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Israel's Jewish Character Does Not Contradict the Norms of Democratic Governance
(Business Day-South Africa) Milton Shain - Israel was born from UN recognition of two national movements - an Arab/Palestinian and a Jewish movement - within the British Mandate for Palestine. The Jews were considered a people in the national sense, deserving of "a country of their own" where they could be "masters of their own fate," as the Guatemalan delegate to the UN Special Committee on Palestine put it. Israel's Jewish character is questioned by opponents of the Zionist idea. But it does not contradict the norms of democratic governance. A nation's symbols need not be neutral: consider the flags of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary and Scandinavia's democracies. They all bear the sign of the cross. With the exception of Lebanon, all Arab countries declare Islam to be the state religion. Syria, with its huge Kurdish population, is officially known as the "Syrian Arab Republic," while Algeria ignores its Berbers in calling itself an Arab country. Even Israel's "law of return" is not unique. Many countries have similar legislation favoring national diasporas. In the 1950s, ethnic Germans could get automatic citizenship in Germany, even after living out of Germany for hundreds of years. Similar laws exist in Ireland, Finland, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia. Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs is certainly comparable to the treatment of minorities in many other respected countries. After all, despite its Muslim minority, Italy's highest court only a few years ago reaffirmed a law requiring that a crucifix be displayed in state schools. Few know that Israel has a lower infant mortality rate among its minorities than France, Britain and other European countries. The bottom line is that Israel's Declaration of Independence declares all its citizens equal, without distinction of race, creed or sex. The writer is emeritus professor of historical studies at the University of Cape Town.