torsdag 10 januari 2013

Araber i armén väcker protester

Kristna präster i Nasaret som uppmuntrat kristna araber att avtjäna värnplikten i israeliska armén har fått hård kritik och till och med dödshot.
Kritiken avslöjar hur en del motarbetar att araber och judar skall göra något tillsammans och hur en del israeliska araber tydligen ser judarna och sitt eget land som sina fiender (parlamentsledamöt Hanin Zoabi Maariv 31 december).
Citaten har översatts av Caspari Center.
 

Media Review 2012 Index

Haaretz, October 31; Maariv, November 1, 2012

Christian priests have riled up the Christian Arab community in Nazareth by attending a gathering that aimed to encourage Christian Arab youths to be drafted into the IDF. The event was organized by the mayor of Nazareth Elite together with the Defense Ministry’s Youth and Community Department and drew crowds of Christian and Muslim Arabs, Druze and Bedouins.

The Arab local councils condemned the gathering, which, according to the mayor of Nazareth, is doomed to fail. “It stems from political motives on the eve of the elections and its aim is to cause an ethnic divide within Arab society.” Arab Knesset members also condemned the event. The council of the Orthodox Christian community decided to excommunicate one of its priests – Jobrail Nadaf – who was in attendance at the event. In a statement released to the press, the council said that “Christian Arabs are an integral part of the Palestinian people and are the victims of a long standing policy of discrimination and racism, and therefore will not support a move aimed at splitting and causing disputes within the Arab Palestinian society in Israel, including the Christian community in Nazareth and throughout the country.”

Father Jobrail Nadaf said in response that “this is a campaign of unbridled incitement, motivated by political reasons” and that “the council isn’t authorized to excommunicate him.”
The article in Maariv, which appeared on the following day, added that Father Nadaf has received death threats, in which he was told that his head would be severed from his body. Nadaf has filed a complaint with the police.
In a follow-up to the furor caused by the gathering in Nazareth which aimed to encourage Christian Arab youths to enlist in the IDF (see November 4 Media Review), Jewish group Hadash (The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) called on Christian Arabs to abstain from joining the IDF (Makor Rishon). Hadash claims that the Ministry of Defense is deliberately trying to divide the Arab community (Christian and Muslim) in Israel. They write: “It is not legitimate that [the Arab community] will be drafted into an army that most of the time is used against their own people. ... Brothers and sisters of all ethnic groups, Palestinians who are citizens of Israel, we, young Jews who have refused to serve in the Israeli military on account of our opposition to the ongoing occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people ... are writing to strengthen you and to encourage you in your refusal to be drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces. We have been fighting alongside you for years ... and recognize the devious and cunning tactics used against you ... to frustrate and divide you and distract you from your struggle for your rights and the rights of the Palestinian people in general.”

Maariv, December 23, 2012

Andreas Alamya, a priest from Nazareth who supports the initiative for young Christian Arabs to be drafted into the IDF, had his tires slashed this week. In addition, the priest found a blood-stained rag on his doorstep. Several priests have riled up the Christian community in Nazareth in recent months as a result of their support of Christian Arabs serving in the Israeli army. The latest attack follows on the excommunication of Father Jobrail Nadaf in November after he participated in an event that was meant to encourage young Christian Arabs to join the army (see the November 4 & 12, 2012, Media Reviews).

Maariv, December 31, 2012

Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi sent a letter this week to ostracized Orthodox priest Jobrail Nadaf criticizing his support of the initiative for young Christian Arabs to be drafted into the IDF (see the November 4, 12, and December 30, 2012, Media Reviews). “You are separating [the young Christian Arab] from his nation and turning him into the enemy of his own people by helping the real enemy,” wrote Zoabi. “Arab Christians are not a neutral bridge between two sides. They have a place among their people. ... They have no place outside of their nation. ... They are part of the fabric of our Arab Palestinian nation.”

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