Middle East Focus: Israeli Palestinians, Gaza, Hatikvah in Arabic, the Cheyenne, and Geronimo in Captivity

Arabia Deserta

Israeli Palestinians, Gaza, Hatikvah in Arabic, the Cheyenne, and Geronimo in Captivity

“Israël reconnaît avoir utilisé du phosphore blanc à Gaza: Dans son premier rapport exhaustif sur l'offensive à Gaza, l'Etat hébreu assure avoir employé l'agent chimique de manière légale pour former des écrans de fumée, et non comme arme contre les civils. Ce que contestent les organisations humanitaires……..”

The right wing government of Netanyahu and Lieberman (Avigdor, not Joe) has taken some decisions that seem deliberately aimed at provoking Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority.

First came the decision last week to change Arabic (and English) street and city names into their Hebrew pronunciation and spelling. Even Nazareth, a Palestinian city, was given a Hebrew name.

Now another decision by the Israeli Ministry of Education of the new right wing government makes it mandatory to sing the national anthem in all schools. This forces students in Arab schools to sing the Hatikvah (The Hope), the national anthem extolling the return of Jews to their ancestral homeland. Israeli Arabs are not amused, and I bet some Israeli Jews are not amused either.Is this sort of like having the Cheyenne nation sing the Star-Spangled Banner as they marched into the reservation…..Or like expecting Geronimo to sing it on the train to the Florida swamps…….Sort of.
Cheers
mhg
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