"Increasing numbers of Israeli Arab youth are doing military and national service despite boycotts and denouncements by Arab public figures • Even some Muslim youth are interested."
Very cool story, read the whole thing. Especially this:
"I am an Arab Muslim and a
proud Israeli," Haskia wrote. I am a daughter of the state of Israel, I
was born here, I grew up here and I have no other land. As a social
activist for the full integration of Israeli Arabs into the state of
Israel and with an understanding that the state's Arabs are also its
citizens, it is clear that serving in the IDF and serving in
national-civic service is a basic component of the Israeli melting pot."
"My children get equal treatment in the army
and they have not encountered racism or discrimination," Haskia told
Israel Hayom.
"When my eldest son was drafted, I spent many nights
worrying and unable to sleep, but I felt good. When he came home on his
first furlough in uniform, I cried. This is true integration into
society, in the only country in the Middle East that provides genuine
human and civil rights. These feelings returned when my daughter and
other son were drafted."
"According to Haskia, drafting Arabs into the army or
national service, as well providing incentives with laws like the
"contributor's law" and the benefits derived for those who carry the
country's military and civil burden, provide a golden opportunity to
change the reality and to bring about total equality between all
populations."
"Arab Knesset members are misleading Arab society and do
not serve the main goal, which is to advance and integrate Israeli
Arabs," Haskia says."
