Jack Cohen: In how many languages do you think the Israel Broadcasting Association (IBA) broadcasts its News ? The answer is 14. Here they are: English, Russian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Muhgrabi (N. African Arabic), Persian, Amharic (Ethiopian), Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), Yiddish, Aramaic, Bukharan, Hungarian and Romanian. Each one gets its 15 mins of news three times a day. Except that Arabic has its own channel on radio and TV, and then there is of course Hebrew, that has many channels .
Jack Cohen
IBA News doesn’t broadcast these languages for the benefit of tourists or diplomats, but for a segment of the population that speaks each language. For some Jewish immigrants who have not managed to master Hebrew, even after months of free lessons (Ulpan), these broadcasts keep them informed in their native language. Of course, some immigrants, from Finland and Sweden for example, are out of luck. These 14 languages give an indication of the scope of the rainbow nation that is Israel.
Walking around Israel, including Netanya where I live, one hears Russian, French, Arabic, Yiddish, English and even Hebrew. One sees Arabs, the women often defined by their head dress (covering their hair, like ultra-Orthodox Jews), many Ethiopians, Filipinos and Africans. The very idea that Israel could be an apartheid country or be racist is absurd to anyone who has been here for 5 minutes.
The Arabs one sees are Israeli Arabs, who live in Israel and are citizens, and who work in every phase of life (pharmacists, construction workers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, postmen and so on). They are not Palestinian Arabs, who live in the territories (Gaza, Judea, Samaria) who are not citizens and who do not have rights here. It would be like the difference between Mexican-Americans who have lived in the USA for generations and Mexican citizens who live in Mexico. They are different.
It is illegal for Israelis (including Israeli Arabs) to go to the Palestinian territories, where they could be attacked, killed or kidnapped. This is not just propaganda, it is a real threat that has happened and is predictable. On the other hand, Palestinians come into Israel, tens of thousands each day, to work, but they are required to return each evening. This is to try to prevent terrorism.
So Israel is a tolerant and open society, but it is the Palestinians who will not tolerate any infidel, Jew or other, into their society and into their locality. Who really are the racists?
Jack Cohen: Born in London, UK, lived in suburban Washington DC area for 30 years, moved to Israel in 1996. He has a web site: Jack’s Blog
Jack Cohen
