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Teaming up

Jul 29,2018 - Last updated at Jul 29,2018

It is not only the Muslims and Christians in Israel who are sounding the alarm about the newly adopted Jewish nation-state law, as the Druze community is also up in arms against it.

The Druze community in Israel is a more than 150,000 strong segment of the Israeli population and is fully integrated into the Israeli political and military establishment. Some Druze hold high positions, including very sensitive ones in the Israeli military, and are regarded as highly faithful to the state of Israel. Yet, they too became segregated from the mainstream Israeli population by the new law and feel, and rightly so, betrayed and stabbed in the back.

In a desperate bid to calm the Druze population, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had held meetings with some of their leaders for two days in a row but failed to heal the deep wounds inflicted upon them by the new obscene law.

Netanyahu promised some "fixes" to allay the fears of the Druze people. This will not do as the Druze, just like the Palestinians before them, will not accept to be treated like second-class citizens in Israel.

Massive protests are scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv on August 4, which can easily spread to other Israeli urban areas, especially where sizeable Arab and Druze populations live.

The hands of Palestinians in Israel are strengthened by the revolt of the Druze and the two peoples must join forces to repeal this controversial law and convince Israeli authorities that it is high time to recognise and implement international standards when it comes to the treatment of minorities living in the country.

Otherwise, all minorities living in Israel should team up and file a joint complaint to the UN Human Rights Council and UN Human Rights treaty bodies, especially the Human Rights Committee. This way the Palestinian and Druze peoples would get an international hearing that Israel may be forced to heed and respect.

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