Correction of your statement

Submitted by sara (United States), Mar 14, 2013 at 17:55

Hello,

You wrote:

Re Israeli Apartheid, I also wonder is it isn't the "instinct" of the slight Mizrahi majority of that country to live apart from Muslims--again, someone correct me if I'm wrong. And, are there truly Israeli laws that mandate legal segregation? If there are none, I see this talk of Israeli "Apartheid" as strictly hostile propaganda.

I would re-word that statement to be more precise. In fact, the Mizrahi Israelis, most of whom arrived in Israel due to banishment and worse from their Arab countries of origin (Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, etc) are simply more realistic about the behaviors and actions of Muslim Arabs and tend to be very suspicious and distrusting. Who could blame them? Most were lucky to get out alive with the clothes on their backs. So it is not so much 'instinct' as - reality.

Second, the notion that there is any type of legal segregation in Israel between Israeli Arabs and Jews, let alone Sephardi and Ashkenazi is utterly ridiculous. There are certainly cultural differences here and there, though that has changed over the years among all groups. For a young country with many influences, I would say they have done quite well at integration and establishing a shared national identity. Yes, that goes for many Israeli Arabs as well.

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