Arabs in Israel | The American Task Force on Palestine

Loyalty oath proves Israel is racist, say Israeli Arab leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli Arab sector responded furiously Wednesday when it learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to bring to cabinet vote an amendment to the Citizenship Law requiring anyone applying for citizenship to declare loyalty to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic" state. Israeli Arabs, who already have citizenship, would not be required to sign a loyalty, but it raised furor in their communities nonetheless. The amendment was proposed by Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman and has already been adopted by Netanyahu.

Negotiations that are 'going nowhere
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Since September 2, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have held three sessions of talks. But according to Western diplomats interviewed by the Israeli liberal daily Haaretz, the negotiations are “going nowhere”.

Israel loyalty oath bill stirs Arab-Israeli unease
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's cabinet next week will consider a bill that would require non-Jewish candidates for Israeli citizenship to pledge allegiance to the country as a Jewish state. The bill, backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for an amendment to Israel's citizenship law to include "a Jewish and democratic state" in a mandatory oath of loyalty.

Partying or Peacemaking?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward
by Todd Hasak-Lowy - October 6, 2010 - 12:00am

The tenth anniversary just passed of the start of the Second, or Al-Aqsa, Intifada, which began not long after a breakdown in negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. It was the week of Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the Temple Mount, the week Palestinians renewed their rioting against Israeli forces. This time, the rioting was more violent — as was the Israeli response. These events killed the peace movement inside Israel, and sadly a lot of Israelis and Palestinians as well.

Israeli police kill Palestinian in E. Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Jeffrey Heller, Ali Sawafta, Dan Williams - October 3, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Israeli paramilitary border police killed a Palestinian on Sunday after he entered East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank without a permit. A police spokesman said the man, 37, was shot while trying to grab a border policeman's pistol. A Palestinian who said he witnessed the incident, which occurred before dawn, disputed the police account.

Dozens of Arab families may be evicted from East Jerusalem neighborhood under court ruling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - September 28, 2010 - 12:00am

A Supreme Court ruling Sunday may allow settler groups to move into dozens more homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Justices Yoram Danziger, Esther Hayut and Miriam Naor unanimously rejected an appeal by Palestinians claiming to own a large plot in the western portion of the neighborhood. The court ruled that the custodian general, and other owners, including settler representatives, succeeded in proving they owned the property.

Israel's unreasonable demand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Omar Rahman - (Opinion) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

"The Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state." This is the mantra of the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has been promoting this controversial idea as a condition of any peace deal. But is such recognition valid, necessary, or even appropriate? This question will certainly remain at the heart of negotiations with an Israeli leadership that views such recognition as imperative. Although this is not the first time Israel has sought some form of validation, it varies from the past in stark and troubling ways.

Israeli Arabs pawns in a sham 'peace' gameli
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Linda Heard - September 20, 2010 - 12:00am

On Sunday, Israel’s unsavory Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened Palestinian negotiators that if they refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Arab Israelis could have their rights to citizenship withdrawn. This “needs to be one of the central issues on the negotiating table in light of the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state,” he told his Cabinet colleagues.

Israeli FM wants to exclude Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for Israel's borders to be redrawn to exclude some Palestinian citizens, the Associated Press reported Sunday. Speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Lieberman proposed a shift in the principle of peace talks, which he said "must not be land for peace, but an exchange of land and people," AP said. The border should be redrawn, Lieberman explained, so Israel's Arab citizens, who make up 20 percent of the country's population, would be on the Palestinian side, while Jewish settlements would be incorporated into Israel.

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