On Friday, many of Israel's Arab citizens will take to the streets for annual “Nakba Day” events, in which they mourn the Nakba, or "catastrophe," of the creation of the State of Israel. However, if MK Alex Miller of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) has his way, this year's Nakba Day will be the last.
Miller, who serves as deputy Knesset speaker, has proposed a law that would make public events mourning the creation of the state of Israel illegal on Israeli soil. Individuals will remain free to mourn the creation of the state privately, but protests and other events would be prohibited.
Under Miller's proposal, violation of the law would be punishable by up to three years in prison.
Those who hate Israel will still be free to rally against the state, Miller said – but they must do it somewhere else. “Whoever wants to support the enemy and mourn the creation of the state of Israel is invited to do so with our neighbors in Gaza,” he said.
Those who mourn Israel's creation should not do so while benefiting from the state's existence, he added.
MK Miller said he was inspired to criminalize “Nakba Day” events due to increasing violence on the day. “As if it wasn't enough that during the operation in Gaza we had to deal with calls of support for Hamas, over the past several years we're also witness to annual violent events and riots in the framework of 'Nakba day protests,'” he said.
While the law will not be passed in time to affect this year's events, Miller and the Yisrael Beiteinu party are working to move the bill quickly through the legislative process. The bill will be officially presented to a ministerial committee on Sunday, and if the committee approves, the bill could face an initial Knesset hearing as early as next Wednesday.
Previous 'Nakba Day' rallies have been marked by violence, threats against Jews, and the use of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) flags. While some Arabs mourn the creation of the state according to the Hebrew calendar, and protest on Israeli Independence Day, most mourners mark the day on May 15th, the day after the state was created according to the Gregorian calendar.