Adalah: New Bill Demanding Loyalty to the Jewish State from Arab NGOs Threatens their Existence
(Haifa, Israel) On Sunday 7 November 2010, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation will discuss a new private member's bill entitled, “The Bill for Protecting the Values of the State of Israel (Amendment Legislation) – 2009,” submitted by MK Uri Ariel of the extreme right-wing National Union party. The new bill will authorize the Registrar of Associations and the Registrar of Companies to close down associations or companies if their goals or actions are against the state as a “Jewish and democratic” state. This bill joins the large number of bills currently pending which target the rights of the Arab minority in Israel, and indicates the serious efforts of the coalition to work against them. This bill violates the right of freedom of association and freedom of expression of all Arab organizations in Israel, which seek through democratic means to change the political, legal, and social status in Israel. It asks those organizations to express their loyalty to the Jewish state and therefore it is not just a discriminatory law but one that seeks to oppress the rights of the Arab minority. We know from the legal history of Section 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset – 1985, which asks from every Arab political party list not to deny the existence of Israel as a “Jewish and democratic” state, that this un-democratic law was used in every election to seek to disqualify the Arab political party lists and to incite against them. Therefore, in fact, this bill seeks, on a day-to-day basis, to limit and damage the work of Arab organizations. It will put them under ultra-nationalist, ideological interrogation and investigation, and it will question every serious action that they will take.
