Representatives of the Arab public are continuing their attempts to delegitimize the Nationality Law, particularly at the UN.
During Yom Kippur, a delegation of Israeli Arabs met with the deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Members of the delegation, which included the Chairman of the Arab Monitoring Committee, Mohammad Barakeh, and MK Yousef Jabareen (Joint List), published a statement after the meeting in which they stressed the need to act against the law, which they claim is contrary to international standards.
The delegation will meet at the end of the week with two other senior UN officials and will discuss concrete steps to address two complaints filed with various UN bodies against the Nationality Law.
The meetings are part of an ongoing incitement campaign against Israel. Recently, Joint List chairman MK Ayman Odeh met with European Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini and asked her to intervene in the efforts to get the law cancelled. The members of the Joint List also held meetings with senior EU officials and asked for their intervention.
The Nationality Law states that Israel is the Jewish people's nation state and establishes as law Israel's flag, symbols, the Hebrew language, and various other items mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.
The law does not affect the rights of minority citizens in Israel, but has been criticized by Arab countries which claimed that it is discriminatory.
Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat claimed the law “aims at destroying the two-state solution and replacing it with an apartheid regime.”