Israeli Defense Ministry rallies to Father Nadaf’s support
(JNS.org) Israel must help Arab Christians who choose to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) said on Tuesday, Israel Hayom reported.
Danon cited the recent controversy surrounding a prominent member of the Greek Orthodox community, Father Jibra’il (Gabriel) Nadaf, who participated in an event that was designed to encourage Arab youth to join the Israeli armed forces. Nadaf was scolded by some Israeli Arabs and Palestinian officials after the event, with some calling on him to resign. The head of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Patriarch Theophilos III, held a disciplinary hearing for Nadaf on Tuesday ahead of his potential dismissal.
According to a statement released by Danon’s bureau on Tuesday, the deputy minister seeks to establish a dedicated department in his ministry that would “take a determined stance to counter anyone who incites against and threatens those who want to integrate into Israeli society.”
Danon plans to convene a special meeting on the matter, the statement said. According to the statement, representatives from the Religious Services Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the Arab Christian community will be in attendance.
“Those who want to serve the country must know that the state will have their backs and protect them,” Danon said on Tuesday.
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Israeli Arabs harden to Jews while Jews soften to Arabs, survey says
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The 2012 Index of Arab-Jewish Relations in Israel, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, shows an undercurrent of alienation and radicalization of Israel’s Arabs toward the Jewish state, with a concurrent but opposite undercurrent of Jewish Israeli softening of attitudes toward the Israeli Arab minority.
“For the 10 years spanning 2003 and 2012, the index is marked by the trend of a toughening of Arab attitudes toward the Jewish character of the state and its Jewish majority, but by stability or even a certain moderation in Jewish attitudes toward Israel’s Arab citizens,” the IDI report stated.
The survey shows that while Jews are open to a degree of change, the Arabs perceive themselves as absolute victims and expect the Jewish population to make all the concessions, while refusing to take any steps to win the trust and good will of the state and of the Jews or to motivate Jews to effect change.
The index reveals that 58.6 percent of Arab respondents agreed with the statement that “it is justified that the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip start a third intifada if the political stalemate continues.”
Most Arab respondents—62.4 percent—feel that it is impossible to trust most Jews (55.6 percent in 2003), and 82.2 percent accused Jews of the “Nakba” (the “Catastrophe” of Israel’s founding in 1948), a rise from 65.3 percent in 2003.
As for the Jewish perspective, a significant percentage of Jewish respondents were ready to accept Arab citizens as neighbors (45.7 percent in 2012, compared with 34.5 percent in 2003), as students in Jewish schools (54.8 percent in 2012, up from 51.5 percent in 2003), and Arab political parties in government coalitions (52.8 percent in 2012, up from 47.4 percent in 2003).
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CAMERA Israel trip helps students ‘counter news media errors’
(JNS.org) The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is bringing nearly two-dozen student leaders on a 10-day trip to Israel to help “better recognize and counter news media errors and biases regarding Israel.”
Boston-based CAMERA, which also recently launched the student-geared website CAMERAoncampus.org, will bring the students to some of Israel’s top institutions to meet with experts in public relations.
“In our trip… students will visit top Israeli institutions and meet public relations experts to learn how to effectively communicate a message,” Aviva Slomich, CAMERA’s campus director, said in a statement.
“We will also take part in training sessions about media coverage and how to help promote sound reporting. In addition, the study tour includes meetings with journalists, policy makers, world-renowned academics, and government leaders,” she said.
In addition to visiting several strategic and historic locations such as Sderot, the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, the students will meet several top experts in Israel, including Deputy Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Mark Regev, Jerusalem Post reporter Khaled Abu Toameh, and Ishmael Khaledi, Israel’s top-ranking Muslim diplomat.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org