According to the Economist, the bill outlawing Nakba demonstrations is unlikely to make it onto Israel’s statute book. But, “the bill’s endorsement on May 24th by the cabinet committee on legislation sent a shudder through liberal circles in the Jewish state - and appalled Palestinian’s everywhere. For it was a sign that the anti-Arab campaign of the new foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, earlier this year was not just electoral hype.”
And over at The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldbergwrites, “I understand Israeli Jewish fears about the extremism found in certain sections of Arab Israeli society, but is outlawing expression of dissent the way to battle this extremism? In the countries that border Israel, many thoughts are held to be illegal. But is Syria now the model for Israeli democracy?”
