Israel has passed a law that affords exclusive rights to Jewish people and removes Arabic as an official language.
There are 1.8 million Arabs in Israel, which account for 20% of the total population. Israel's new law has led to further fears of discrimination towards Arab minorities, with many Israeli neighborhoods and towns already effectively being segregated making it tough for an Arab to move in.
According to Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, this new law has taken away full equality for non Jews.
CARD. EDWIN O'BRIEN
Grand Master, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
“That law has reversed the 1948 declaration of independence of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, which stated full equality, regardless of race or religion or sex to everyone living in the Holy Land. That has been abrogated.”
Jewish and centralist leaders in Israel and around the world have decried this new law calling it racist and even apartheid. The European Union has also criticized it saying it will complicate a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem has the responsibility of protecting Christian people and places in the Holy land. Cardinal Edwin O'Brien says that more work needs to be open if people, especially the young, and their families are to survive there.
CARD. EDWIN O'BRIEN
Grand Master, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
“Right now it is virtually impossible for non Jews to purchase property on the West bank” “It is impossible for young people to survive and to grow and to bring up families.”
As the situation continues this new law is seen as a threat to Israeli democracy, which according to Rabbi Rick Jacobs will damage “the delicate balance between the Jewish majority and Arab minority.”
