77% of Israeli Arabs support Jewish state

[kramadas]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/491475.html

A message from the Arab citizens

By Nazir Majali

Prior to the publication of its proposal for a "constitution by consensus," the Israel Democracy Institute decided to address the Arabs of Israel and ask them their opinion on the matter.

Prior to the publication of its proposal for a "constitution by consensus," the Israel Democracy Institute decided to address the Arabs of Israel and ask them their opinion on the matter. In the survey, conducted on behalf of the IDI by the Arab Yafa Institute, it emerged that about three out of every four Arab citizens of this country agree with the definition of Israel as "a Jewish and democratic state." This, on condition that the definition also ensures full equal rights for Arabs.

The very few people in Israel who knew about the findings of this survey, which was conducted in September, were quite surprised. Some of them perhaps doubted its reliability. After all, for many years now the Jewish public in Israel has been fed a diet of sensational newspaper headlines and incendiary declarations by political leaders and heads of the various military establishments warning of the increasing extremism among the Arabs of Israel.

They cast doubt on the Arab citizens' loyalty to the state and, in the best case, they explained that the Arab citizens were suffering from identity problems and were torn between loyalty to their people and loyalty to their country. And when a group of Arabs appeared who said they didn't feel this double belonging involved any paradox and that they were getting along very well with the fact that it is an integral part of both the State of Israel and the Palestinian people, and that it even sees belonging to both groups as a privilege, so that it can bridge between them - at that point they said: This is good, but this is a marginal and unrepresentative group.

And now, out of the blue, a survey has cropped up in which more than 77 percent of those questioned said they would "support" or "definitely support" the establishment of a constitution that defines Israel as a Jewish and democratic state that ensures full equality to Arabs. This is contrary to the stereotype of Arabs that prevails in this country. This is not congruent with the wind that is blowing from the direction of the security establishment. Therefore the publicity given to the survey has been modest. Modest? An understatement - it has been meager in the extreme.

Imagine the headlines that would have blared in the media had the result been the other way around and 77 percent of the Arab citizens had said they opposed the definition of Israel as a Jewish state, and what reactions would have been heard from the politicians. And if in a Haifa University survey, which was published six months ago, about two-thirds of the Jews said the Arabs should be encouraged to leave the country - imagine how many would have said this had that been the case.

The results of the survey conducted by Yafa are a direct message from the Arab population to the Jewish population. A message of conciliation, peace and partnership of paramount importance. The Arabs are saying, in effect, that not only do they accept the State of Israel as an existing fact, and as part of the resolution of the conflict, but also, and most importantly, they recognize it as an expression of the self-definition of the Jewish people and recognize the right of this people to a state of its own that is defined as a Jewish state.

There is no better proof that the Arabs of Israel aspire to contribute their share to a peaceful solution to the conflict between their people and their country. And incidentally, this definite opinion does not clash at all with the fact that the Arabs of Israel belong to the Palestinian people and the Arab nation. On the contrary. They are taking this position from within the full understanding that the solution to the conflict must be on the basis of two states. That is, they want their people to have a state of their own alongside the Jewish State of Israel.

It is unnecessary to mention that their condition - a democratic state in which Arabs enjoy full equality - is above all a condition that serves the interest of the State of Israel and its Arab and Jewish citizens equally.

And this position merits a suitable response by Jewish society and the state as a whole.

The author is a commentator on Israeli affairs for Arab television stations and in the newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat.

[tres-b]

Unfortunately the terrorists who hide behind the cause of a free Palestine dont see the need for Jews to live much less have a nation.

[kramadas]

Unfortunately the terrorists who hide behind the cause of a free Palestine dont see the need for Jews to live much less have a nation.

LIke Sharon on the opposite end of the spectrum. Yes, then I agree.

[tres-b]

I would argue that Sharon's views have sprung out of the feeling that the whole region is against them--which is true. You would argue that the terrorists are forced to act this way as a result of Israeli repression.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg.......

[tres-b]

I would argue that Sharon's views have sprung out of the feeling that the whole region is against them--which is true. You would argue that the terrorists are forced to act this way as a result of Israeli repression.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg.......

[g420]

They should get all arabs the fuck outta israel before it's too late & jews become a minority those arab pigs multiply quicker than the crabs in ravermania's mom's mostache & then the arabs will change their tune about israel's right to exsist, you can't trust them, their whole culture is based on lies & deceipt.

How many arab countries let Jews live among them & be heard? None.[/

[g420]

QUOTE]

double post

[kramadas]

I would argue that Sharon's views have sprung out of the feeling that the whole region is against them--which is true. You would argue that the terrorists are forced to act this way as a result of Israeli repression.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg.......

Yeah, true. THough, the ulterior motives of both parties are probably something we will never know. The top management of terrorists probably don't want peace as then their power base will be gone - the same can arguably said for Sharon. He is a war president.

Did you read my other article about how one of his top aides came out and confessed that the real reason (well, one of them) for the Gaza withdrawl was so as to indefinitely freeze the greater peace process.

That place really is the pit of most of the world's miseries. Who was the bright guy again, who decided to plop a bunch of Jews right in the middle of a bunch of Muslims?!?!

[g420]

Yeah, true. THough, the ulterior motives of both parties are probably something we will never know. The top management of terrorists probably don't want peace as then their power base will be gone - the same can arguably said for Sharon. He is a war president.

Did you read my other article about how one of his top aides came out and confessed that the real reason (well, one of them) for the Gaza withdrawl was so as to indefinitely freeze the greater peace process.

That place really is the pit of most of the world's miseries. Who was the bright guy again, who decided to plop a bunch of Jews right in the middle of a bunch of Muslims?!?!

That place is really a pit of most of the world's miseries because of the muslims, you cretin, look at what they are doing in sudan, russia, the philipines, these animals prove time & time again that they cannot live in peace cause their false prophet mohammed tells them to wage war in the koran.

So according to your logic dickhead, Jews shouldn't be allowed to have a homeland like everyone else cause the muslim mutants can't coexsist with anyone else? What would've been your solution then Mrs.Arafat?

[SlickSlider]

Who was the bright guy again, who decided to plop a bunch of Jews right in the middle of a bunch of Muslims?!?!

According to the bible, it was God.

[kramadas]

According to the bible, it was God.

Well, bright-boy, it obviously wasn't "GOD" who gave them that land at the turn of the century, but some fool who believed that a book written 2000 thousand years ago should dictate current day foreign policy.

[tres-b]

I love the way you discount God's role in the world. Is it by chance that Israel is still around today, thousands of years after the Bible was written? Is it by chance that God's chosen people prosper and thrive even today at much higher levels than most?

Say what you will, but as a Christian, I believe that God has a different course for those of us w/ Judeo-Chritian ideals. There is a reason that the majority of the Muslim world lives in poverty and it isnt b/c they are stuck in the desert. Israel has the same climate but very different living conditions. Why is that???

You think what you want. Ill stick with the guy who let the blind see, turned water to wine, and died for our sins so that we can receive salvation.

[kramadas]

I love the way you discount God's role in the world. Is it by chance that Israel is still around today, thousands of years after the Bible was written? Is it by chance that God's chosen people prosper and thrive even today at much higher levels than most?

Say what you will, but as a Christian, I believe that God has a different course for those of us w/ Judeo-Chritian ideals. There is a reason that the majority of the Muslim world lives in poverty and it isnt b/c they are stuck in the desert. Israel has the same climate but very different living conditions. Why is that???

You think what you want. Ill stick with the guy who let the blind see, turned water to wine, and died for our sins so that we can receive salvation.

You've got to be kidding me! I guess you've got a little bit of tunnel vision as you forget that Muslims/Arabs were quite prosperous the previous 1500 years while christians were running around like savages. I'm sure God had that planned too right. Or the fact that the CHuch tortured and burned people at the stake for not believing in Christianity. Or the Crusades. The list goes on - the Church probably has more blood on its hand than any other religion. Hitler.

I really hope that previous post was for shits and giggles because it is so flawed that it seriously undermines your credibility.

[tres-b]

You've got to be kidding me! I guess you've got a little bit of tunnel vision as you forget that Muslims/Arabs were quite prosperous the previous 1500 years while christians were running around like savages. I'm sure God had that planned too right. Or the fact that the CHuch tortured and burned people at the stake for not believing in Christianity. Or the Crusades. The list goes on - the Church probably has more blood on its hand than any other religion. Hitler.

I really hope that previous post was for shits and giggles because it is so flawed that it seriously undermines your credibility.

OK OK so I am not really a member of the religious right, but I wanted to see your reaction. In all seriousness, I do believe that God has influence on Earth. I believe that there is more to Israel's ability to survive than chance and military might.

I agree that the church has blood on its hands. The Catholic church is particularly guilty of numerous crimes/corruption etc throughout history.

However, Hitler was Hitler. He is burning in Hell as I type this and to link him w/ Christianity is unfair. Every major sect of Christianity condemned his actions. This is quite different than Muslims and bin Laden who is supported throughout the world.

[g420]

OK OK so I am not really a member of the religious right, but I wanted to see your reaction. In all seriousness, I do believe that God has influence on Earth. I believe that there is more to Israel's ability to survive than chance and military might.

I agree that the church has blood on its hands. The Catholic church is particularly guilty of numerous crimes/corruption etc throughout history.

However, Hitler was Hitler. He is burning in Hell as I type this and to link him w/ Christianity is unfair. Every major sect of Christianity condemned his actions. This is quite different than Muslims and bin Laden who is supported throughout the world.

This raver fag has tried unnsuccessfully on many occasions justify ever growing muslim violence with a seperate incident here & there about some other religious whacko, he resorts to the played out kkk or tim mcveigh reasoning, where all those incidents are isolated unlike islam that constantly encourages warfare & terrorism.

[g420]

You've got to be kidding me! I guess you've got a little bit of tunnel vision as you forget that Muslims/Arabs were quite prosperous the previous 1500 years while christians were running around like savages. I'm sure God had that planned too right. Or the fact that the CHuch tortured and burned people at the stake for not believing in Christianity. Or the Crusades. The list goes on - the Church probably has more blood on its hand than any other religion. Hitler.

I really hope that previous post was for shits and giggles because it is so flawed that it seriously undermines your credibility.

Hitler was in cohoots with the arabs, that's why half the arab armies were trained by former SS officers when they got their asses handed to them by Israel

[g420]

78 Killed in Police Action in Thailand

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

•Six Killed in Riots in Southern Thailand

PATTANI, Thailand — At least 78 people were suffocated or crushed to death after being arrested and packed into police trucks following a riot in southern Thailand over the detentions of Muslims suspected of giving weapons to Islamic separatists, officials said Tuesday. Six others were shot to death during the demonstration.

Islamic leaders accused Thai troops of overreacting to the police station protest in Narathiwat province (search) in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south. They also warned it could trigger a spiraling upswing in violence.

"I am in shock," Abdulraman Abdulsamad, chairman of the Islamic Council of Narathiwat (search), told The Associated Press. "I cannot say what is going to happen, but I believe that hell will break out."

The 78 dead were among some 1,300 people arrested after the riot.

Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunan, a forensics expert for the Justice Ministry, said Tuesday that she and other doctors conducted autopsies on the 78 bodies at an army camp in Pattani province (search) and found that most died from suffocation.

Maj. Gen. Sinchai Nujsathit, deputy commander of the fourth army, said the victims may have died from suffocation "because we had more than 1,300 people packed into the six-wheel trucks."

He did not say how many trucks were used.

Manit Suthaporn, deputy permanent secretary of the Justice Ministry, said the victims probably suffocated because they were piled on top of each other in the vehicles.

The violence began Monday when about 2,000 Muslim youths demonstrated outside the police station in Takbai district (search), demanding the release of six men held on suspicion of stealing state-issued weapons and giving them to Islamic separatists. The crowd threw rocks, overturned a military truck and made several attempts to storm the police station and a nearby government office.

Police and military forces tried to disperse the crowd with gunshots, water cannons and tear gas. Six people were killed and several injured in the melee, army commander Gen. Pisarn Wattanawongkhiri said Tuesday.

More than 360 people have been killed in southern Thailand since January, mostly in small bombings and drive-by shootings directed at police and government officials. Authorities blame the violence on a renewed Islamic separatist insurgency.

Violence has troubled overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand's three Muslim-majority provinces for decades, although it has worsened this year. Residents claim they are discriminated against by the central government.

The toll of 84 dead from Monday's violence was the largest from a single incident since April, when police and soldiers responded with overwhelming force to attacks by alleged Islamic militants armed mostly with machetes, killing 107.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (search) visited the southern region briefly late Monday, where he praised the security forces and vowed tough action against suspected Islamic separatists.

"The protesters had several motives, but the main reason was separatism," Thaksin said, speaking before the announcement of the 78 suffocation deaths. "I cannot allow the separatists to exist on our land."

He added: "We cannot allow these people to harass innocent people and authorities any longer. ... We have no choice but to use force to suppress them."

At the Inkayut military camp where prisoners were being held, people came all day Tuesday to report missing family members who might be among the detained. They were not allowed in the camp but registered at the gate, and several dozen families stayed nearby all day, waiting for news.

Authorities announced a curfew in parts of Narathiwat "because the situation is still volatile," Thaksin said.

Neighboring Malaysia — a Muslim-dominated country — expressed concern over the crackdown.

"Thailand is a close neighbor. Any incident will be watched closely here. We are sad that there has been an accident" leading to deaths, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said. "We want to know exactly what