Upper Nazareth, a city of some 50,000 people in northern Israel, is a pretty mixed city by Israeli standards. Initially a “Jewish” city, the close proximity to the heavily overcrowded Arab city of Nazareth has some 18 percent of the city’s population ethnically Arab, either Christians or Muslims.
That’s fine, according to Mayor Shimon Gafsou, at least to a point. Gafsou insists that “everyone can live here, that is the law,” but also rules out ever allowing the Arabs to build mosques or churches, or even have a Christmas tree.
“95 percent of Jewish mayors think the same thing. They’re just afraid to say so out loud,” Gafsou claims, and he went on to punctuate his position by declaring “I would rather cut off my right arm than build an Arab school.”
Still and all, that’s 18 percent of the population, and a population that at least nominally has equal rights inside Israel. That’s going to make it tough for Gafsou to keep his segregationist philosophy in place, especially with that percentage growing all the time. The minorities have to be content sending their children to the next city over to attend school, for now.
Gafsou’s position is politically tenable for now, and a lot of Israeli politicians run on a policy of overt discrimination against Arabs, but in a city where Jews and Arabs live side by side contentedly, the policy must seem ridiculously old-fashioned to the younger residents, and seems doomed in the long run.
No apartheid in Israel at all is there! Children cannot get a school for Arab children locally let alone go to the same schools! I suppose they also have to go on different buses on different roads, makes South Africa look positively desegregated in the Apartheid days of old, at least they let blacks use the same roads!
Zionism is Racism.
I wonder what the black American President will have to say about this "overt discrimination" from a so-called democratic state and "close ally"…if he's ever asked by our ever diligent fawning press corp.
Likely even less than was said by Condi Rice or Colin Powell when they were Sec of State dealing with this same behavior.
Fascist, Racist, Bigotry, Nazi……….. get the picture.
I notice there are no schools. There are Arab schools and Jewish schools, but not just schools set up by the government for all the kids in the community.
What body part would ol' Gafsou cut off if a Witch's coven set up in his town ? Would he end up in a wheelchair if the Buddhists had a holy tree ?
Gafsou will neither allow mosques nor even churches. The NATO nations except Turkey have Christian majorities and kiss Israel's ass by refusing to recognize Palestine and giving Israel so much military and economic aid and allowing it to expand instead of dismantling its colonies in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.