defensive about this. There is no place for apologies. The land is br

ours, the state is ours; let us be proud, let us be joyful, and, br

above all, let us be convinced. Israel: the one land that the Jewish br

people have the right—and the obligation—to demand. Israel: br

the sovereign Jewish state, owned and controlled by and for the br

Jewish people. This is Zionism; this is Judaism; this is normalcy.

But having said all this, let us know what this means for an br

Arab living in the state, and let us stop treating him with the br

contempt that we reserve for some backward idiot. If all that the br

Declaration of Independence says and implies is indeed true, the br

Arab is not equal.

The Arab of Israel can enjoy full religious and cultural free- br

doms, can say and write what he feels, can exercise political br

rights in the sense of voting for the party of his choice, just like br

a Jew. But to think that this makes the Arab of Israel feel that br

the state is his and that his national destiny there is the same as br

that of the Jews is to fail to understand the reality of being an br

Arab in what is de jure a Jewish state.

It is to fail to understand that not by bread alone does the br

Arab live, and that a man needs to dwell in and feel part of his br

own land, where the state represents his national and cultural br

aspirations, where the majority of the people—those who con- br

trol the state—are his people. But when “his” state is one whose br

national roots, majority, language, religion, culture, holidays, br

and very destiny are different from his—what do we expect of br

the Arabs?

What do we think? That he is a fool who does not under- br

stand, or worse, a knave who can be bought with social and br

economic progress? How else can we explain the following Is- br

raeli “information”?

In 1975 the Israeli embassy in Washington issued a series of br

position papers and essays under the general heading “Back- br

ground on Zionism.” One was written by Professor Joseph Dan, br

of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In it, we (and the Arabs) br

find: “The Jewish people can continue to exist only if it has an br

independent state in its one and only homeland, the Land of br

Israel. There is nothing more to add to that basic definition of br

Zionism: Jewish independence in the Land of Israel.”

Fair enough and certainly straightforward. Zionism is Jew- br

ish independence in a Jewish state in the land of the Jews. Now br