Ministers okay bill banning Nakba Day

The ministerial committee for legislation yesterday approved a bill that would make it illegal to treat Israel's establishment as a day of mourning, effectively banning Israeli Arabs' commemoration of Nakba Day. The proposal, which was initiated by a member of Yisrael Beiteinu, sparked charges that such a prohibition would infringe on freedom of expression and increase alienation and extremism rather than encouraging cohesiveness.

The private member's bill was proposed by MK Alex Miller and calls for a violators. It will be brought before the Knesset for a preliminary reading. The explanatory notes accompanying the bill call for "harsh punishment for those who take advantage of the democratic and enlightened nature of the State of Israel to bring it down from within."

"I opposed the law because I believe that it could impair freedom of expression and freedom of protest and achieve the opposite goal - increasing alienation and strengthening extremists, who are on the margins of Arab society," said Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog. "The law won over the representatives of Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu because it's easy to support, their reasoning being that we must protect ourselves from these elements. I don't believe in such legislation."

Likud minister Michael Eitan also opposes the bill. Miller won cabinet support from Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) and Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beiteinu). An identical bill was brought before the Knesset in the last three parliamentary terms, but was never passed.

"It's high time for us to be proud of our country," Miller said. Just as it would be inconceivable to hold protests against American Independence Day, he said, Arab citizens should not commemorate Israel's independence with Nakba Day, a term that means "catastrophe" in Arabic.

Sikkuy - The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel said there was nothing more opposed to Israel's values than prohibiting the marking of national trauma, adding that the bill was "destructive to Jews and Arabs and will prevent reconciliation."

Hadash chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh said the fact the cabinet "ratified the delusions and lack of historical and factual knowledge of a single MK shows the stinking sewers to which government discourse has sunk, as is very much to be expected." Barakeh said Arabs would continue to commemorate the Nakba, adding that the commemoration was not meant "to threaten the existence of Israel, but to correct a historic wrong to the Palestinian people."

Balad chair MK Jamal Zahalka said there was no international precedent for legislation against sorrow and mourning, calling it "an Israeli invention that reveals bankruptcy."