In what way does the attitude towards an ethnic Arab citizen of the Hebrew State differ from, let’s say, the attitude towards an ethnic Hebrew citizen of the French Republic (or from the attitude towards an ethnic Hungarian citizen of Romania, or from the attitude towards an ethnic German citizen of the Czech Republic, or from the attitude towards an ethnic Japanese citizen of Peru, or from the attitude towards an ethnic Italian citizen of India, etc.)? The Hebrew State should be, like any normal democratic state, a state of all its citizens, should confer its national identity on all its citizens, together with equal civil rights and duties, without any discrimination, without segregation between the majority and the minorities, i.e., the answer is sharp and clear: In general, the attitude towards an ethnic Arab citizen of the Hebrew State should not be different at all from the attitude towards an ethnic Hebrew citizen of the French Republic (or of any other national state) !!! An ethnic Hebrew citizen of the French Republic is, from the national aspect, French. The French Republic is his state and he must be loyal to it, the French national aspirations are his aspirations, the French flag is his flag, the French anthem is his anthem, the French army is his army, the French culture is his culture. In the context of the French nation, he will be able, as much as he pleases, to preserve his ethnic Hebrew specifics (name, customs, ethnic culture etc.), to maintain his affinity to ethnic Hebrew communities in the world, and even his affinity towards the Hebrew State, as long as it is not in contradiction to the interests of the French Republic, whose citizen he is, and to whom he must be loyal. Should the ethnic Hebrew citizen of the French Republic desire to also acquire a Hebrew national identity, he would have to get the approval of the Hebrew State to live in it, to get the citizenship of the Hebrew State by its laws, and thus to receive the Hebrew national identity he desires. In the particular case of the French Republic and the Hebrew State, their laws permit double citizenship, because there is no conflict of interests between them (In the case of a conflict, there is no possibility of acquiring double citizenship, and the person in question should choose the state in which he wants to live and to have its citizenship, thereby choosing his nationality, with all the attendant consequences).
As we already stated in the previous chapters, an ethnic Arab citizen of the Hebrew State is, from the national aspect, a Hebrew similar and equal to all the citizens of the Hebrew State, of all races, ethnicities, beliefs, etc. This means that the Hebrew State is his state and he must be loyal to it, the Hebrew national aspirations are his aspirations, the Hebrew flag is his flag, the Hebrew anthem is his anthem, the Hebrew army is his army, the Hebrew culture is his culture, and in the context of the Hebrew nation, he will be able, as much as he pleases, to preserve his ethnic Arab specifics (name, customs, ethnical culture, etc.). He will be able to maintain his affinity to ethnic Arab communities in the world, and even his affinity towards national Arab states, as long as it is not in contradiction to the national interests of the Hebrew State, whose citizen he is, and to which he must be loyal. Should the ethnic Arab citizen of the Hebrew State desire that his national identity become the national identity of one of the Arab states or of the Palestinian Authority, he will have to get the approval of that Arab state or of the Palestinian Authority to live there, to get the citizenship of that Arab country or of the Palestinian Authority accordingly, and thus to receive the particular Arab national identity he desires. As a citizen of the Hebrew State he has Hebrew national identity, he is Hebrew, and therefore his obligation is to be loyal to the Hebrew State and to identify himself with the Hebrew nationality. A citizen of the Hebrew State who declares that he is Palestinian (or Syrian, etc.) declines his basic obligations towards the Hebrew State and may lose the citizenship of the Hebrew State – the source of his Hebrew nationality.
Who is a Palestinian? Every person who is a subject of the Palestinian Authority, regardless of his ethnicity, religion etc., has a Palestinian national identity, he is a Palestinian, has the obligation of loyalty towards the Palestinian Authority and of identification with the Palestinian nationality. The national Palestinian aspirations are his national aspirations, the Palestinian flag is his flag, the Palestinian anthem is his anthem, the Palestinian culture is his culture.
Next Chapter – Prof. Edward Said’s “End to the Ethnic Conflict”
Previous Chapter – The Civil State