Summary
The legal scholar whose Citizens without Citizenship (2003) and subsequent political monitoring work Stateless Citizenship (2013) relies on throughout Chapter 2 for the legal mechanics by which Arab political participation in Israel is delimited — the Ben Shalom Case definition, the disqualification amendments, and the record of rejected Arab MKs’ bills (Stateless Citizenship (2013), PDF p.81, p.91-92).
Details
- Sultany explains the Knesset’s triple role: “In addition to functioning as the legislature and constituent assembly, the Knesset fills a quasi-juridical role. An example of this function is the immunity granted to MKs and the power granted to the Knesset to remove the president of the state and the state comptroller from their positions” (Sultany 2003, 17, at PDF p.83, footnote 34).
- On Ben Shalom Case: the majority held the minimal definition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people rests on three elements — a Jewish majority, preferential treatment of Jews in returning to their state, and preferential reciprocal treatment between the state and Jews in the Diaspora (spelled “Disapora” as printed) — and also held that a list supporting repeal of the Law of Return, or calling for total equality between Arabs and Jews on a national as well as a personal basis, does not recognise the nature of the state (Sultany 2003, 25-26, at PDF p.91).
- The 2002 Amendment No. 35 grounds for disqualification, including “support for an armed struggle of an enemy state or of a terrorist organization against the State of Israel,” are given from Sultany (2003, 25-26) at PDF p.92.
- Knesset members’ repeated rejection of Arab MKs’ bills — for universal equality, or on education, culture, art and sporting organisations — is documented from Sultany (2003), (2004) and (2005) at PDF p.81, footnote 31; his accounts of racist and discriminatory remarks against Arabs (2004, 60-61; 2005, 77-89, 137-139, 143-163), of the security services’ monitoring of Arab citizens (2004, 76-77), of criticisms of the Or Commission (2004, 85-90), and of the Supreme Court’s reproduction of control outside the 1948 boundaries (2007) are cited at PDF p.85-87.
- With Nadim Rouhana: the aim of the post-2000 legislative wave is to force concession to a dominant Zionist consensus on the Arab citizenry (Rouhana and Sultany 2003, at PDF p.77).
Related pages
Stateless Citizenship (2013), Ben Shalom Case, Or Commission, Israeli Incorporation Regime