Druze, Circassian forum: Israel should remain a Jewish state
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
The chairman of the forum of the Druze and Circassian authority heads, Nabiah Nasser A-Din, on Thursday criticized the "multi-cultural" Israeli constitution proposed by the Israeli Arab organization Adalah, saying that he finds it unacceptable.
"The state of Israel is Jewish state as well as a democratic state that espouses equality and elections. We invalidate and reject everything that the Adalah organization is requesting," he said.
Adalah recently wrote a proposed constitution classifying the State of Israel as a "bilingual and multicultural" country rather than a Jewish state.
Adalah's proposal essentially abolishes the Jewish elements of Israel, but allows the Jewish majority to maintain its character through educational and cultural institutions.
According to Adin, head of the Kasra Adia municipality, the fate of Druze and Circassians in Israel is intertwined with that of the state. "This is a blood pact, and a pact of the living. We are unwilling to support a substantial alteration to the nature of this state, to which we tied our destinies prior to its establishment," he said.
"All the members of the forum stand behind me on this issue, but want to see full equality with the Jewish population of the state," he added. "I hope that the state of Israel will treat us differently, better than it does today."
The proposal, entitled "The Democratic Constitution," also states that Arab Knesset members will be able to bring about the disqualification of bills that impinge on the rights of Arabs, and calls for majority and minority groups to split control of the government in such a way that will strengthen the Arab minority on issues relating to the character of the state.
The following is not a knee jerk reaction, but one that was formulated after seeing their villages and befriending a Druzi guard in Arad ... The Druzi community is still not adequately taken care of by the Israeli government despite an active and positive role within our country. This needs to change - they deserve better and our government should make the necessary adjustments in the budget to start providing more support to the Druzi population in Israel.
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