Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 09/11 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 02.- 16. Mai 2011 1. Tag der Nakba Der Tag der Nakba("Katastrophe") wird von vielen Palästinensern jedes Jahr am Jahrestag der Staats­gründung Israels begangen, mit der 1948 hundert­tausende Palästinenser ihre Heimat verloren. In die­sem Jahr war den damit verbundenen Gedenkver­anstaltungen und Protestaktionen mit besonderer Sorge entgegen geschaut worden: In Israel war erst wenige Wochen zuvor ein Gesetz verabschiedet worden, welches Institutionen, die Nakba­Veranstaltungen zulassen, staatliche Zuschüsse entzieht. Allerdings fielen Proteste in Israel und im West­jordanland nicht größer aus als in Vorjahren. Statt­dessen kam es zu Ausschreitungen an den israeli­schen Nordgrenzen. Dort marschierten hunderte li­banesische und syrische Palästinenser zur israeli­schen Grenze. In den Golanhöhen gelang es mehr als 100 Syrern auf von Israel kontrolliertes Gebiet durchzudringen. Sowohl an der Grenze zum Liba­non als auch zu Syrien eröffnete die israelische Ar­mee das Feuer. Dabei wurden mindestens 14 Men­schen getötet. Am selben Tag überrollte ein arabischer Lastwagen­fahrer in Tel Aviv mit seinem Fahrzeug Autos, Fuß­gänger und einen Bus. Der Vorfall, der von der Poli­zei als Terrorangriff eingestuft wird, kostete einen Mann das Leben. What kind of independence is this? "The Nakba Law, which bars public funding for groups that mark the Nakba[…] is yet another act by successive Israeli governments that constitutes a blow to Israel's Arab citizens, harms them and pushes them into the corner.[…] The Nakba Law means that instead of fostering a potentially empathetic discourse between the majori­ty and the minority, the Nakba becomes just another time for hatred and quarrels." Merav Michaeli, HAA 09.05.11 The Big Nakba Lie "A prime example of Palestinian brazen malicious deceit against Israel is their so-called'Day of Catas­trophe', Nakba Day.[…] What is the'disaster' Nakba Day commemorates? Nothing less than the day on which Israel Declared Independence in 1948.[…] The fact is, in 1948 Palestinian Arab leaders strong­ly encouraged their constituents to leave Israel and return to their homes after the war was quickly won by the invading Arab armies. This perverted 'national' Palestinian Nakba observance therefore, has nothing to do with historical facts, but springs solely and exclusively from their'national' impulse to express hate and malice against the Jewish people and against Israel. If there was a disaster for the Palestinians stemming from Israel's War Of Independence they brought it down on their own heads.." Yonatan Silverman, AS 14.05.11 A history lesson on Nakba Day "Were Israel a little more confident of the righteous­ness of its case, and were its government a little more open, then all schools in Israel, Jewish and Arab alike, would today mark Nakba Day.[…] It would be a different heritage lesson, the kind that includes the story of the other side, the one that is denied and repressed.[…] Sixty three years later, with the country established and flourishing, we can now begin telling the entire truth, not only the heroic, convenient part of the story." Gideon Levy, HAA 15.05.11 Wanted: Palestinian self-criticism "Efforts by members of Israel's far right to forbid the country's Arab citizens from commemorating the Nakba are mean, foolish and destined to fail. But in­itiatives by the extreme left to turn Nakba Day into a joint memorial day for all of Israel's citizens are also doomed. Israel is not a binational state, and with all due liberalism and humanism, it is hard to treat vic­1