Bob and others,

Israel is a secular, bourgeois democracy no different from the countries of
Western Europe and the United States. This is part of the propaganda that is
issued by the U.S. and its media when it speaks of Israel being "the only
free state in the Middle East." You are referring to the Israeli "right of
return," which grants automatic citizenship to people who prove they are
Jewish. But this has nothing to do with religion or going to temple, but
lineage. As far as citizenship, technically anyone can apply within certain
parameters (as with the United States).

Israel is only a "Jewish state" to the extent that the United States is a
"Christian state." True, in both places, a religious right have a good deal
of play in mainstream politics.

But the issue is not one of "Judaism vs. Christianity" or the "millenias-old
battle of faiths" as the capitalist darlings want to paint it. It is a
national issue, based on ethnic sovereignty.

Alister-- considering the issue of "second class citizenship," you might want
to look at the way African Jews have been treated by the Zionist entity and
their relative status in that society.

-- David
In a message dated 3/20/2 3:37:58 AM, you wrote:

>This is interesting. It'd be nice to find an authoritative source to check
>with, but who that might be is the problem. But I'd swear either a
>commentator or an article mentioned that if your maternal grandmother was
>or is Jewish, regardless of which country you or she might live in, in
>effect you have duel citizenship. I also understand that although Israel
>has a number of other peoples, even Palestinians, living within its
>borders, their citizenship rights are of a limited nature. Also don't think
>being 'religiously' Jewish has any bearing on citizenship. What it comes
>down to is, to be accepted as a Jew and a full citizen of Israeli, you must
>be a descendent of Abraham, and offer at least a modicum of proof of the
>same.
>
>Bob
>
>alister air wrote..
>>I do not think this is correct.  I was under the impression that
>>citizenship would be granted regardless of ethnicity - there are, after
>>all, Israeli Arabs.  Further, Judaism is a religion rather than a
>>'race'.  There are a significant number of African Jews who are citizens of
>>Israel.
>>
>>Alister
>>
>>At 06:32 PM 19/03/2002, Bob Rogers wrote:
>>>Not sure I understand this 'somewhat ethnically Jewish'. Its been my
>>>understanding full citizenship can only be given to Jews, and to be
>>>accepted as Jewish the applicant must furnish proof that their maternal
>>>grandmother was/is Jewish.