FAIR Christians for Fair
Witness on the Middle East
WITNESS
Why Do We Question
Whether a State Can Be Both Jewish and Democratic ?
Recently
some voices within our churches have challenged the assertion that Israel can
be both Jewish and democratic. By using
phrases such as “Israel must be a nation for all people, not just Jews,” some
people seek to create the inference that being Jewish and democratic are mutually exclusive or that Jewish state is inherently racist. But a serious look at this notion reveals
that it may be biased and discriminatory in nature.
Israel as the
Jewish state
• The Modern State of Israel was
founded in 1948 very deliberately as the one Jewish state in the Middle
East. Jews, just like any other
“people,” defined in terms of a shared history, ethnicity, religion, language and/or culture, have the right to
constitute an autonomous and sovereign political community. The Jewish state
can and does accommodate a minority. In
1948 almost twenty% of Israel’s population consisted of Arabs. Those Arabs chose
to stay in Israel as a minority within a Jewish state.
• The Israeli Declaration of
Independence called “to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve
peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and
equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent
institutions.”
There
are other democratic countries which connect national identity with religion
and ethnicity
• The argument that a democratic
state is, or should be, “neutral” when it comes to culture and identity is
frequently applied to the state of Israel . However, there are numerous other
cases where national identity and religion and/or ethnicity are officially
connected in some way, and where there are official bonds between a
nation-state and an ethnocultural diaspora. Israel is in no way unique in this.
Countries
were created to accommodate specific ethnic groups after World War I
• Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are
democratic parliamentary republics in Eastern Europe. All three are members of the European Union. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were each formed from the Russian Empire after WWI
to accommodate a specific ethnic group.
Countries
were created to accommodate specific religious groups after World War II
• In early 1947 after World War II, Britain,
coming under strong pressure from other Western nations to end its violent
suppression of the freedom movement, decided to end its rule in India and
created two nation-states along the line of religion. It created Pakistan to accommodate the Muslim population, and
India to accommodate the Hindu population.
Religion
and/or ethnicity are intertwined with national identity in many other countries
• Queen
Elizabeth II is the supreme governor of the Church of England.
• “The prevailing religion in Greece,”
under its Constitution, “is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.”
Official policy bestows Greek citizenship on ethnic Greeks in what amounts to
an automatic fashion. Under Article 6 of the Greek Law of Citizenship, “If a
foreign citizen is not of Greek ethnic extraction, he must have resided in
Greece for eight years . . .” before applying for Greek citizenship. Thus,
ethnic Greeks who immigrate to Greece are privileged by exemption from the
requirement of eight years of residence demanded of all other foreign citizens
who seek naturalization.
• It is estimated that there are about
150 different religious communities of varying sizes in Denmark but the
constitution stipulates that the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the national
church and shall be supported by the state. The reigning monarch and members of
the royal household must be members of the national church.
• The Irish Constitution states: “the
Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry
living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage (Article 2). Section
16 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act empowers the Minister for
Justice to grant an exemption from the ordinary prerequisites for
naturalization “. . . where the applicant is of Irish descent or Irish
associations.” In practice, Irish
policy has been to confer citizenship upon applicants of Irish descent without
delay.
• The Constitution of Norway states
“The Evangelical-Lutheran religion shall remain the official religion of the
State. The inhabitants professing it are bound to bring up their children in
the same. . . . The King shall at all times profess the Evangelical-Lutheran
religion, and uphold and protect the same . . . .”
• Bulgaria’s constitution acknowledges
a link with an ethno-cultural Diaspora stating “A person of Bulgarian origin
shall acquire Bulgarian citizenship through a facilitated procedure.”
• Germany’s constitution provides the
right to automatic citizenship to all refugees and displaced persons of German
ethnic origin, and to all ethnic
Germans from Eastern Europe.
• Tibetan peoplehood, culture, and
society cannot be conceived of without the distinct Tibetan form of Buddhism
(sometimes called Lamaism).
• According to Article 52 of the
Polish Constitution , “Anyone whose Polish origin has been confirmed in
accordance with statute may settle permanently in Poland.” The State actively cultivates its ties with
the Diaspora; official rhetoric defines it as an integral part of the nation.
Why is only the Jewish
identity of a country
challenged as incompatible
with democracy?