Arab Pundits Accuse Israel of Search for Most Racist Laws

A report in Arab media reporting the latest nationalistic legislation being considered by the Israeli parliament suggests, “Right-wing Knesset members appear to be in a race to see who can sponsor the most racist law against Palestinians.” Jerusalem-based attorney Sani Khoury was quoted by the Saudi-based Arab News regarding draft legislation that would give the government the ability to strip residency from anyone deemed to be “involved in terrorism.” The new bill dovetails with existing legislation that allows residency to be revoked from citizens who are out of the city of Jerusalem for seven years – a law Israel’s critics have long pointed to as “racist.” Arab-Israeli sources put the number of Arabs who have lost residency through that law at about 15,000. The Palestinian and Arab Israeli populations are also condemning a proposed law that would allow Israel to penalize the Palestinian Authority for paying stipends to families of security prisoners or perpetrators of violent attacks on Jews, living or dead.