PA TV interviews Israeli Druze that supports Israel; PA TV host denies Jewish right to self-determination, Israel’s equal treatment of minorities
Official PA TV program From the Interior, on the Israeli Jewish Nation-State Law and the Israeli Druze community, hosting Atty. Samer Ali, who submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court against the law by the Druze Lawyer Forum, and Ata Farahat, who opposes the Arab-Druze opposition to the law
Druze supporter of the Jewish Nation-State Law Ata Farahat: “The [Jewish] Nation-State Law is not an apartheid law. The Nation-State Law says that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, as a people that has the right to self-determination. The Jewish people returned to Israel-”
Official PA TV host: “And what about the Arabs?”
Ata Farahat: “Just a moment, let me finish my answer. It returned to Israel after 2,000 years-”
Host: “I don’t want to, no, no. I don’t want to get into it. Forgive me, seriously, I don’t want to get into this discussion .”
Ata Farahat: “Ramzi, I’ll leave the studio and go if you don’t want to let me talk.”
Host: “No, why should you leave? Stay.”
Ata Farahat: “Then let me talk, please.”
Host: “Okay, go ahead.”
Ata Farahat: “Then let me talk.”
Host: “But I didn’t come to get into a historical issue.”
Ata Farahat: “We are talking about the people’s right to self-determination-”
Host: “I disagree on the issue.”
Ata Farahat: “Listen to me for a moment. We are talking about a nation's right to self-determination. This is self-determination only for the Jewish people."
Host: "And that’s it."
Ata Farahat: "And that’s it. Period."
Host: "There is no [one else]."
Ata Farahat: "The rest of the minorities-"
Host: "No one else exists."
Ata Farahat: "Now I’ll explain to you why. The rest of the minorities have full equal civil rights [in Israel]. And why?-"
Host: "There is no equality."
Ata Farahat: "We can’t-"
Host: "From this law, as we have heard from the honorable lawyer, equality has been erased from this law, continue."
Ata Farahat: "I'm leaving."
Host: "No, continue. Why?"
Ata Farahat: "Then let me talk."
Host: "But I also want to discuss [this]."
Ata Farahat: "In other words, you want to talk to me, and to answer instead of me."
Farahat gets up to leave
Host: "If there is something to discuss."
Ata Farahat: "Enough."
Host: "Sorry, sorry Ata. Your leaving is a mistake, your leaving is a mistake, your leaving is a mistake. In my opinion, your leaving is a mistake."
Ata Farahat: "If you respect me let me answer and finish."
Host: "I respect you. I completely respect you, please."
Ata Farahat: "One more time and I’m leaving."
Host: "Please."
Ata Farahat: "With your permission."
Host: "Please, please."
Ata Farahat: "I didn’t come for you to make fun of me. I came to say what I want."
Host: "Ata, please."
Ata Farahat: "Give me my time to say what I want."
Host: "Okay, please."
Ata Farahat: "I respect everyone."
Fatahat comes back to the table
Host: "Please. Until you put that back on…"
Ata Farahat: "The Israeli left and the Palestinians are saying: 'We want to establish a Palestinian state in the historical Land of Israel.' Okay, so you want to make a state of all its citizens and to put the Arabs in it, and the Arabs will have a right to self-determination as citizens, as a nation, and in addition, a Palestinian state too. In other words, it will be-"
Host: "But there is an occupied people, under occupation."
Ata Farahat: "I think that it is not occupied. The only occupiers, the only occupiers in the Land of Israel are the Arabs, because from a historical perspective the Land of Israel belonged to the Jewish people. Now the Arabs are here and no one is expelling them from their homes , and they are here."
Host: "Ata, forgive me, you told me that we don’t want to get into an argument with each other, but you are forcing me to get into an argument. In other words, I don’t want to get into-"
Ata Farahat: "Now I want to tell you about the principles of equality. As you let-"
Host: "There are false claims. Really, I'm letting you. Really, I’m letting you."
Ata Farahat: "Ramzi, let's respect each other, and restrain yourself a little. Let yourself-"
Host: "No, but there are false historical claims here."
Ata Farahat: "Okay, like you spoke with respected brother Samer, give me time to answer you…
Host: "There is a regime of racial separation now. There is an apartheid regime now."
Ata Farahat: "There is no racist regime. It isn't apartheid."
Host: "After this law – it is apartheid. Even an [Israeli] Supreme Court judge said this."
Ata Farahat: "Is it apartheid when there is a [Druze] minister…? Is it apartheid when there is a Druze major general? Is it apartheid when there are [Muslim Arab] supreme court judges? Is it apartheid when there are [Muslim Arab] judges in the district courts and the magistrate courts?"
Host: "But your loyalty is to the Jews. Your loyalty is to the Jews."
Ata Farahat: "I am loyal to the State of Israel."
Host: "This is what the law says– to the Jews alone. Not to the State of Israel."
Ata Farahat: "I am loyal to the State of Israel."
Host: "The State of Israel belongs to the Jews and you are loyal to the Jews.”
Ata Farahat: "Okay, fine, and what is the problem?"
Host: "And you have no connection to the country. In other words, they erased your history too. You have no connection to the country."
Ata Farahat: "No one told the Arabs: 'Leave your home.' The Arabs' place in Israel is respectable. There is consideration for their place. There are plans, and the government of Israel is providing recovery and development plans to the Arab sector-"
Host: "Let me, let me-"
Ata Farahat: "And all of this propaganda of the New Israel Fund together with the left directly to me will not succeed in leading the Druze community to [doubt] the identity…"
Ata Farahat: I respect [Atty. Samer Ali's ] opinion, this is a democratic state – he is stating his opinion-”
Samer Ali, lawyer who petitioned the Supreme Court against the law for the Druze Lawyer Forum: "No, it is not a democratic state today, only Jewish. Make no mistake! Make no mistake - that is how it is written in the Nation-State Law."
Ata Farahat: "It is a democratic state. It is democratic. Do you know why Israel is democratic?"
Samer Ali: "No, let's read it together: The state is a Jewish state. They erased 'democratic' for you. You don't have it anymore."
Ata Farahat: "The state is democratic only because it is Jewish. If it was a different state, it would not be democratic. Look at what is happening around us. Is there ‘democratic’ in Syria? Is there democracy in Egypt? Is there democracy in Jordan?"
Host: "Stick to the topic, stick to the topic."
Ata Farahat: "It is the beacon that glows in the Middle East – Israel; and in this region of oppression, the Middle East, only Israel is the beacon that glows. And anyone who says differently is mistaken."
Jewish Nation-State Law – law passed by the Israeli Parliament on July 19, 2018, which codifies in Israel's Basic Law that Israel is the home of the Jewish nation with Jerusalem its capital, and the Hebrew calendar its official calendar. It establishes Hebrew as the sole official language and grants Arabic a special status, and it recognizes Jewish and Israeli holidays, memorial days, and the Jewish Sabbath as national holidays and days of rest - while guaranteeing the right of all Israeli citizens and residents to celebrate their holidays and days of rest. The law, which passed with 62 in favor, 55 against, and 2 abstentions, has sparked controversy within Israeli society.
Druze supporter of the Jewish Nation-State Law Ata Farahat: “The [Jewish] Nation-State Law is not an apartheid law. The Nation-State Law says that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, as a people that has the right to self-determination. The Jewish people returned to Israel-”
Official PA TV host: “And what about the Arabs?”
Ata Farahat: “Just a moment, let me finish my answer. It returned to Israel after 2,000 years-”
Host: “I don’t want to, no, no. I don’t want to get into it. Forgive me, seriously, I don’t want to get into this discussion .”
Ata Farahat: “Ramzi, I’ll leave the studio and go if you don’t want to let me talk.”
Host: “No, why should you leave? Stay.”
Ata Farahat: “Then let me talk, please.”
Host: “Okay, go ahead.”
Ata Farahat: “Then let me talk.”
Host: “But I didn’t come to get into a historical issue.”
Ata Farahat: “We are talking about the people’s right to self-determination-”
Host: “I disagree on the issue.”
Ata Farahat: “Listen to me for a moment. We are talking about a nation's right to self-determination. This is self-determination only for the Jewish people."
Host: "And that’s it."
Ata Farahat: "And that’s it. Period."
Host: "There is no [one else]."
Ata Farahat: "The rest of the minorities-"
Host: "No one else exists."
Ata Farahat: "Now I’ll explain to you why. The rest of the minorities have full equal civil rights [in Israel]. And why?-"
Host: "There is no equality."
Ata Farahat: "We can’t-"
Host: "From this law, as we have heard from the honorable lawyer, equality has been erased from this law, continue."
Ata Farahat: "I'm leaving."
Host: "No, continue. Why?"
Ata Farahat: "Then let me talk."
Host: "But I also want to discuss [this]."
Ata Farahat: "In other words, you want to talk to me, and to answer instead of me."
Farahat gets up to leave
Host: "If there is something to discuss."
Ata Farahat: "Enough."
Host: "Sorry, sorry Ata. Your leaving is a mistake, your leaving is a mistake, your leaving is a mistake. In my opinion, your leaving is a mistake."
Ata Farahat: "If you respect me let me answer and finish."
Host: "I respect you. I completely respect you, please."
Ata Farahat: "One more time and I’m leaving."
Host: "Please."
Ata Farahat: "With your permission."
Host: "Please, please."
Ata Farahat: "I didn’t come for you to make fun of me. I came to say what I want."
Host: "Ata, please."
Ata Farahat: "Give me my time to say what I want."
Host: "Okay, please."
Ata Farahat: "I respect everyone."
Fatahat comes back to the table
Host: "Please. Until you put that back on…"
Ata Farahat: "The Israeli left and the Palestinians are saying: 'We want to establish a Palestinian state in the historical Land of Israel.' Okay, so you want to make a state of all its citizens and to put the Arabs in it, and the Arabs will have a right to self-determination as citizens, as a nation, and in addition, a Palestinian state too. In other words, it will be-"
Host: "But there is an occupied people, under occupation."
Ata Farahat: "I think that it is not occupied. The only occupiers, the only occupiers in the Land of Israel are the Arabs, because from a historical perspective the Land of Israel belonged to the Jewish people. Now the Arabs are here and no one is expelling them from their homes , and they are here."
Host: "Ata, forgive me, you told me that we don’t want to get into an argument with each other, but you are forcing me to get into an argument. In other words, I don’t want to get into-"
Ata Farahat: "Now I want to tell you about the principles of equality. As you let-"
Host: "There are false claims. Really, I'm letting you. Really, I’m letting you."
Ata Farahat: "Ramzi, let's respect each other, and restrain yourself a little. Let yourself-"
Host: "No, but there are false historical claims here."
Ata Farahat: "Okay, like you spoke with respected brother Samer, give me time to answer you…
Host: "There is a regime of racial separation now. There is an apartheid regime now."
Ata Farahat: "There is no racist regime. It isn't apartheid."
Host: "After this law – it is apartheid. Even an [Israeli] Supreme Court judge said this."
Ata Farahat: "Is it apartheid when there is a [Druze] minister…? Is it apartheid when there is a Druze major general? Is it apartheid when there are [Muslim Arab] supreme court judges? Is it apartheid when there are [Muslim Arab] judges in the district courts and the magistrate courts?"
Host: "But your loyalty is to the Jews. Your loyalty is to the Jews."
Ata Farahat: "I am loyal to the State of Israel."
Host: "This is what the law says– to the Jews alone. Not to the State of Israel."
Ata Farahat: "I am loyal to the State of Israel."
Host: "The State of Israel belongs to the Jews and you are loyal to the Jews.”
Ata Farahat: "Okay, fine, and what is the problem?"
Host: "And you have no connection to the country. In other words, they erased your history too. You have no connection to the country."
Ata Farahat: "No one told the Arabs: 'Leave your home.' The Arabs' place in Israel is respectable. There is consideration for their place. There are plans, and the government of Israel is providing recovery and development plans to the Arab sector-"
Host: "Let me, let me-"
Ata Farahat: "And all of this propaganda of the New Israel Fund together with the left directly to me will not succeed in leading the Druze community to [doubt] the identity…"
Ata Farahat: I respect [Atty. Samer Ali's ] opinion, this is a democratic state – he is stating his opinion-”
Samer Ali, lawyer who petitioned the Supreme Court against the law for the Druze Lawyer Forum: "No, it is not a democratic state today, only Jewish. Make no mistake! Make no mistake - that is how it is written in the Nation-State Law."
Ata Farahat: "It is a democratic state. It is democratic. Do you know why Israel is democratic?"
Samer Ali: "No, let's read it together: The state is a Jewish state. They erased 'democratic' for you. You don't have it anymore."
Ata Farahat: "The state is democratic only because it is Jewish. If it was a different state, it would not be democratic. Look at what is happening around us. Is there ‘democratic’ in Syria? Is there democracy in Egypt? Is there democracy in Jordan?"
Host: "Stick to the topic, stick to the topic."
Ata Farahat: "It is the beacon that glows in the Middle East – Israel; and in this region of oppression, the Middle East, only Israel is the beacon that glows. And anyone who says differently is mistaken."
Jewish Nation-State Law – law passed by the Israeli Parliament on July 19, 2018, which codifies in Israel's Basic Law that Israel is the home of the Jewish nation with Jerusalem its capital, and the Hebrew calendar its official calendar. It establishes Hebrew as the sole official language and grants Arabic a special status, and it recognizes Jewish and Israeli holidays, memorial days, and the Jewish Sabbath as national holidays and days of rest - while guaranteeing the right of all Israeli citizens and residents to celebrate their holidays and days of rest. The law, which passed with 62 in favor, 55 against, and 2 abstentions, has sparked controversy within Israeli society.