they needed a permit (work for example) and not everyone was able to get one. I don't have any numbers but they did not have the same rights as she and her boyfriend did. Foreign nationals might've had an easier time crossing.