Israel's shameful attack on Arabic must be stopped

[Violet_Crumble]

Why demonstrate lack of respect for Arab citizens at a time when the most important challenge facing Israel is to integrate its Arab citizens into Israeli society?

By Moshe Arens

The proposal by some members of the Knesset to strip the Arab language of its current status as one of the official languages of the State of Israel is a senseless move and, what's more, a sign of disrespect toward the more than one million citizens of Israel whose mother tongue is Arabic.

It is difficult to fathom what got into the heads of some legislators to propose this change. Why demonstrate such lack of respect for our Arab citizens at a time when the most important challenge facing Israel is to integrate its Arab citizens into Israeli society and to make them feel at home in Israel?

Adopting the language of a minority population as one of the official languages of a country is a common thing in this day and age. It is a demonstration by the majority population of sympathy, consideration and respect for the minority.

Members of Knesset who take the trouble to check the Google search engine on the Internet may be surprised to find that many countries in the world have recognized minority languages as official languages - in some cases, even the languages of very small minorities. For example, Finland, next door to its larger Swedish neighbor, recognizes Swedish as an official language.

The Arab citizens of Israel are not a small minority by any means. Why propose this change in the status of the Arab language in Israel after 63 years in which Arabic has shared an equal status with Hebrew as an official language of the country?

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-s-shameful-attack-on-arabic-must-be-stopped-1.395617

[krucial]

1. Arabic

It is simple.Israel cares only about israel,nothing and no one else and nothing else matters or is important ant,especially Arabs.
They feel they and act like they are the most, and only important people in this world

[holdencaufield]

2. You must be right...

... and we're only imagining that Israel has sent foreign aid and emergency assistance -- medical and humanitarian to

Albania * Angola * Argentina * Armenia * Azerbaijan * Belarus * Benin * Bolivia * Bosnia & Herzegovina * Burkina-Fasso * Brazil * Bulgaria * Burundi * Cambodia * Cameroon * Chad * Chile * China * Columbia * Congo * Costa Rica * Cote d'Ivoire * Cyprus * Czech Republic * Democratic Republic of Congo * Dominican Republic * Ecuador* Egypt * El Salvador * Eritrea * Estonia * Ethiopia * Fiji * Gambia * Gaza * Georgia * Ghana * Greece * Guatemala * Guinea * Guinea-Bissau * Guyana * Haiti * Honduras * Hungary * India * Indonesia * Jamaica * Jordan * Kazakhstan * Kenya * Kyrgyzstan * Laos * Latvia * Lesotho * Liberia * Lithuania * Macedonia * Madagascar * Malawi * Malta * Mauritania * Mauritius * Mexico * Micronesia * Moldova * Mongolia * Morocco * Myanmar * Namibia * Nepal * Nicaragua * Nigeria * Palestinian Authority * Panama * Papua New Guinea * Paraguay * Peru * Philippines * Poland * Romania * Russia * Rwanda * Senegal * Seychelles Islands * Singapore * Slovakia * Somalia * South Africa * South Korea * Sri Lanka *Swaziland * Tajikistan * Tanzania * Thailand * Togo * Tonga * Tunisia * Turkey * Turkmenistan * Uganda * Ukraine * United States * Uruguay * Uzbekistan * Venezuela * Vietnam * Yugoslavia * Zaire * Zambia * Zimbabwe

[King_David]

3. .

:)

[azurnoir]

4. ah I see you copied it from here

I guess throwing in Gaza was a 'gimme' type thing



Israelis Save The World
One Life At A Time
Israeli Global Disaster Relief
“When foreign disasters occur, Israel is among the
first in the international community to send rescue
teams and emergency assistance to devastated areas.”
Due to its expertise in the fields of
emergency and disaster medicine, Israel’s
Center for International Cooperation,
MASHAV, has sent numerous teams of
experts to foreign countries to train and
often drill with local doctors, nurses,
medical technicians, administrators and
civil services in dealing with mass casualty
emergency events. MASHAV has trained
almost 200,000 course participants from
approximately 140 countries.
2003- Israel aids Sri Lankan flood victims
2001- Israel aids earthquake victims in Peru
2001- Israel aids earthquake victims in India
2001- Israel aids earthquake victims in El Salvador
2000- Emergency aid to Ethiopia
1999- Israel aids Turkish earthquake Victims
1999- Aid to Kosovo Refugees
1998- Israeli aids flood victims in Central America
1998- IDF search & rescue mission after bombing of US Embassy in Kenya
1994- Operation “Interns for Hope”: Israeli medical aid for Rwandan refugees in war-torn Zaire
above: Israeli rescue team pulls a Turkish woman from rubble after a 1999
earthquake; below, left: Israeli surgeons operate on an Indian boy injured in a
2001 earthquake; below, right: An Israel paramedic returns a baby who
received medical treatment to her father in India, 2001
standwithus.com
Israel’s assistance has helped countless individuals from over 140 countries around the world:
Albania * Angola * Argentina * Armenia * Azerbaijan * Belarus * Benin * Bolivia * Bosnia & Herzogovina * Bourkina-Fasso
* Brazil * Bulgaria * Gurundi * Cambodia * Cameroon * Chad * Chile * China * Columbia * Congo * Costa Rica * Cote
d'Ivoire * Cyprus * Czech Republic * Democratic Republic of Congo * Dominican Republic * Ecuador * Egypt * El Salvador
* Eritrea * Estonia * Ethiopia * Fiji * Gambia * Georgia * Ghana * Greece * Guatemala * Guinea * Guinea-Bissau * Guyana
* Haiti * Honduras * Hungary * India * Indonesia * Jamaica * Jordan * Kazakhstan * Kenya
* Kyrgystan * Laos * Latvia * Leshotho * Liberia * Lithuania * Macedonia * Madagascar *
Malawi * Malta * Mauritania * Mauritius * Mexico * Micronesia * Moldova * Mongolia *
Morocco * Myanmar * Namibia * Nepal * Nicaragua * Nigeria * Palestinian Authority *
Panama * Papua New Guinea * Paraguay * Peru * Philippines * Poland * Romania * Russia
* Rwanda * Senegal * Seychelles Islands * Singapore * Slovakia * Somalia * South Africa
* South Korea * Swaziland * Tadjikistan * Tanzania * Thailand * Togo * Tonga * Tunisia *
Turkey * Turkmenistan * Uganda * Ukraine * United States * Uruguay * Uzbekistan *
Venezuela * Vietnam * Yugosloslavia * Zaire * Zambia * Zimbabwe

http://www.standwithus.com/pdfs/flyers/israeldisaster.pdf

[King_David]

5. Yea that is where he copied it from

Thanks for the link,I am sure many people will bookmark it.

[azurnoir]

6. GIYUS groups and their members do play a role on this forum don't they?

but it would show more integrity if the person who posted 8it had included the link?

[King_David]

7. Is that like GeeWhiz or Chhez Whiz ? This GiYuS thing?

It is a cheese group?

[azurnoir]

9. it's an anagram for Give Israel Your United Support

GIYUS calls Jews of world to web duty

When Giyus.org noticed a poll on Albabawa.com, a popular Arabic website, asking whether the current violence in Lebanon is an Israeli provocation, they decided to help balance the results.

A message with a link to the poll popped up on the desktops of GIYUS' Israel-loving members and soon, the poll results jumped from an overwhelming yes to an over 80 percent no.

GIYUS (Give Israel Your United Support) is a new project that has recently been released by the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) in order to balance anti-Israel sentiment expressed on the web and influence public opinion.

To accomplish this, they created Megaphone, a free tool that can be downloaded from their website. Megaphone allows alerts to pop up on users' desktops every time it finds an attention-worthy article, poll or forum on the internet. Students and members of pro-Israel organizations are encouraged to visit the sites and express their opinions.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3281619,00.html

eta I find it odd you would be so quick to verify that another poster copied the link but yet 'seem' to be unfamiliar with the organization I mentioned do you think I gave away 'secret' info or something, alas no most who post here are quite familiar with the organization.

[holdencaufield]

12. Is this some Zionist global conspiracy?

If it is, where can I sign up? I could always use more money.

The only desktop application I have on my PC is "Angry Birds"

[Violet_Crumble]

17. No, it's a Hasbara styled advocacy bunch of weirdos...

They send talking points directly to the desktops of other weirdos who adore Israel so badly it hurts. They don't pay you, so you might not be interested if yr looking for a quick dollar, but if yr posting crap from that idiotic StandWithUs mob, yr getting all the talking points anyway...

[azurnoir]

28. Oh com'on now it's kind of entertaining

ya know "there's this river in Egypt" sort of thing

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Violet_Crumble]

41. Where did I say people who support Israel all belong to the same group. I didn't...

Or are you just asking yrself weird questions to pass the time of day?

[azurnoir]

46. are you implying that people who as you claim "revile Israel" are Nazi's ?

I think you'll find that most people on this board revile Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza or Palestine but it is interesting to note that you seem o equate those things to Israel itself

[King_David]

25. Nah

I think you place much more importance on the CheesEhiz than there really is there. Kinda like a conspiracy .
:)

[holdencaufield]

11. Your point? NT

[holdencaufield]

14. Actually...

I got it from here...

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Mashav+%E2%80%93+International+Development/What+is+Mashav/Israeli+Humanitarian+Relief-+MASHAV+-+the+Israel+F.htm

There is also an Arabic and Russian version at the same link -- to make sure we are sensitive to ethnic minorities

[Dick Dastardly]

10. The only reason Israel sent the aid is cover for covert ops such as their diabolical Penis-Melting

zionist robot combs and or to get operatives in to spread penis melting substances by simply shaking hands with a zionist operative which continues to spread when the target shakes hands with others. The surface of the aid is also sprayed with the substance melting the aid workers penis and anyone else they come into physical contact with. The zionists have many such diabolical operations they use. Israel is like the nightmare of a real Dr. Evil.

I know these stories are all true because my friends cousins fathers brother next door neighbors supervisors aunts brothers friends 4th cousins 2nd cousins close friend had his penis melted by one of these combs. I heard the mossad is working on a way to send penis melting rays over the internet to target anyone criticizing Israel.






Penis panic
http://neohumanism.org/p/pe/penis_panic.html

Attack of the Penis-Melting Zionist Robot Combs
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2009/07/attack-of-the-penis-melting-zionist-robot-combs/21547/




Panic in Khartoum: Foreigners Shake Hands, Make Penises Disappear

clip
Victims Tell Their Stories

Two of the "victims" agreed to tell their story to the London-based Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi. One of them, fabric merchant S. K. A., said that a man from a West African tribe came into his shop to buy fabric, but an argument quickly developed between the two. Then the West African shook the store owner's hand powerfully until the owner felt his penis melt into his body. The store owner became hysterical, and was taken to the hospital. <3>

While the majority of accounts involved handshaking, another victim, who refused to give his name, said that while he was at the market, a man approached him, gave him a comb, and asked him to comb his hair. When he did so, within seconds, he said, he felt a strange sensation and discovered that he had lost his penis. It was also claimed that once "'Satan's Friend' drains a man's virility," he demands that his victim pay him over four million Sudanese pounds (about $3,000) to get it back. <4>

clip
It Is a Zionist Plot

In conclusion Abbas wrote: "That man, who, as it is claimed, is from West Africa, is an imperialist Zionist agent that was sent to prevent our people from procreating and multiplying…" 12

In his Al-Rai Al-A'am article, Abbas wrote: "I had planned to visit Sudan over the Id Al-Fitr holiday, and I saved as many dollars as I could for this purpose… But I heard and read about 'Satan's Friend' who shakes your hand and then you discover suddenly that you're 'not a man.' Is it conceivable that a reasonable man would choose to visit a city gripped by the horror of castration?!…

"I pay to the government, I bring money to my family , and then I also need to pay a man who robs me of the thing I hold most dear and demands that I buy my stolen goods him?...

more
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/976.htm


New and unknown Deadly weapons used by Israelis
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x143308


PENIS-MELTING ZIONIST ROBOT COMBS
A mass hysteria surrounding "penis-melting robot combs" took place in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan in September 2003. It was reported by the Middle East Media Research Institute. Sudanese victims were made to believe by force of suggestion that their penises had melted away or disappeared altogether, by means of ordinary contact with the West Africans, such as the sharing of an electronic, or "robot", comb, the shaking of hands, or the receiving of a verbal curse. The so-called "penis-melting" has been blamed on Zionists who are trying to wipe out the Sudanese people by making their men impotent and therefore unable to breed.

The hysterical reports were spread throughout Sudan by means of cell phone text-messaging.

The Sudanese columnist Ja'far Abbas has warned visitors to avoid shaking hands with "a dark-skinned man". In reference to the electronic comb which was supposed to have caused one man's penis to disappear, Abbas writes, "No doubt, this comb was a laser-controlled surgical robot that penetrates the skull, to the lower body and emasculates a man!!"

Sudanese police have investigated these incidents and have found no evidence of anything supernatural, and that it is likely a hoax which victims believed through the power of suggestion. Mr. Abul-Gasim Mohamed Ibrahim, Sudan's Minister of Health, issued official statements to calm the public's fears.

In the Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web Today", a daily summary of sensational or humorous news, James Taranto wrote a piece about this phenomenon entitled, "Where's the Rest of Me?" in which he coined the phrase "Penis-melting Zionist robot combs".

http://forums.cannabisculture.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=851646&site_id=1#import

[holdencaufield]

15. Hey, sorry about that...

... the whole Penis Melting Combs thing is actually real. It started out as a joint project between Mossad, Veridian Dynamics and the Umbrella Corp and kind of got out of hand. We blame the whole thing on the Marketing Dept.

Our bad...

[Dick Dastardly]

35. You should be sorry but your not. The only reason you say you are sorry is you

got called out on the diabolical real reasons Israel sends aid and could not gloss over it. Israel is committing a heinous crime against humanity with its sinister penis melting attacks.

[holdencaufield]

39. I've seen that penis

... seriously, melting didn't make it any uglier (or shorter)

[Donald Ian Rankin]

30. Many destinations, but how much?

How much does Israel spend on aid as a proportion of GDP? And how does that compare to the *massive* quantity of international aid (several thousand dollars per capita per year) that Israel *receives*?

A list without quantities isn't evidence of generosity, just of good PR.

[shira]

32. Thanks. Yet another one from the israel can do no right crowd.... n/t

[Donald Ian Rankin]

33. Well, that's one way to avoid answering.

For what it's worth, my position is not "Israel can do no right" but

a) "Good or neutral things Israel does should not be used as cover to justify its appalling treatment of the Palestinians".
b) "The importance of good or neutral things Israel does are often wildly exaggerated" - as, I suspect, in this case.

I'm still waiting for an answer to "what fraction of its GDP does Israel spend on aid", by the way.

[LeftishBrit]

21. No more than any other country.

Considering the imperialist policies of the USA and (especially in the past, but even currently) UK, I don't think either of our countries has the right to accuse another country of regarding themselves as 'the most important country in the world'.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

29. I disagree.

I think that some the national exceptionalism bug is a *lot* stronger in some countries than in others. I think that Israel has it a lot worse than many other Western countries, as does the US, as did the UK (but no longer).

I agree Israel is not unique in this respect, but I think it's one of the more extreme cases.

[azurnoir]

8. It is reminiscent of groups in the US

that insist English be made the official language of the US.

However in this special case I guess that dropping Arabic as an official would be the proper thing for "The Jewish State" to do at least for some here and there?

[aranthus]

36. Not even close.

English, not Spanish, is the language on which the US was built. Arabic was part of Israel before there was an Israel. Lot's of people in Israel speak at least some Arabic. My grandmother did, and I think my father as well, going back to the 20's and 30's. There is a rather large Arab speaking minority in Israel 20-25%. The strictly Spanish speaking population in the US isn't that large. Most of the Spanish speakers in the US are first or second generation immigrants. Most of the Arabic speakers in Israel are first, second, or third generation Israelis.

[holdencaufield]

13. Germany...

Has a Turkish population of 3 million people -- However, the only official language is Germany is German.

Would you like me to list the other 200 or so countries with large minority populations that don't represent their ethnic minorities in their list of official languages?

Should I start with the country where you live?

Why are you concerned ONLY with what Israel does?

[Violet_Crumble]

16. Are you trying to say that Israel's Arab population are immigrants to Israel?

Equating them with Turkish immigrants to Germany seems to indicate you do. And it's no surprise you appear to have no issues at all with the current right-wing proposal to drop Arab as an official language. See, it isn't about adding another official language. It's about dropping an already existing one which a very large and increasingly alienated section of Israelis use as their first language. Can you not honestly see the problems with this?

btw, you can start with the country I live in. It's Australia and it doesn't have an official language. C'mon, ask me about indigenous languages! I'm up for a good natter about them and the disgraceful way our indigenous people were treated...

I didn't realise I was concerned ONLY with what Israel does. I have a healthy concern about what a lot of countries do, most importantly my own. I sort of assume what with this being the Israel/Palestine forum that the parties being talked about are, well, Israel and Palestine, but I am prone to throwing in the occasional 'The US is a global bully!' into the mix just to change the pace! ;)

[holdencaufield]

18. You're welcome

For the Battle of the Coral Sea...

[Violet_Crumble]

19. I didn't realise I'd thanked you for it.

This isn't one of those 'If it wasn't for us, you'd be talking Japanese' things, I hope. The Battle of the Coral Sea was a joint US/Australian battle, and having an interest in WWII, I appreciate the US for what it did in the Pacific, because it ensured our supply lines with the UK weren't cut, but we were there too. Without the Battle of the Coral Sea and putting a few of the Japanese ships out of action, the turning point of the war in the Pacific, Midway, may have had a different outcome.

Sorry for not focusing ONLY on Israel, but you've only got yrself to blame for this one! :)

[aranthus]

37. Please don't get me started on Americans' ignorance of the contributions of the Allies.

I'm heartily ashamed of it.

[Violet_Crumble]

42. I think I've seen all of it on the interwebs...

Long ago before I arrived at DU, I posted at another forum where conservatives gathered and any time I criticised Bush, I'd get the 'Without us you'd be speaking Japanese!' line. Not as good as the guy who insisted WWII only started with the attack on Pearl Harbour and the US entrance into the war. Between September 1939 and then, according to him, it was merely yet another European skirmish of little consequence :)

[aranthus]

47. I can believe it.

By the way, World War II did not start in 1939, unless you're Euro-centric. It started in 1937 when the Japanese attacked China.

[shaayecanaan]

34. You're welcome...

for the Battle of Beersheba, without which it is unlikely the State of Israel would have ever existed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_(1917)

[Violet_Crumble]

43. Where's the You're Welcome for the Battle of Brisbane?

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozatwar/bob.htm

[LeftishBrit]

24. A difference is...

that the Turkish citizens of Germany are mostly fairly recent immigrants or their descendants. The Arabs in Israel are mostly not. There are of course plenty of recent immigrants and their descendants in Israel, and no one is suggesting that Israel should adopt all their languages as official; but many Arabs in Israel have lived there for generations.

Also, there is a difference in numerical proportions. People of Turkish origin constitute about 4% of the German population. Arabs constitute about 20% of the Israeli population.

The situation is more comparable to Canada, where English and French are indeed both official languages.

By the way, the author of the OP is a retired Israeli Likud politician, who is hardly biased against Israel as such!

[provis99]

20. they both need to speak English. Hebrew and Arabic are useless, parochial languages.

The Israelis are starting to realize this, and English is becoming as common as Hebrew; in Arab countries people are desperate to learn English, because they know that Arabic isn't going to get them far in the outside world.

[LeftishBrit]

23. Wow

British and Americans do have a tendency to be monolingual and assume that everyone else should learn English, but you are being a bit explicit about it!

In fact, I believe that English is (and should be) a compulsory school subject in most schools in Israel, but I don't think that their citizens should be expected to replace their own languages with English!

[Violet_Crumble]

26. Everyone needs to speak Australian English on the off-chance I might visit!

I don't want to be mucking round trying to understand people who won't pay me the courtesy of learning my language. How rude of them!

Seriously, neither Hebrew nor Arabic are useless languages. Hebrew's a fascinating language having been brought back to life and adapting to a world where there were a whole bunch of new words that the language grew and accommodated. And Arabic is one of the official languages of the UN. Those who can speak Arabic have been in high demand as translators in some circles. Both languages have those annoying chunky/squiggly right-to-left scripts, and people sound like they're coughing up a fur-ball when they talk Arabic, but it's a tad unfair to demand they speak English as their first language...

[aranthus]

38. Bring Judith Durham and Olivia Newton-John with you and you can stay at my place. n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

44. The problem with those two is that they have a habit of singing boring stuff...

I'd be happy to bring along Kylie Minogue, though...

[aranthus]

48. To each according to taste.

Bring Kylie just the same.

[LeftishBrit]

22. Strongly agree

[Violet_Crumble]

27. One thing the writer of the article didn't touch on was access to services on the web...

While he said that most Israeli-Arab kids learn Hebrew, I'm assuming there'd be adults who don't speak or read it. I checked out the Israeli governments website and it caters to all three official languages.

http://www.gov.il/firstgov/english

If Arabic was removed as an official language, there wouldn't be an Arabic version of any government webistes, meaning that Arab speakers wouldn't be able to access online services. That would make a big accessibility issue, and seeing as how the Israeli govt has an obligation to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Standards and provide web sites that are accessible for all users, they'd be in for a world of hurt if they failed to comply.

https://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/2010/02/26/current-state-of-international-accessibility-standards/

[oberliner]

31. Do you agree with the subheading?

Specifically, do you agree that: "the most important challenge facing Israel is to integrate its Arab citizens into Israeli society" ?

Just curious!

[Violet_Crumble]

45. I don't think it's the most important issue facing Israel...

I think it's right up there with a bunch of other issues, and unlike the other big ones, it's a domestic issue that Israel shouldn't delay working on. But it's an issue that the current government are going to take massive steps backwards on before a future government steps up and repairs the damage Nutty's done and is doing...

[oberliner]

49. Is it really a domestic issue that Israel shouldn't delay working on?

Integrating "Israeli Arabs" into Israeli society? Would you even use that terminology? What exactly would "integrating" this community entail in your mind?