A blot on Israeli democracy

The voices heard from circles of Israel's extreme right on the matter of ejecting Arab communities from Israel to Palestine have been joined recently by Dr. Uzi Arad (The New Republic, November 28). These perverse voices are calling for "exchanges of populated territories," so that a large proportion of the Israeli Arab public will leave the areas under Israeli sovereignty. These voices are rising from the margins in a sporadic way, and it is fitting that they be answered by those who strive to ensure the firm foundation of a Jewish and democratic state on the ideological infrastructure of Zionism.

Arad's arguments are racist in nature, damaging to human rights - and of course to the foundations of democracy - stand in contradiction to international norms and are unrealizable. His smooth-tongued justification for the mechanisms of territorial exchange is that they will "increase ethnic homogeneity." The meaning of this is moving the border between Israel and a future Palestinian state so that the locales of Umm al-Fahm, Arara, Barta'a, Kalansua, Taibeh, Tira and Kfar Qassem will be thrust out of Israeli sovereignty.

Setting the goal of "increasing ethnic homogeneity" is repugnant and disgusting. It means the establishment of a clearly racist goal for seekers of democracy, who in the age of globalization are realizing the principles of multiculturalism. In addition to any other justification, "increasing ethnic homogeneity" is likely to continue with the creation of closed communities of Mizrahim (Jews with origins in the Muslim countries), Russians, ultra-Orthodox and everyone else.

The call to eject Israeli Arabs from the realm of Israeli sovereignty, accompanied by innumerable rationalizations, mainly demographic, is often also defined as a "proposal for exchanges of populated territories." However, it must be clear that denying the citizenship of anyone who does not want to be denied it is an infringement of a citizen's basic rights.

... http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/656513.html

...strike too close for some.

On edit: grammatical error...wouldn't want that to distract.

Does it mean that Jewish residents will be allowed to assume Palestinian citizenship and retain their homes in areas which Israel evacuates and turns over to Palestinian sovereignty? For some reason, that didn't happen in Gaza!