Earlier this month more than 100 residents of Afula gathered in a protest against the sale of a home in Afula to an Arab family, urging that the sale be nullified and that no such sales be allowed in the future. In May, the Knesset passed the first reading of a bill affirming that “the state can allow a community composed of people of the same faith or nationality to maintain an exclusive community” — in effect turning the Afula protest into national law.
Minister of Justice Shaked has recently said publicly that minority rights in Israel may be overridden to serve majority interests.
For anyone familiar with the history of anti-Semitism around the world (including the U.S.) with typical residence “covenants,” ghettos and quotas, the pattern here is all too clear: the same means of persecution are now being directed by former victims against new ones.
Much has been written recently about the growing divide between the Israeli and American Jewish communities; what is still more notable is the growing divide between Israeli law and practice and the ideals of democracy and human rights.
Bronx
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