Israeli Group Calls for Increased Rights for Arabs

An Israeli human rights group today proposed a new national constitution that gives more rights to the country's Arab minority and says Israel should be defined not as a Jewish state but as a "democratic, bilingual and multicultural state".

Although the paper - from Adalah, a legal organisation working for Arab rights - is unlikely ever to become law, it is part of a fresh effort by the Arab minority in Israel to argue for a stronger role in society.

Most striking was the proposal to scrap Israel's law of return, which gives automatic citizenship to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent. The paper argues that citizenship of Israel should be for those born in Israel with a parent also born there; those with a parent who is a citizen; those married to a citizen; or those arriving for humanitarian reasons, including political persecution.

Adalah also proposed that a parliamentary committee, with half its members drawn from Arab parties, should have a veto on laws related to the constitution unless outvoted by a two-thirds majority of parliament.

It said Israel should "recognise its responsibility for past injustices suffered by the Palestinian people," which would include recognising the right of return of Palestinian refugees, restoring property and land and a withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967.

It is not the first challenge to the current system. A similar document was drawn up in December by a group of prominent Arab activists and intellectuals led by the National Committee of the Local Arab Authorities in Israel.

The paper, entitled The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, also challenged the Jewish definition of the state and called instead for a "consensual democratic system" that included "individual and collective civil, historic, and national rights".

Israel's Arabs, who make up around 20% of the population, have citizenship and voting rights and last month the first Arab Muslim minister was appointed to cabinet. But the community is widely acknowledged to suffer discrimination, particularly at work and in government spending on housing and education.

Even the name given to the minority is unresolved. Among Israeli Jews they are referred to as Arab Israelis or Israeli Arabs, but often they refer to themselves as Palestinian Arabs, Palestinian citizens of Israel or 1948 Palestinians.

Israel does not have a constitution and divisions over the role of religion, defining the country's borders and relations between its Jewish and Arab citizens mean it is unlikely to agree one in the near future.

Instead, it relies on a series of so-called basic laws and on the inaugural 1948 Declaration of Independence, signed by David Ben-Gurion, which talks of the establishment of a Jewish state but adds "it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its citizens irrespective of religion, race or sex".

Hassan Jabareen, 42, an academic and lawyer who founded Adalah, said the group's proposals would make Israel more democratic. "Our intention is to define who is a citizen in Israel, not who is a Jew in Israel," he said.

"We are at a time when there is much debate about the Jewishness of the state and when there is an increasing discourse about Arabs as a demographic threat. They try to emphasize the ethnicity of the state. This is our time to respond."

However, the suggestions have been met with consternation by many Israeli Jews. "It is an Arab nationalist programme and its aim is to de-legitimise Israel as a Jewish state," said Shlomo Avineri, a professor of political science at Hebrew University.

"This document is not going to end discrimination. It is counter-productive and will create the exact opposite effect - an extreme response from the Israeli right wing."