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Jewish and Arab students at a joint study program in Misgav Regional Council in the Galilee on Tuesday. (Yaron Kaminsky)
Last update - 09:21 28/02/2007
Israeli Arab group proposes new 'multi-cultural' constitution
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

A proposed constitution written by the Israeli Arab advocacy center, Adalah, states that Arab Knesset members will be able to bring about the disqualification of bills that impinge on the rights of Arabs, and classifies the State of Israel as a "bilingual and multicultural" country rather than a Jewish state.

The proposal, entitled "The Democratic Constitution," also calls for majority and minority groups to split control of the government in such a way that will strengthen the Arab minority on issues relating to the character of the state.

Adalah's version of the constitution essentially abolishes the Jewish elements of Israel, but allows the Jewish majority to maintain its character through educational and cultural institutions. The proposal invalidates the Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to people with at least one Jewish grandparent, and states that citizenship will be granted to those who come to Israel for humanitarian reasons, regardless of their religion.
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The document states that the "internal refugees" Arab residents and their descendants expelled in 1948 and whose number is estimated at about a quarter of today's Israeli Arab citizens will return to the area where they used to live and receive compensation. The introduction to the proposed constitution demands that Israel recognize its responsibility for the "historical injustices that it caused the Palestinian nation in its entirety," withdraw from the territories and recognize the Palestinian people's right to self-determination. The proposal sets the state's borders along the 1967 cease-fire lines.

The proposed constitution grants citizenship to all descendants of Israeli citizens, whether they were born here or abroad, as well as to all spouses of Israeli citizens thereby undermining Israeli efforts to limit marriages between Israeli Arabs and Palestinians living in the territories.

Instead of dealing with the issue of who is a Jew, says Adalah, the proposal deals with the issue of who is a citizen.

Adalah's constitution is the first one proposed by an Arab institution, though there have been many proposed by various Jewish ones. Adalah chairman Prof. Marwan Dwairy said the other proposals are not based on democratic values.

"They relate to Arab citizens like foreigners in this homeland, in which history, memory and collective rights are the legacy of Jews alone," he wrote.

Adalah hopes that its proposal will spur public discourse on the legal and cultural standing of Israeli Arabs.

"If this 'Democratic Constitution' succeeds in highlighting the large gaps that exist between it and the other proposals, and generates dialogue and topical public discussion on the nature of the freedoms and rights in the this country, we will see it as an important step," wrote Dwairy.

According to the proposed constitution, all assets of the Waqf (the Muslim religious trust) that were expropriated after 1948 and all assets seized by the state from Arabs will be returned to their original owners, who will also receive compensation for the period of expropriation. The state must also immediately recognize all unrecognized Arab villages, the proposal states.

The document does not state what the symbols of the country should be, but says that they will be determined either by a Knesset committee, half of whose members will be Arab, or by agreement of 75 percent of Arab MKs.

All official publications, court rulings and media reports will be in both Hebrew and Arabic, according to Adalah. The proposal states that every cultural group, whether religious or ethnic, will be able to run their own institutions, and that national minorities can choose their own representative body, at the state's expense.

The proposed constitution grants the judicial system the authority to overturn any laws that contradict the constitution.

Adalah says that many of its sections are based on international declarations of human rights, and has consulted with legal experts from around the world, including some who were involved in South Africa's changeover from an apartheid state to a democratic one.
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  1.   "bilingual and multicultural" and a constitution 01:30  |  curious 28/02/07
  2.   Reality,check into it. 01:31  |  Bretware 28/02/07
  3.   If it "generates dialogue...(fine!)... 02:03  |  Akiva Patysh, Tzioni 28/02/07
  4.   on citizenship 02:16  |  Akiva Patysh, Tzioni 28/02/07
  5.   A "Democracy"? Forget it. 02:17  |  Shimon 28/02/07
  6.   Forget about it 02:18  |  Adam 28/02/07
  7.   Arabs should leave Israel and return home 02:19  |  Issac 28/02/07
  8.   ARAB TRICK TO DESTROY ISRAEL 02:34  |  DAN ROSENTHAL 28/02/07
  9.   A good beginning 02:44  |  wibism 28/02/07
  10.   Time to get rid of arabs 02:48  |  Gene 28/02/07
  11.   NO SUCH THING AS DEMOCRACY IN MIDDLE EAST 02:50  |  obvious 28/02/07
  12.   Their idea of multiculturalism 02:51  |  Efox 28/02/07
  13.   Nothing democratic about tyranny of the minority 02:56  |  McQueen 28/02/07
  14.   April Fools Joke 03:00  |  Don Quinne 28/02/07
  15.   OF COURSE JEWS WOULD HAVE A VETO IN ALL ISLAMIC STATES ?? 03:00  |  Bill. 28/02/07
  16.   ethnocentric constitution 03:04  |  citizen 28/02/07
  17.   Israel needs a consitution, all right.... 03:05  |  Dr. L. Brnd 28/02/07
  18.   This will happen when Native Americans and Indigenous Canadians.. 03:10  |  Amused 28/02/07
  19.   Preposterous 03:11  |  David 28/02/07
  20.   a little sharia law maybe? 03:12  |  sweis Melbourne 28/02/07
  21.   #1 2 3 03:15  |  Carl Peters 28/02/07
  22.   Adam---Wake UP!!! 03:15  |  Abe 28/02/07
  23.   Will the chareidim support this? 03:17  |  Mosheh Wolfish 28/02/07
  24.   Adalah is advocating 3 states , Hamas in Gaza , pals in West Bank 03:29  |  Joseph E . 28/02/07
  25.   Human rights = No rights 03:40  |  Kym 28/02/07
  26.   KAHANIE WAS RIGHT 03:47  |  TOBIA 28/02/07
  27.   Adam ... you miss the point 03:51  |  Alex 28/02/07
  28.   Adalah 03:53  |  KT 28/02/07
  29.   Multi-cultural joke!!! 03:54  |  Dr. Jack 28/02/07
  30.   Arabs Jews Intellectual Honesty 04:04  |  student of sanity 28/02/07
  31.   Why Not? It can be possible If mutualy respected 04:13  |  Simon Mohammed 28/02/07
  32.   leftist to a fault 04:14  |  Akiva Patysh, Tzioni 28/02/07
  33.   Thats racism, not Democracy 04:21  |  David 28/02/07
  34.   Why don`t you just move to Iran? Israel is a Jewish country! 04:29  |  Gili 28/02/07
  35.   COMIC RELIEF 04:37  |  TOBIA 28/02/07
  36.   Arab Multi-Cultural constitution 04:37  |  E 28/02/07
  37.   If they think it`s like Canada, they have no clue. 04:49  |  Serge 28/02/07
  38.   Law of the Sovereignty is the Law 04:54  |  Joseph E . 28/02/07
  39.   Its about time 04:57  |  George 28/02/07
  40.   Outrageous effort by minority to dictate nature of state 05:00  |  Shalom Freedman 28/02/07
  41.   ARAB Minority to tell the majority what to do or have veto 05:01  |  PETER SM 28/02/07
  42.   re: Bill on Mohammed and Israel 05:14  |  Efox 28/02/07
  43.   Democracy - YES! Subversion - NO! 05:32  |  massaraksh 28/02/07
  44.   # 22 YOU missed the point. 05:37  |  Lynn 28/02/07
  45.   WHY DOESNT THIS CONSTITUTION OPERATE IN ARAB STATES? 05:40  |  Avi 28/02/07
  46.   Israeli-Arab " VIsion " document refined under `multi-cultural` 05:48  |  Joseph E . 28/02/07
  47.   The Arabs are colonists and land thieves 05:51  |  Steven 28/02/07
  48.   Multi-cultism is a threat to the Jews, Whites, West 06:06  |  Hater of Multi-culti 28/02/07
  49.   What a load of garbage 06:06  |  Alain 28/02/07
  50.   Name one country where the minority is allowed to veto laws 06:07  |  Daniel 28/02/07
  51.   Sounds Democratic to me 06:16  |  Michael H. 28/02/07
  52.   xui im! 06:23  |  LK 28/02/07
  53.   Profoundly anti-democratic 06:31  |  Daniel Abrams 28/02/07
  54.   Really? 06:39  |  Danite 28/02/07
  55.   Ah, Arabs are wisening up 06:41  |  Holden 28/02/07
  56.   This could give veto power to any organized pressure group 06:58  |  Martin 28/02/07
  57.   HASHEM has already decided for Israel 07:09  |  R. Alkalai 28/02/07
  58.   Arab multiculturalism 07:11  |  HonestAbe 28/02/07
  59.   take a look at SOUTH AFRICA 07:20  |  SETH 28/02/07
  60.   Israel`s Arabs offer a new definition of chutzpah! 07:33  |  Raymond from DC 28/02/07
  61.   #44, Holden 07:45  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 28/02/07
  62.   Funded by the New Israel Fund 07:46  |  Ilan 28/02/07
  63.   MICHAEL H.Veto over the majority sounds Democratic to you? 07:54  |  PETER SM 28/02/07
  64.   Middle Eastern Muslims and Multiculturalism (cont) 08:04  |  Danie 28/02/07
  65.   #8 to the "obvious" 08:13  |  Hastaroth 28/02/07
  66.   #4 Shimon,where do you live? 08:16  |  Hastaroth 28/02/07
  67.   One word 08:21  |  Mark 28/02/07
  68.   Sure...and then we Jews can all bend over and say ahhhh 08:32  |  SLAVO 28/02/07
  69.   Multi-cultural constitution 08:41  |  Rebecca 28/02/07
  70.   There is no true democracy 08:56  |  Doron Katz 28/02/07