Oh dear, I fear my opposition to the proposed laws is not universally appreciated. Bill Freedman, who began the petition, sent this to me on june 9 and i saw it as my duty to sign. I did not think then that there was a possibility that the law would pass, and was sure that drawing attention to it was a way of disgracing it, and ensuring that the members of Parliament would be alert to public opinion. But no response ensued. Until the little piece in haaretz.
How can I say i will break the law? A student asked, when I have never even paid much attention to Nakba Day before it was suggested that it should be outlawed? Well, I believe that encouraging the Arab population to place less emphasis on Nakba can only be done with positive measures to incorporate them into the society.
‘You’re talking civil disobedience,’ my American friend warns me, ‘and that’s all well and good, but then how do you perceive the settlers’ breaking of the law? How is that different?’ It is very different because I’m trying to have an effect on ethics, not political. But I admit, it is not legal, and I am hate the idea of breaking laws.
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