Were the Palestinians to concede the Jewish character of Israel it would end their national cause, and Israel's politicians know it, writes Saleh Al-Naami "It's a Palestinian Balfour Declaration," stated Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He whispered the statement into the ear of one Likud Knesset member, not realising that the microphone of an Israeli TV channel was nearby and captured the statement on video and audio. Netanyahu's declaration relates to the gamble he has taken by asking the Palestinian Authority (PA) to recognise Israel as a Jewish state. He is asking the Palestinians to acknowledge Israel as Jewish in return for a temporary two-month freeze on settlements in the West Bank. As Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom put it, the recognition of any Palestinian party of Israel's Jewishness means acceptance by this party of all steps, measures and positions that impose Jewish identity on this entity. Such statements by Israeli officials reveal that Palestinian acceptance of the Jewish character of the state of Israel carries catastrophic implications for the Palestinian people and their cause. To guarantee the Jewish character of Israel requires maintaining a Jewish demographic majority inside Israel, which means abandoning the right of return for Palestinian refugees and opens the door to the transfer of Palestinians that remain in Israel. From here, the notion of exchanging citizens, which Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is excited about, becomes a possibility. The idea is to incorporate the triangle in which most 1948 Palestinians live into the Palestinian entity, and in exchange clusters of Jewish settlements in the West Bank would come under Israeli control. Lieberman's proposal is quickly becoming a focal point of Zionist consensus. Palestinian acceptance of Israel's Jewish character implies agreeing with, or at least surrendering to, the laws passed by the Knesset in the past, present and future which guarantee the Judaisation of Palestinian territories. Admitting the Jewishness of the state is acceptance of racist laws, foremost among which is the "Law of Return", which gives any Jew anywhere in the world the right to immigrate to the land of Palestine and immediately be granted citizenship in the "state of Israel". Recognition also entails tacit approval of the citizenship law that denies 1948 Palestinians the right to reunite with their families, if one of a married couple, for example, lives in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. What applies to the laws of return and citizenship is similar to that regarding the Law of Loyalty that the Israeli cabinet recently passed, which forces non-Jews to declare their loyalty to Israel "as a Jewish and democratic state". And doubtless Palestinian recognition of Israel's Jewish identity will open the door for further discriminatory legislations, such as those announced by the leader of Shas and Minister of Interior Rabbi Eli Yishai, who intends to pass a law denying Israeli citizenship to anyone accused of committing a security offence. Yishai considers the participation of Arab Israeli Knesset member Haneen Al-Zubi in the Freedom Flotilla a "crime" that warrants revocation of citizenship. Clearly, conceding Israel's Jewish identity would legitimise the laws and regulations that constrict the lives of 1948 Palestinians, most prominently the law preventing them from buying land that lies within "the orbit of Israeli land", which are the territories captured by Zionist militias on the eve of, during and after the 1948 War. Israel also wants the Palestinians to give credence to the legal bases that guarantee the destitution of the Palestinians of 1948. The Israeli Knesset has issued many laws barring these Palestinians from economic privileges, such as child support and university grants, under the pretext that they do not serve in the Israeli army. For the ruling elite in Israel, Palestinian concession of the Jewish character of the state denotes, more than anything, the erasure of Palestinian collective memory in all senses. Note, in this regard, the statements of Israeli Minister of Education Gideon Saar. In interview with Israeli television, Saar said Palestinian school curricula should be rewritten and made compatible with Palestinian recognition of the Jewish character of Israel, including geography, history and religious education textbooks. Palestinian cities would be referred to by their Hebrew names, such as Bersheba, Tsefat, and Askalan. At the same time, history lessons should no longer teach students the story of the Palestinian struggle, since recognising the Jewish nature of the state would mean that the Palestinians just happened to be a people living in Israel. In religious education, which Saar wants to completely overhaul, conceding Israel's Jewish identity would mean banning the teaching of Quranic verses Jews dislike. Further, Saar believes the concession would force Palestinian authorities to strictly monitor Palestinian places of worship and media to prevent what he described as "instigation" against Israel. This comes from someone who frequently visited Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a fanatic religious leader, before his death. Eliyahu had ordained that "All of the Palestinians must be killed; men, women, infants, and even their beasts." Saar's ministry also pays $200,000 annually to a small school run by Rabbi Yizhak Shapiro, who lately published the book The King's Torah in which he detailed the "jurisprudence" sanctioning the killing of Palestinian infants and children. An investigative report published in Haaretz newspaper revealed that the administration of US President Barack Obama also funds Shapiro's school by giving tax breaks to American Jews who make donations to it. Against this backdrop, the position of some Palestinian officials is disconcerting. Haaretz quoted Yasser Abed Rabbo, member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) Executive Committee, as saying that the PA is willing to recognise Israel as a Jewish state after the creation of a Palestinian state. Abed Rabbo was quick to deny the quote, but his statement came as no surprise to observers as he brokered the Geneva Accords with Israeli politicians under the rubric of which the right of return for Palestinian refugees was abandoned. Never in history has one country required another country or entity to recognise its religious identity. By making this demand, Israel's intentions appear in clear relief: Palestinian recognition of Israel's Jewish character would presage the dissolution of the Palestinian national cause.
