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The vote on the law has updated the political fault line in Israel: the discrimination camp vs. the equality camp; the supporters of apartheid against the supporters of democracy. It is true that Israel's Arab citizens have been discriminated against since the state's establishment by the governments on both the left and right. But liberal basic laws and High Court of Justice rulings during the past generation advanced the drive toward equality and integrating the minority, which Netanyahu is now seeking to destroy.This is important because while many American voices have said Israel is built on an apartheid system, an understanding spurred on by the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and the Institute for Middle East Understanding, the mainstream media here have denied this fact. Haaretz deserves international support for its position, but sadly it won't get it from the lapdog US press. Let alone from liberal Zionist organizations that are struggling to keep Israel from becoming politicized in the U.S.
The opposition, now headed by Tzipi Livni, must unite, as it did in the vote on the nation-state law, and present the public with a strong, simple message: equality. There is no more appropriate foundation for Israel's future as a prosperous democratic society. Netanyahu must not be allowed to rip the Declaration of Independence to shreds and turn Israel into a whitewashed version of the occupation regime in the territories.
Comment: Ahed was received with joy and tears by her family and many supporters.