Prior to the Knesset’s spring recess that began in April, a number of Knesset members had been actively working to pass several proposed bills on their second and third readings in order to ratify them into law before the break. Given the nature of the current Knesset, it should not come as a surprise that most of these proposed bills affect the Arab citizens of Israel, either directly or indirectly. These bills aim to suppress Arab identity and national belonging, impose restrictions on their political activity, and diminish their already limited political rights. They include: a bill prohibiting the commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba; the “Admissions Committees” bill that aims, among other things, to prevent Arab citizens from becoming residents of small Jewish towns in the Galilee and the Naqab; a bill which forces the owners of homes that have been demolished to pay the demolition costs; and the “Bishara bill,” which revokes former MK Azmi Bishara’s Knesset pension, even though no court ruling has been issued against him…

 

Topics discussed include:

•     Racial Separation Campaigns
•     Aroma Tel Aviv: Prohibiting Employees from Speaking Arabic
•     Israeli Youth More Racist, Right-Wing, Less Democratic
•     Changing Landscape of Israeli Political Opinion

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