From Wikinews: Israel’s Knesset considers ‘loyalty’ law
The first law, the ‘Loyalty Oath Law’, makes any “call to negate Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state, where the content of such publication would have a reasonable possibility of causing an act of hatred, disdain or disloyalty” a criminal offense punishable with imprisonment of up to one year. Naomi Chazan, president of the liberal New Israel Fund called the bill an “attempt to trample on the feelings of pain of Israeli Arabs“.
The second law, the ‘Nakba Law’, makes marking the Nakba illegal. The Nakba is commemorated in the Arab world as marking the day when Palestinians were dispossessed of their lands by the creation of the Israeli state.
Another law proposed this week, by the Yisrael Beiteinu party, requires a citation of a loyalty oath to Israel in order to gain a compulsory identification card.
There’s not much to say, is there? The right to disagree is a fundamental aspect of a democratic society. Attacking that right is bad enough. But even attacking the right to mourn… how much hatred and nationalist self-righteousness can there be in the world?
