"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
The above is the oath taken by every naturalized citizen of the United States of America states as he acquires his or her US citizenship.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The above is the Pledge of Allegiance that I would expect every reader from America knows by heart.
The State of Israel is working on requiring an oath from everyone who wishes to take on Israeli citizenship. That oath will include the requirement that the prospective citizen swear allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and Democratic state".
The radical left and Arabs are in a uproar.
It's strange, what offends them.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
15 comments:
"taken by every naturalized citizen of the United States of America states as he acquires his or her US citizenship"
...except Obama
"I did swear, but I did not mean it"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8GTeWlYk8
And what's the problem with taking an oath to uphold and defend the Jewish State?
If Israel's Far Left and the Arabs don't like the terms, they are free to leave the country. No one is imposing it on them if they don't care to live in the Jewish State.
Oh, Joe, of course the left is upset...why should Israel be taking citizenship lessons from the great satan: the United States. Obviously, only Muslim countries should be allowed to have a national religion, only citizens of third world nations can have any sort of patriotism, and the government should stay out of people's lives except to take their money, control their health care options and dictate their education.
Remember the rules Joe:
"I love my family" = racism
"I love my country" = fascism
"I think this is a good idea" = bigotry! how can one idea be any better than all of the others? Who are you to judge?
Danny (above) is right. The world expects Israel to protect other people's interests before they protect their own. It's absurd.
It's not only the far left, it's the regular left too.
does braverman explain what he means that if we add the pledge to the naturalization process, nations around the world will seek to deligitimize Israel? is this the only Israeli statehood statement of Israel as a jewish and democratic state?
(hey are they offended by democratic or by jewish???)
I don't get this post. How is the proposed Israeli oath similar to either the American Pledge or Citizenship Oath? You make it sound as if the left and the Arabic sectors of Israel are opposed to the very idea of a citizenship pledge, when of course they're opposed to the defining of the state on ethno-religious grounds. If citizens came to America and had to swear fidelity to a Christian nation, would you truly be mystified?
Second, who is this citizenship oath for? It's only for new citizens. Since Arabs can't become new citizens in Israel, and since Arabs that are already citizens of Israel don't have to take the oath, what is it for? Just to stick it to liberal Jewish immigrants?
Sorry, not really a good comparison. I don't think Jews would have been so thrilled or patriotic had the US pledge said "I pledge allegiance to a Christian and democratic United States of Amercica"
History books, Joe, history books.
The United States of America has a Constitution. It sets the baseline of American values - freedom of religion, expression, et al. True, the Supreme Court has fiddled with the boundaries over the years, but the basic ideals are set in stone.
This is only true today. In the 1780s, those ideals were very much up for debate. The "anti-federalists" supported state religion (Christianity) and puritanical standards of public decency. But a consensus was more or less reached, and the Constitution was ratified.
Israel is still in that stage of development, if 60+ years after its founding. The ideals may seem like a slam dunk to you/us, but the debate is far from settled.
Sorry, but there's no comparison to the American system.
As it happens, we do have a "Declaration of Independence" in which the founders of the modern state of Israel declared the shared basic values of the state of Israel.
Those basic values are that Israel would be a Jewish state, and have the values of a democratic state.
...
"ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT... HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL...
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations..."
Israel was openly declared a "Jewish" state by the country's founders, but they only described Israel as a "Democratic" state, without saying the word outright.
Since the Declaration of Independence is clearly the primary document that contains the nation's united self-expression of what the Jewish state is meant to be, are you saying that the Left is upset with the addition of the word "Democratic" into the description of our country?
JoeSettler,
I don't follow your argument.
More delusion from the phony right who think (just like the left thinks) there is such a thing as a "good arab" who they can force to be loyal to Jews and Judaism, Israel, and a Jewish state if they just give them enough indoor plumbing, holocaust education, propaganda on Jewish nationalism, economic prosperity, and now loyalty oaths that they will of course feel bound to and intimidated by - just like the failed time square bomber who admitted to taking a false oath when receiving us citizenship.
The only difference with the left is in the *methods by which they coerce or bribe the arabs into being willful pets. The left doesn't like this method but prefers others. Simple as that.
This is just more delusion that there will be "good arabs" who will sacrifice their national pride and their dignity in order to adhere to Jewish nationalism which defeated and defeats his own people, and that these "good arabs" will be loyal to a Jewish sovereign entity rather than their own Arab nationalism which calls for our extermination. It's a fraud, a deception, and worse... it forces religious Jewish olim to swear allegiance to something we do not owe allegiance to. We do not owe the idol of democracy our undying devotion. We are loyal to Torah and Judaism which says build, settle, and conquer the Land of Israel. NOT retreat, surrender, and expel Jews. So yet another moral dilemma and obstacle to potential olim. And an additional red tape and phony paperwork for non-Jewish immigrants (arab family "reunifications" included) who will readily concede to the premise without any real intention of carrying it out (ie taqiya).
The phony right, like the left, refuses to acknowledge that Arabs and Jews cannot live together.
>The US is NOT multicultural, despite the lack of racial and religious homogeneity: the most important value is to 'be American' which is why Jews (and others) are assimilating in droves.
This seems to be a distinction without a difference. I'm not sure how one can argue that the United States is emphatically not multicultural while also recognizing the lack of any racial or religious homogeneity. Unless we're defining multiculturalism as being, ex definitio, an ideology of namby-pambyism which has by no means been proven.
It is a distinction without a difference because you argue that America is not multicultural, because it has a defining ideology, or value - being American. Besides the fact that this begs the question (who says a country cannot be multicultural without having a defining value) you don't define what it means to "be American". One would certainly be justified in arguing that much of being American is being tolerant towards other peoples of different backgrounds, and checking one's prejudices at the door. In short, multiculturalism.
Notice that your proposed American value - being American - is dramatically sanitized of any religious or ethnic component. No one is precluded from full participation in the American idea or the American dream. Contrast that with the loyalty oath, which seems to demand that non-Jews wishing to become citizens here must swear to recognize the fact that they are outsiders in a Jewish country. The American pledge is one of inclusion, the Israeli, one of exclusion.
>Don't like this? You're free to move. Try Brussels.
This is not an argument. I could use this to assert any opinion. Don't like it? Go read something else.
Doesn't really address the issue of the idea's underlying soundness, does it?
PFLP - Xtian, not muslim.
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