On 5 Iyar, in the year 5708—May 14, 1948—David Ben-
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Gurion stood in Tel Aviv and read a historic document to a
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packed hall. It was the Declaration of the Establishment of the
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State of Israel, its Declaration of Independence. In it the State of
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Israel pledged that: “It will ensure complete equality of social
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and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion,
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race or sex.” It also stated: “We appeal . . . to the Arab inhabi-
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tants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in
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the upbuilding of the state on the basis of full and equal
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citizenship. . . .”
It would be pleasant to think that the Arab and Jew can
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share full and equal citizenship in a Jewish State of Israel. But
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it is infinitely more important just to think, clearly and honestly;
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for the Jewish state that was established by the Declaration of
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Independence makes that document a model of schizophrenia,
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correctly mirroring the ideologically confused people who wrote
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it. Consider the other parts of the declaration, its opening, ma-
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jor, and moving paragraphs.
“Eretz Yisrael was the birthplace of the Jewish people. . . .
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After being forcibly exiled from their land the people kept faith
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with it throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and
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hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their
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political freedom. . . .
“In the year 5657 [1897] . . . the First Zionist Congress
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convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national
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rebirth in its own country. . . .