Is Israel Racist?

[Watchmen]

I often wonder how much of Israel’s actions are motivated by racial/religious animosity and how much by the fact they’re surrounded by neighbors that would like to wipe them off the face of the earth.

 

[Nakosis]

I don't think there are racist countries, just racist people. Racism requires an opinion arrived at through a thought process. Countries cannot think.

Israel is a Democracy, are the laws passed by the people of Israel prejudicial?

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in the headlines on Sunday, after declaring on social media that “Israel is not a state of all its citizens”. The Likud leader later doubled down, telling his cabinet that Israel is “the nation state not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people”.

Is Netanyahu prejudicial?

Is it ok for the people of Israel to be prejudicial?

 

[Nakosis]

I often wonder how much of Israel’s actions are motivated by racial/religious animosity and how much by the fact they’re surrounded by neighbors that would like to wipe them off the face of the earth.

I haven't really given my own opinion yet, but this factors into my opinion.

 

[Lyndon]

Well we've learned that no one can be racist against Jews, because Jews are not a race.

 

[sun rise]

Israeli Arabs are being made second-class citizens. This form of apartheid violates the founding commitment to equality...

...Seventy years on, the Israeli government has just passed a law that replaces the principle of equality and universal values with nationalism and racism. This law states that only the Jewish people have a right to national self-determination in Israel.
This racist new law makes me ashamed to be Israeli | Daniel Barenboim

The word "racist" is improperly applied here and elsewhere. Bigot is much more accurate.

And yes, today's Israel is far from the nation I supported until 1973. It's moved far from what I supported, its right to exist, to national bigotry.

There are some who work with Palestinians to build bridges but not many.

 

[Milton Platt]

Israel is a Democracy, are the laws passed by the people of Israel prejudicial?

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in the headlines on Sunday, after declaring on social media that “Israel is not a state of all its citizens”. The Likud leader later doubled down, telling his cabinet that Israel is “the nation state not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people”.

Is Netanyahu prejudicial?

Is it ok for the people of Israel to be prejudicial?

It is fair to say that laws can be prejudicial. That would have been a better tag line. However, an entire country (which would encompass all laws and all citizens) cannot be said to be racist. Just making a point that your wording is not technically accurate. I don't think you will find me defending Israel any time soon......

 

[Nakosis]

Well we've learned that no one can be racist against Jews, because Jews are not a race.

Ok, Though I think it is often used in terms of ethnicity as well as race. Race ends up being a kind of arbitrary term anyway IMO.

 

[Shaul]

Biased website source and Rep. Tlaib is a biased Jew hater.

There is no blanket restriction on Palestinians traveling to the West Bank(Judea and Samaria). If her mother (Faiza Tlaib) has individual restrictions that is hardly racist.

No, the State of Israel isn’t racist.

 

[whirlingmerc]

Perhaps the question could be phrased slightly differently?

Does the Israeli Government treat Palestinians fairly and equitably? Answer: no.

But....

I think it's important to point out that almost every Israeli adult citizen is a soldier. And part of that military training instills an us vs. them mentality and dehumanizes Palestinians as the out-group/enemy. This could render behavior which appears to be racist. But I don't know if it is technically racist.

I wonder to what extent it's a two way street. I was saddened by the kindnapping and killing of the 3 israeli boys some years back by Palestinian radicles.

 

[Darkforbid]

How do you feel about the destruction of Palestinian homes in Israel?
OHCHR | UN human rights experts call on Israel to halt demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem

I think war is war, its not a game! In war there is no morality, only what works and what doesn't. Every attack from Palestinians should be answered with a full ground assault until Pacification is achieved. Extremely harsh, but I have absolutely no sympathy for a nation that used children as suicide bombers

 

[Lyndon]

or a nation that uses children (calling them young adults) to fly bombers!!

 

[Srivijaya]

I don't think there are racist countries, just racist people. Racism requires an opinion arrived at through a thought process. Countries cannot think.

But states can and do enact laws:

JERUSALEM — Israel passed a controversial new “nation-state law” last week that’s sparking both celebration and fierce debate over the very nature of Israel itself.

The law does three big things:

1. It states that “the right to exercise national self-determination” in Israel is “unique to the Jewish people.”
2. It establishes Hebrew as Israel’s official language, and downgrades Arabic — a language widely spoken by Arab Israelis — to a “special status.”
3. It establishes “Jewish settlement as a national value” and mandates that the state “will labor to encourage and promote its establishment and development.”

Each of these statements would be contentious on its own, but taken together, they’re a clear, unequivocal statement of how the Jewish state’s current leaders see both the country and the diverse people who call it home.

https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/31...-bill-explained-apartheid-netanyahu-democracy

 

[Nakosis]

I think war is war, its not a game! In war there is no morality, only what works and what doesn't. Every attack from Palestinians should be answered with a full ground assault until Pacification is achieved. Extremely harsh, but I have absolutely no sympathy for a nation that used children as suicide bombers

My view, which is amoral, is that might makes right. So as long as Israel can defend its borders it has a right to exist. Whereas Palestine can't. Palestine only exists per the good graces of Israel. Unless some other nation was willing to go to war with Israel over Palestine, they ought to be submissive to Israel for their own sake.

 

[Nakosis]

or a nation that uses children (calling them young adults) to fly bombers!!

How do you feel about drones?

 

[Darkforbid]

How do you feel about drones?

Well I wouldn't date one

 

[ADigitalArtist]

My view, which is amoral, is that might makes right. So as long as Israel can defend its borders it has a right to exist. Whereas Palestine can't. Palestine only exists per the good graces of Israel. Unless some other nation was willing to go to war with Israel over Palestine, they ought to be submissive to Israel for their own sake.

Might makes right isn't an amoral statement. It's a value judgement placing emphasis on might-based authority (whatever that means in context). And one which is so often socially counterproductive (anything is justified so long as the powerful do it) that I would easily call it immoral.

 

[Nakosis]

Might makes right isn't an amoral statement. It's a value judgement placing emphasis on might-based authority (whatever that means in context). And one which is so often socially counterproductive (anything is justified so long as the powerful do it) that I would easily call it immoral.

Ok, to me it doesn't matter whether it is moral or immoral. It's just how it works. No regards to it being justified or socially acceptable. This idealism is just putting lipstick on a pig. No offense to pigs.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Ok, to me it doesn't matter whether it is moral or immoral. It's just how it works. No regards to it being justified or socially acceptable. This idealism is just putting lipstick on a pig. No offense to pigs.

All laws and social order is idealism, by that logic. 'Just how it works' includes an awful lot of abhorant behavior. Doesn't mean you shouldn't fight against it even though, ultimately, it will never be fully resolved. Otherwise you start getting platitudes like 'murder never ends, why bother fighting it?'

 

[Darkforbid]

Ok, to me it doesn't matter whether it is moral or immoral. It's just how it works. No regards to it being justified or socially acceptable. This idealism is just putting lipstick on a pig. No offense to pigs.

 

[Nakosis]

View attachment 31311

And a pinwheel in their hand.