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Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

reuters.com

321–330 of 735 posts

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#321
post #19

It's certainly interesting how an oppressed people became the oppressor.

Isn't this the dream of every revolution? Sure, to gain power, but also you give it back to who they hate. Also, all the people using the phrase "reverse racism" are wondering the same.

It looks to me like the powerful oppress the powerless, but power fluctuates among groups/nations.

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please explain how the #23 ranked country in the democracy index(higher than countries such as Italy, Spain and the US) and the #24 highest GDP per capita(higher than UK, France and South Korea) is not more of a western country then authoritarian regimes like Jordan, Turkey or Egypt? Israel has one of the largest pride parades in the world (300k+ people) and equal rights for LGBTQ people. Please look up what happens…

What does the ultra-Orthodox Jews think about those parades? Just by the demographics alone, those guys will be in charge very soon. (or Israel will cease to be democratic). So yes, Israel is not there yet, but well on its way. (and I have no problems with that, as long as they don't try to impose their religious values on me).

As an atheist-jew living in Israel, I will be the first to denounce ultra-orthodox Jews living in Israel and their chosen lifestyle, and I truly hope they won't ever become a majority here. But like you said, until then- It's a western country with western values through and through

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is correct. I grew up under apartheid. This phrase is key: “ Proponents say the law helps ensure Israel's security and maintains its "Jewish character".” Consider if the US passed a law banning Mexican spouses from uniting with their US spouse to keep America’s “Christian character”.

> Consider if the US passed a law banning Mexican spouses from uniting with their US spouse to keep America’s “Christian character”. That's not a very good analogy, because Mexico is probably more Christian than the US.

What if we change it to "Protestant"?

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#324
post #190

Here's an interesting exercise: 1. Substitute "Israel's Knesset" for ANY other legislative body anywhere. 2. Substitute "Palestinian" for ANY other nationality, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, or other adjective describing a group to which YOU belong. 3. See if you like how it feels: "[Legislative body] passes law barring spouses who are [like you] from becoming citizens."

This law doesn't restrict marriages, it restricts citizenship through marriages for Palestinians. I'm not defending that but I am clarifying it.

Thanks! You're right. I changed my comment. FYI, I was trying to hew as closely as possible to the OP's headline, which isn't inaccurate.

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#325
post #84

This article doesn’t really provide much in the way of explanation for why this law is being enacted. Here [0] is a better article that quotes supporters and objectors to the law. It includes the (IMHO not very convincing) figures that "Between 1993 and 2003, around 130,000 Palestinians were given Israeli citizenship or residency through family unification, including children, according to court filings. The Shin Bet…

How is it that you and user adielsa paste this same reply here multiple times?

Other user is an almost empty account that doesn't seem like an alt-account, they probably copy and pasted it.

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#326

First of all, this isn't a ban on Israeli-Palestinian marriage, this is a restriction on the ability to gain citizenship through those marriages. I don't agree with that, but I do think it's important to clarify. Regarding comments I'm seeing here saying Israel is an apartheid state or that Israel is racist or that Israel the concept of a Jewish state is disgusting: Israel is the size of New Jersey. It is the only st…

> Israel was not built by its founders to be a melting pot, it was built as a home for displaced Jewish people. It was not built to be a place of equality, and unfortunately, by its nature it cannot be one and continue to serve its purpose. If you think that purpose is racist, you are entitled to that opinion...

Not really, because according the IHRA espousing such a view is antisemitic[0].

[0] https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-defin...

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The State of Israel is Jewish and so it will remain," said Simcha Rothman of the far-right Religious Zionism party, a member of the opposition who brought the law forward with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked. "Today, God willing, Israel's defensive shield will be significantly strengthened," he told the Knesset hours before the vote.

I'm baffled how the people who survived the Holocaust, among numerous other persecutions, are now so intolerant of another persecuted people.

Funny enough, the Holocaust is the exact reason that these sorts of things are justified. It isn't out of malice, but out of a perceived need to protect themselves from the possibly of it EVER happening again. The collective trauma of being exiled from numerous European countries, the progroms in Russia and having ~6 million of your people systematically murdered in Germany overrides any guilt for infringing on intermarriage rights of people who aren't exactly your closest allies and continue to . I don't support the law, but it is important to understand the broader context in which it is passed and the purpose of the state of Israel to those that live there.

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#329
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. It's just sad that's the way it is. As much as we humans like history, we never seem to learn its lessons.

To the contrary, humans have never been nicer to each other or lived more pleasant lives at any point before the present.

And that's precisely because we stopped pulling this sort of crap in more and more places. 300 years ago, the number of religions and ethnicities currently existing in US or Western Europe would have meant a constant state of civil war.

Re: Israel passes law denying naturalization to Palestinian spouses

#330
post #84

This article doesn’t really provide much in the way of explanation for why this law is being enacted. Here [0] is a better article that quotes supporters and objectors to the law. It includes the (IMHO not very convincing) figures that "Between 1993 and 2003, around 130,000 Palestinians were given Israeli citizenship or residency through family unification, including children, according to court filings. The Shin Bet…

How is it that you and user adielsa paste this same reply here multiple times?

I suspect they copied and pasted my original comment for some reason.
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