Jews Being Racist?

BBC has an interesting article here about reports that Israel is being unfair towards Israeli Arabs.

What's interesting is that Israel was born out of the need for a Jewish homeland after WWII. There had been too much racism towards Jews and they took (some would call it stealing) land and turned it into the Jewish homeland we now call Israel.

Some Arabs living in that area decided not to leave, and now, they face discrimination from the Jewish government. Their towns have been surrounded by military bases and industrial zones, so there are no places for Arab towns to expand. An Israeli government commission admits it as well.

But the government does nothing to help. Land was taken from Arabs after it was declared "deserted", but how could it be deserted if there were Arabs living there? The Arabs were pushed onto other lands, but their houses are illegal because the government won't give them permits. But when it comes to Jews, permits seem to fly out of the government.

Israel's Housing Minister, Ariel Atias, even calls for Jews and Arabs to live separately. This is starting to sound a lot like racial discrimination... But guess what? No new towns have been built for Arabs since 1948, and Arabs make up 20% of the population. But they only live on 3% of Israel's land. What's with that??

I admit that Jews were attacked aggressively in the past, and there needed to be a permanent solution to it. Yes, they stole the land. You can argue it, but they stole it. If it wasn't their land, and they carved out a huge chunk to turn into a nation, it's stealing. But perhaps it was the best solution. Perhaps it was the only solution. Jews needed their own homeland so they could avoid the prosecution they've faced over the centuries.

But when a group of people have been discriminated against, what gives them the right to discriminate against others? Have they not learned anything? Have the Jews not learned what it must feel like to be attacked just because of your ethinicity or your religious beliefs?

I used to respect Israel. Even when they invaded the Gaza Strip and began laying waste, I respected them. I thought that they were right to fight Hamas for constantly shooting missiles at Israel. But now that reports come up showing Israel's recklessness, it is hard to defend them. They have done so many wrong things recently, and they need to admit it.

-Gary M.