Gershon Baskin feels that one of the primary concerns of Jewish Israeli citizens, the Law of Return, does not make non-Jewish citizens less equal.
Gershon Baskin, Co-CEO, IPCRI, Mohammad Darawshe – The Abraham Fund and Noah Efron – Bar Ilan University shared their ideas regarding shared citizenship for the Palestinian and Jewish Citizens of Israel.
Gershon Baskin opened the meeting, first arguing that one of the primary concerns of Jewish Israeli citizens, the Law of Return, does not make non-Jewish citizens less equal. He then went on to highlight all of the current legal and social constructions within Israel that do clearly disadvantage Arabs.
Mohammad Darawshe began with a general history of the relationship between Jewish and Arab Israelis. He then highlighted the fact that Arabs are not considered equal parts of Israeli society, and that they must be able to have the political power to affect their own futures. He also argued that Israel must learn to include the Arab narrative and culture as legitimate and equal.
Noah Efron explained the various options for creating a national narrative, arguing that Israeli society should not accept a unitary, Jewish-only identity, nor should it seek complete separation between identity and state. Instead, he proposed, Israel should expect its citizens to have separate but overlapping identities, and that there was much to be gained in the cross fertilization of more than one independent culture living cohesively.
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