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Arab members of Israeli parliament Wasel Taha and
Jamal Zahalka slam Tzipi Livni for her statement about Jewishness of
the state
Livni: “Arabs who decide to stay in Israel, should
accept it as a Jewish state”
Tuesday June 24, 2008 06:01 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
The Arabs48 news website reported on Monday that the Israeli
occupation government foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, stated that the
Arabs and Palestinians who live within Israel should accept the
Jewish State with all that the word means.
She added that the Arabs in Israel “are equal citizens and have
the right to define themselves as Palestinians, but if there are two
states and they chose to remain in the Jewish State, they should
recognize it as Jewish”.
She claimed that the Palestinian State would be the solution for
the issue of the refugees, as “Israel is not an option for them”,
Israeli Ynet News reported, “When the conflict is resolved, Arabs
must accept Israel as a Jewish state and must recognize that it is
the homeland of all Jews”.
She added that the International Community finds it hard to
accept Israel’s definition as a Jewish state.
Livni stated that she knows that Israel’s image is not good, and
declared that some countries are trying to void Israel as the
homeland of the Jewish people.
Speaking at the Tel Aviv University National Research Center,
Livni said that there is a crisis in Israel and that this crisis is
caused by the lack of political stability and that all reforms
remain just headlines in local newspapers.
She stated that the Israeli public is losing faith in politics
and the governmental system, and added that the elected officials
are required to conduct reforms.
Livni also said that usually ministers do not want to implement
plans of reform put in place by their predecessors “because they
won’t be credited for them”.
Commenting on the truce agreement with the Palestinians, Livni
said that Israel achieved a short-term truce which could have a
future strategic price.
Arab MKs slam the statements of Livni
Tuesday June 24, 2008 06:43 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Arab members of Israeli parliament (called Knesset in Hebrew),
Wasel Taha and Jamal Zahalka, slammed the statement of Israel’s
Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, who said at the Tel Aviv University
that the Arabs in Israel can stay in the country but should
recognize it as the National Home of the Jewish people.
Wasel Taha
Taha said that Livni apparently lacks the needed knowledge of
United Nations resolutions regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, and
added that she is trying to imitate the US presidents in his
“speeches to the nation”.
“We are Palestinian Arabs, we are not part of the internal
competition for leadership at the Kadima party”, Taha said, “We are
not the wood for their power struggle”.
Taha also said that Livni must deal with the Arabs as a reality,
as a minority that lives on its land, and added that the statements
of Livni mean that anyone who does not accept Israel as a Jewish
state should leave.
“Our current and future struggle is transforming Israel into a
state for all of its citizens”, he added, “It should be adjacent to
a sovereign independent Palestinian state”.
Moreover, member of Knesset, Jamal Zahalka, slammed the
statements of Livni and said “We are the native people of this
land”.
He added that the Jewish state is a synonym of the Zionist state,
and said that no sane person can demand the Arabs to accept Zionism.
Zahalka further said that the Israeli settlers who immigrate to
the country are treating the Arab natives as immigrants, and are
placing conditions on them and on their existence in their homeland.
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