Revised bill would ban funding Nakba events

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation passed a revised bill yesterday for the so-called Nakba Law, which calls for prohibiting government bodies from funding any activity that could undermine the foundations of the state or contradict its basic values.

The original bill banned individuals from marking Israel's Independence Day as a day of mourning or sadness. Had the bill passed, offenders could have been imprisoned for up to three years.

Instead, the new bill would amend the Basic Law on the budget to ban government funding of any activity that rejects Israel's existence as the state of the Jewish people.

The legislation would also prevent the government from supporting activities that rejects the state's democratic character, as well as basic democratic principles such as popular sovereignty, human rights, separation of powers, rule of law and an independent judiciary.

After a group of ministers expressed opposition to the committee passing the bill in May, MK Alex Miller of Yisrael Beiteinu drafted the more moderately-worded version, which does not include criminal penalties for violations.

Israel's Jewish character, the revised bill states, "is central to its existence, and organizations that are economically supported by the state's budget cannot be allowed to fund or sponsor activities containing rejection of the state as Jewish, inter alia, by commemorating Independence Day as a day of mourning."

The bill also prohibits funding activity which could be viewed as supporting armed struggle or an act of terror by an enemy individual or organization against the state, as well as disrespecting the national flag or other national symbols. The new proposal allows the finance minister to apply sanctions or withhold payment to state-funded organizations found to be engaging in such activity.

After the ministers passed the bill, a dispute erupted during a cabinet meeting between Minority Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman (Labor) and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) over the proposal. Braverman accused Lieberman of being driven by political motives to advance legislation that would harm Israel's image abroad. Braverman told the cabinet members that the current government must address two major policy issues: reaching a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and granting equality to Israeli Arabs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu corrected the minister, saying, "A demilitarized Palestinian state alongside a Jewish state."

"To my regret," Braverman said, "instead of working to strengthen ties between Israel's Arab citizens and granting them equal rights, there are people today who for political reasons are adopting bills which may bolster them among their voting constituency, but at the same time harm the delicate fabric of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and also besmirch Israel's name in the world."

Lieberman replied, "If you want a headline, then fine," adding that the revised bill would prohibit municipal and other state bodies from funding Nakba commemoration, but not ban private citizens from such activity as stipulated in the original bill.

Arab lawmakers reacted furiously to the legislation. Balad chairman Jamal Zahalka said, "This is a law of petty racist cowards, and it will not affect us. Rather, we will raise commemoration of the Nakba. If the word 'Nakba' scares them, they have a problem."

"This is the only country which enacts a law to rewrite history," Zahalka said. "They fear the word Nakba like a criminal fears his victim."

United Arab List-Ta'al chairman Ahmed Tibi said, "This government has gone mad toward its Arab citizens. The ministers are even more motivated than Border Police officers," adding that ministers and lawmakers supporting the bill were driven by the slogan, "strike the Arab and save Israel."

Dr. Yusuf Jabarin, director of the Nazareth-based Dirasat policy center and a lecturer in Law at the University of Haifa said, "These legislative revisions don't do enough to heal the deep wounds [the bill] would cause toward the Arab population, and the harm to the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and conscience - the freedom of Arab citizens to use public funds to express legitimate political opposition."