Can Israel be a "Jewish State"? - By Elliot Abrams

[editor]

Can Israel be a “Jewish State"?

Editor's Note: Eliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, from which this piece is reprinted. You can read Abrams' blog Pressure Points here.

By Elliot Abrams
CNN
July 14, 2011

Negotiations between Israel and the PLO have been stalled for many reasons, but a central issue is the Palestinian refusal to acknowledge Israel as a “Jewish state.”

The whole idea behind the partition of the Palestine Mandate in 1947 was, in the words of U.N. General Assembly resolution 181, the creation of an “Arab state” and a “Jewish state.” The Arab rejection of Israel as a Jewish state is in fact at the heart of the Middle East conflict. It is based on the widespread refusal to accept Israel as a permanent presence in the region, but is usually couched in more acceptable terminology — indeed, the language of “rights.”

As one news story put it, “Palestinian negotiators have recognized Israel’s right to exist, but not as a Jewish state, which officials say would prejudice the right of return for refugees and violate the rights of Israel’s non-Jewish residents.”

In other words, the argument is that if Israel is a “Jewish state” it will certainly, unavoidably, necessarily discriminate against non-Jews. The problem with this debating point is that those who use it apply it only to Israel; none ever voices any concern about states based on Islam and discriminating in favor of Muslims.

There are actually four states whose very name contains a religious reference: the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. But beyond those, in every Muslim-majority country the constitution asserts a special role for Islam. The Jordanian constitution says “Islam is the religion of the State” and of course “No person shall ascend the Throne unless he is a Moslem…of Moslem parents.” No converts!

But Jordan has a Christian minority that is five to eight percent of the population (Eastern Orthodox, Circassian, Melkite, and other sects).

Egypt is about ten or even fifteen percent Christian (Copts), but its current provisional constitution states that “Islam is the religion of the state….Principles of Islamic law (Shari’a) are the principal source of legislation.” Moreover, this is unlikely to change: presidential candidate Mohammad ElBaradei, viewed as a Westernized moderate, recently released his version of a new Egyptian constitution that similarly holds “Islam shall be the religion of the state….Sharia shall be the main source of legislation.”

The constitution of Malaysia states that “Islam is the religion of the Federation,” even though the country is only about sixty percent Muslim. It is roughly twenty percent Buddhist, ten percent Christian, and six percent Hindu, among other religions.

There are many similar examples. The religion of the state is Islam in Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait (where there are estimates that fifteen percent of the population is non-Muslim)—and one could lengthen the list. In Afghanistan, the constitution holds that “The sacred religion of Islam is the religion of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” and “No law shall contravene the tenets and provisions of the holy religion of Islam in Afghanistan.” The president must be a Muslim. The Saudis go one further, refusing even to have a constitution: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion; God’s Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, God’s prayers and peace be upon him, are its constitution....” . . . [More]
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[editor]

Should Israel remain a Jewish state?

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[Pnina Evental]

Thanks for the nice intelligent arguments about Israel as a Jewish state negociation.

A large part of my family did not survive the holocaust,the world has very fast forgot the history of Jews persecution, and tiny Israel is a thorn in the eyes of the muslims mant countries as well as countries in Europe. Israel is the only Jewish State and the article states it very clearly.

[erezgron@netvision.net.il]

The point stated in the article is clear. Yet there is one oversight: Judaism is more than the Jewish FAITH per se. Judaism is belonging to the the Jewish NATION ("Le'um"). The author of the article do well by taking this point into consideration before embarking on superficial and simple comparisons with Muslem or Christian States.

[mgadv1]

He is right on point. Leave the Bible out of it. The Land of Israel was created/made into a Jewish State by the united nations. All the Arab states run crying to the u.n. but seem incapable of going all the way back to the beginning of the current situation. The Arabs refused to acknowledge Israel, sought to destroy it and got served a heaping helping of reality instead.

We all have got to realize that the Arab agenda is governed by their religion. Islam is a supercessionist religion. In their mind they have superceded Judaism (and Christianity) and the Jews (and the Christians) have got to kowtow to Muslims. Read you history books guys - Jews and Christians were not allowed to build churches or synagogues taller than the lwest mosque in their town, Jews and Christians were not allowed to ride horses, had to wear the equivalent of a yellow star, had to pay MUCH higher taxes and on and on. All calculated to humiliate them and strongly encourage them to convert. Jewish and Christian children whose fathers died before the children reached majority age were taken away by the state and forcibly converted to Islam. These facts are uncomfortable but they didn't just once exist. They still do. The sooner we wak up to thatthe sooner we understand the situation.

[editor]

[georgeepstein]

One question:
WHY?
Why do Muslims refuse to accept the fact that Israel is a Jewish state?
george