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Last update - 04:46 02/03/2007
Druze, Circassian forum: Israel should remain a Jewish state
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

The chairman of the forum of the Druze and Circassian authority heads, Nabiah Nasser A-Din, on Thursday criticized the "multi-cultural" Israeli constitution proposed by the Israeli Arab organization Adalah, saying that he finds it unacceptable.

"The state of Israel is Jewish state as well as a democratic state that espouses equality and elections. We invalidate and reject everything that the Adalah organization is requesting," he said.

Adalah recently wrote a proposed constitution classifying the State of Israel as a "bilingual and multicultural" country rather than a Jewish state.

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Adalah's proposal essentially abolishes the Jewish elements of Israel, but allows the Jewish majority to maintain its character through educational and cultural institutions.

According to Adin, head of the Kasra Adia municipality, the fate of Druze and Circassians in Israel is intertwined with that of the state. "This is a blood pact, and a pact of the living. We are unwilling to support a substantial alteration to the nature of this state, to which we tied our destinies prior to its establishment," he said.

"All the members of the forum stand behind me on this issue, but want to see full equality with the Jewish population of the state," he added. "I hope that the state of Israel will treat us differently, better than it does today."

The proposal, entitled "The Democratic Constitution," also states that Arab Knesset members will be able to bring about the disqualification of bills that impinge on the rights of Arabs, and 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.

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Flower power
Environmentalists are putting on display the wild orchids of Hanita Forest.
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Brought about by the gov't's weakness, Israel is about to experience a wave of strikes.
  1.   yes, anything else will resemble lebanon, iraq, etc 19:30  |  matt 01/03/07
  2.   Druze did the dirty work of the Zionists 19:47  |  Riccardo 01/03/07
  3.   It is a joke, indeed 19:47  |  Ahmad 01/03/07
  4.   Druzim, Chircassim & pragmatism 19:51  |  Rufus 01/03/07
  5.   The slap in the liberal face 19:52  |  Gene 01/03/07
  6.   bilingual and multicultural 19:58  |  Chad 01/03/07
  7.   No Suprise here 20:00  |  Danite 01/03/07
  8.   I agree with No. 1 20:05  |  Schlash 01/03/07
  9.   Just Another Plot 20:15  |  Nick 01/03/07
  10.   Arab joke 20:18  |  IW 01/03/07
  11.   Chad - Israel and USA are different 20:21  |  David Israel 01/03/07
  12.   Israel Should Remain a Jewish State 20:21  |  Kipperraes 01/03/07
  13.   #2 Why dont you care about the Kurds? 20:22  |  Kurd 01/03/07
  14.   AHMAD in NABULUS 20:23  |  CRAZY HORSE 01/03/07
  15.   #2 - Riccardo 20:26  |  MichaelF 01/03/07
  16.   #3 - Ahmad 20:27  |  MichaelF 01/03/07
  17.   # 3 Ahmad 20:30  |  Abushanab 01/03/07
  18.   Israeli exceptionalism must end 20:32  |  Ibn Filastin 01/03/07
  19.   Ahmed 20:44  |  BRL 01/03/07
  20.   Take that Israel haters 20:48  |  rootlesscosmo 01/03/07
  21.   The Druze and Circassians have much to fear 20:51  |  Yonatan 01/03/07
  22.   Kurd #13 20:52  |  David Israel 01/03/07
  23.   Ahmad, your more then wellcome to leave 20:53  |  David G 01/03/07
  24.   to IBN FILISTIN , RICARDO, AND AHMAD FROM NABLUS 20:55  |  gabriel 01/03/07
  25.   druzim see clearly 20:59  |  Gabriel 01/03/07
  26.   druze are afriad to loose their position in israel 21:03  |  Tamir Gaza 01/03/07
  27.   Ibn Filastin 21:04  |  David Israel 01/03/07
  28.   Ibn Filastin - We do not in any case! #18 21:06  |  William 01/03/07
  29.   To David #11 21:06  |  Chad 01/03/07
  30.   Druse and Circassian fear is justified 21:06  |  Yonatan 01/03/07
  31.   The Arabs of Israel have the best of all 21:07  |  TOMY 01/03/07
  32.   riccardo well 21:12  |  bev 01/03/07
  33.   An obvious smack in the face for Arabs - Ahmad, Riccardo #3 21:13  |  William 01/03/07
  34.   Middle East Minorities Defend Against Islamic Imperialism 21:13  |  Ben Israel 01/03/07
  35.   Kurd # 13 21:19  |  Philippe 01/03/07
  36.   Thank God for the Druz. I will never forget their support for us. 21:26  |  AV 01/03/07
  37.   ibn filastin 21:31  |  bev 01/03/07
  38.   Another good example of Arab threats - #20 Rootlesscosmo 21:34  |  William 01/03/07
  39.   Check out this site for other Arabs who support Israel 21:39  |  William 01/03/07
  40.   Nabiah Nasser A-Din is an idiot 21:44  |  Yossi Mahran 01/03/07
  41.   I guess that the 21:47  |  DeeDee 01/03/07
  42.   Thank you, Druze and Circassians for your 21:49  |  Nirah Greenberg 01/03/07
  43.   Druze, Circassians should know better 22:08  |  Palestinianforpeace 01/03/07
  44.   Israel belongs also to the Arabs 22:10  |  KA 01/03/07
  45.   #28 Muslims account for only 20% of all Arabs 22:15  |  Yosef 01/03/07
  46.   beatiful thing. they are free to move to any arab state of their 22:19  |  ralph 01/03/07
  47.   TO #2 The Kurd 22:20  |  Alicia 01/03/07
  48.   take my hat off to the druze and the circassians 22:21  |  jon purizhansky 01/03/07
  49.   LOOK WHAT ISLAM SAYS ABOUT THE DRUZE TO UNDERSTAND WHY 22:31  |  Yishai Kohen 01/03/07
  50.   to Ibn Filastin 22:39  |  AP 01/03/07
  51.   to Ibn Filastin 22:39  |  AP 01/03/07
  52.   to Ibn Filastin 22:39  |  AP 01/03/07
  53.   to Ibn Filastin 22:39  |  AP 01/03/07
  54.   to Ibn Filastin 22:39  |  AP 01/03/07
  55.   Ibn Falistin 22:39  |  Jane 01/03/07
  56.   Riccardo 22:53  |  Jane 01/03/07
  57.   Chad # 6 23:15  |  ChanahS 01/03/07
  58.   Druze 23:16  |  clifford atkin 01/03/07
  59.   Ibn Filastin # 18 23:20  |  ChanahS 01/03/07
  60.   Rootlesscomo # 20 23:23  |  ChanahS 01/03/07
  61.   37 Jane Iran and Saudia arabia, I hate both of them 23:24  |  Tamir Gaza 01/03/07
  62.   #18 Ibn Filastin on "ethnocracy", hypocracy! 23:25  |  Akiva Patysh, Tzioni 01/03/07
  63.   Israeli Arabs 23:39  |  Alejandro 01/03/07
  64.   Chad #6 23:57  |  Ari 01/03/07
  65.   Arabs don`t have enough land 00:00  |  The Barber 02/03/07
  66.   Chad 00:21  |  AL 02/03/07
  67.   Why cannot the Jew and the Arab get along? 00:47  |  The Equalizer 02/03/07
  68.   Druze security guard was one of the best people I met in Israel 00:51  |  albert amato 02/03/07
  69.   Riccardo from Spears city 00:56  |  Anyuci 02/03/07
  70.   This is because they are brothers 01:01  |  Shlomo from Tel Aviv 02/03/07
  71.   #18 Ibn Falastin 01:03  |  * BEN JABO 02/03/07
  72.   To Kurd 01:04  |  Shlomo from Tel Aviv 02/03/07
  73.   I want to see arabs coming up with a similar "constitution" 01:08  |  Dani 02/03/07
  74.   response to Ahmad 01:09  |  Anyuci 02/03/07
  75.   God bless these Druze and Circassians 01:10  |  b`galil 02/03/07
  76.   Druze are evil anti-jews 01:20  |  Absolute Sweden 02/03/07
  77.   Ibn Filastin 01:29  |  Anyuci 02/03/07
  78.   Our fear of groups, clouds are judgement of individuals 02:01  |  SA 02/03/07
  79.   A most powerful and statement 02:26  |  Jeff 02/03/07
  80.   God Bless the Druze 02:37  |  Jane 02/03/07
  81.   Yosef #28-- something is wrong wth your numbers 03:34  |  bbl 02/03/07
  82.   Loyal non-Jewish citizens of Israel 03:54  |  Avraham 02/03/07
  83.   Democratic Constitution 03:59  |  democracy 02/03/07
  84.   Druse Remember Syria and Arab treatment! 04:20  |  NEIL GOLAN 02/03/07
  85.   Did Haaretz ever mention Circassian Israelis till today? 04:21  |  Jake 02/03/07
  86.   Alejandro #39 04:25  |  NAJI 02/03/07
  87.   Refuting Ibn Filastin 04:30  |  Eli 02/03/07
  88.   Equality 04:55  |  Al 02/03/07
  89.   kippereas 05:01  |  Al 02/03/07
  90.   #68 Absolute Sweden 15:47  |  * BEN JABO 02/03/07
  91.   If Israel is so bad, then why are we seeing this? 16:23  |  Moises 02/03/07
  92.   loyal non-Jewish citizens 19:26  |  Debbie Gordon 02/03/07
  93.   #92-2 Debbie Gordon 21:14  |  * BEN JABO 02/03/07
  94.   Israeli exceptionalism: my rebuttal 21:40  |  Ibn Filastin 02/03/07
  95.   I`ll say one more thing to detractors 22:00  |  Ibn Filastin 02/03/07
  96.   Caine and Abel, Ramallah and Tel Aviv 22:23  |  al-Hur 02/03/07
  97.   #95 Ibn Falastin 17:04  |  * BEN JABO 03/03/07
  98.   koran 17:13  |  ibrahim 03/03/07
  99.   #98 Koran - Ibrahim 01:56  |  * BEN JABO 04/03/07
  100.   Israeli shamocracy, get it right Ben Jabo 18:24  |  Ibn Filastin 04/03/07
  101.   #100 Ibn Falastin 02:47  |  * BEN JABO 05/03/07
  102.   Ben Jabo, democracy 101 11:01  |  Ibn Filastin 05/03/07
  103.   #102 2ND TRY Ibn Falastin 23:53  |  * BEN JABO 05/03/07
  104.   Ben Jabo, get out of my country 10:26  |  Ibn Filastin 14/03/07
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