Few places more tolerant than Israel

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011
Few places more tolerant than Israel

Mr Horst Bullinger has expressed his opposition to a Jewish state in Israel. He uses two main arguments, both of which are flawed at the root. The first is the use of the word "only" regarding such a state. Nobody has ever demanded that the state be meant

 

The second argument, more absurd than the first, is: “Who, in a Jewish state, will guarantee the rights of Christians and Muslim Israeli citizens?”
Horst has obviously not yet set foot in Israel. As a Christian who has lived and worked in Israel for 13 years and has lived among both Muslims and Jews, I can say that in terms of minority rights, Israel is an example to be followed by many nations. All Christian and Muslim holidays are respected scrupulously, there is absolute religious freedom for all faiths, and the state funds chuches and mosques and pays priests’ and Muslim preachers’ salaries. Arab members of parliament regularly scream abuse at Israeli officials as part of their freedom of expression and Palestinian flags can be hoisted at rallies without any police interference. Such freedoms can only be dreamed of anywhere else in the Middle East.
Martin Wallace
Alloa, Scotland