‘World’s largest Arabic lesson’: A rebuke to the Jewish Nation-State law

Thousands of Israelis gather for the event in Tel Aviv

Edo Konrad writes in +972, “Thousands of Jewish and Palestinian Israelis took part in what was billed as the “biggest Arabic lesson in the world” in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square Monday evening, an event organized to protest Israel’s new Jewish Nation-State Law, which stripped Arabic of its status as an official language in the country. The event, organized by a number of coexistence and peace organizations, included a 15-minute Arabic lesson, as well number of musical performances, speeches, and spoken word poetry. The organizations set up booths where they handed out flyers for Arabic lessons, with one booth selling t-shirts that read “I speak Arabic” in both Arabic and Hebrew.”

“’The idea was to combine Arabic lessons with a large Palestinian cultural event in the streets of Tel Aviv as a response to the Jewish Nation-State Law,” +972 Magazine writer Samah Salaime, one of the organizers of the event’, said before the event. ‘Eventually we settled on a huge Arabic lesson.’ ‘It is obvious that Arabic won’t disappear, regardless of the law,’ Salaime added. ‘The law is symbolic, but this struggle is about building a shared country and a shared future in this land.’”…

“Speaking to +972 Magazine before his performance, Zabari, a Mizrahi Jew who made headlines two years ago when Culture Minister Miri Regev walked [out] on his performance alongside Palestinian hip hop artist Tamer Nafar, said that he believes it is necessary to stand with Israel’s minorities against the whims of those in power. ‘Especially these days, anyone whose eyes are open can see the segregation, the separation, and the fear-mongering against minorities, whether they are refugees, Arabs, or LGTBQ. We must make our position clear.'”

“The event was sponsored by bi-lingual educational organization Hand in Hand, Givat Haviva, The Abraham Fund, and Sikkuy.” (more…)