Don't Israelify Us

Ynet has a story that covers an important issue regarding Israeli Arabs.

Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka (Balad) took part in a protest conference against a government initiative to draft Arab youths for national service, and expressed his opposition to the idea on Saturday.

"Anyone who does national service will become a leper and Arab society will throw him up from its midst," the minister told Ynet.

The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee of Israeli Arabs, one of the conference's organizers, is taking a more moderate stance, and says it is carrying out an unending argument with those who chose to volunteer, and has launched a campaign to minimize the number of volunteers.

During the last year, the number of Arab-Israeli volunteers for national service doubled from 280 to 560. "If we did not launch our campaign, we would be seeing a number several times higher, and maybe even thousands would choose to volunteer for national service," the Committee's CEO, Abd Anbatawi said.

This is a problem. Your country asks that you be a part of it. Your country tries to protect and serve you and asks that you give something back. You take from your country but choose not to give. It begs the question of whether you really wish to be a part of the country.