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Israels Knesset considers bill to identify Palestinian Christians as non-Arab
levantreport.com/2014/02/23/israels-knesset-considers-bill-to-identify-palestinian-christians-as-non-arab/
Brad Hoff
One of the oldest churches in the world (over 1600 years), St. Porphyrius Orthodox church in Gaza.
St. Porphyrios Orthodox church in Gaza, 5th century
The delusional virtual reality that many in the West already live in will now possibly be given legal justification by the Israeli government. Israels Knesset is now considering a bill that would identify all Palestinian Christians with Israeli citizenship as non-Arab. It is unclear then how their culture, ethnicity, or language will be defined, but what is clear is that Israel intends to simply declare a fiction through mere legal fiat. Israel knows what its doing, but this will only serve to confirm the deep ignorance of pro-Israel Americans and Westerners in general when it comes to demographic realities among Palestinians. See this from the original Al-Akhbar report:
The bill was proposed by Yariv Levin, coalition chairman for the governing conservative Likud-Yisrael Beitenu faction, in January.My legislation will award separate representation and a separate frame of reference to the Christian public, distinguishing them from Muslim Arabs, Levin had said at the time. This is an important, historic step that could introduce balance to the State of Israel, and connect us [Jews] with the Christians, he added. I make sure not to refer to them as Arabs, because they are not Arabs.
It is easier for Israel to sell its policies to the Western public if it can maintain a simplistic black-and-white narrative of an Israeli Jewish fight against a sea of Arab Muslims. This ultimately serves to underscore the narrative of Palestinian Arab=Muslim. Nevermind the large sectors within Palestinian society that lack affiliation with Islam: secularists, communists, Arab nationalist, Druze, or Christians. And nevermind the inconvenient fact that the oldest identity when it comes to the Palestinian Arab demographic is represented in the Christian segment of the population. For a little review see here:
There are over 14 million Christians living in the Middle East (most are Orthodox, followed by Catholics). These Christian communities, in their ancient origins, predate the existence of Islam. Arabic as a spoken language was used by Christians six centuries prior to the writing of the Koran, and Church history testifies to the presence of at least one Arab bishop at the Council of Nicaea.
levantreport.com/2014/02/23/israels-knesset-considers-bill-to-identify-palestinian-christians-as-non-arab/
Brad Hoff
One of the oldest churches in the world (over 1600 years), St. Porphyrius Orthodox church in Gaza.
St. Porphyrios Orthodox church in Gaza, 5th century
The delusional virtual reality that many in the West already live in will now possibly be given legal justification by the Israeli government. Israels Knesset is now considering a bill that would identify all Palestinian Christians with Israeli citizenship as non-Arab. It is unclear then how their culture, ethnicity, or language will be defined, but what is clear is that Israel intends to simply declare a fiction through mere legal fiat. Israel knows what its doing, but this will only serve to confirm the deep ignorance of pro-Israel Americans and Westerners in general when it comes to demographic realities among Palestinians. See this from the original Al-Akhbar report:
The bill was proposed by Yariv Levin, coalition chairman for the governing conservative Likud-Yisrael Beitenu faction, in January.My legislation will award separate representation and a separate frame of reference to the Christian public, distinguishing them from Muslim Arabs, Levin had said at the time. This is an important, historic step that could introduce balance to the State of Israel, and connect us [Jews] with the Christians, he added. I make sure not to refer to them as Arabs, because they are not Arabs.
It is easier for Israel to sell its policies to the Western public if it can maintain a simplistic black-and-white narrative of an Israeli Jewish fight against a sea of Arab Muslims. This ultimately serves to underscore the narrative of Palestinian Arab=Muslim. Nevermind the large sectors within Palestinian society that lack affiliation with Islam: secularists, communists, Arab nationalist, Druze, or Christians. And nevermind the inconvenient fact that the oldest identity when it comes to the Palestinian Arab demographic is represented in the Christian segment of the population. For a little review see here:
There are over 14 million Christians living in the Middle East (most are Orthodox, followed by Catholics). These Christian communities, in their ancient origins, predate the existence of Islam. Arabic as a spoken language was used by Christians six centuries prior to the writing of the Koran, and Church history testifies to the presence of at least one Arab bishop at the Council of Nicaea.