Though I don't imagine I'd ever vote for him, Rabbi Melchior is exactly right. Like it or not, non-Jewish Arabs make up almost one fifth of our citizenry. (Personally I like it.) The Declaration of Independence and the Basic Law guarantee them freedom of religion and culture and EQUAL RIGHTS. These people aren't disappearing any time soon, nor should they. We must make every effort to make our Arab fellow citizens feel like fellows and get them interested in working together for the betterment of Israel, our shared home and country. The problem is not that the request was denied. Petitions to change place names are always difficult to get approved. The problem is that Mayor Lavi, while holding an official, visible government position, attacked my fellow citizens' religion, ethnicity and dignity in an utterly revolting way. He should be reprimanded. He should be shamed. He should apologise publicly. He should consider resigning. Several Arab Israelis have told me that they want to be Israeli. That they identify as Israeli, despite being bombarded by systemic mistreatment, blatant racism and disdain from Jewish Israelis and government bodies. If they are constantly treated like the enemy, how long will it be until they truly are our enemies?

It is a pleasure to see a government official with a little Jewish pride and backbone. Those readers who think that being pro-Jewish is racist are very confused. Your first allegiance is to the Jewish people. It is a matter of aligning your allegiances properly. After you get that right, than take a look at all ther rights and privileges the Arab population enjoys in the Jewish state.

The City Hall of Ramle used to be the house of the late Shoukri Rizek who lived there until 1948 and was kicked out of his house like most of Ramle citizens. This is a fact that can not be denied even by the ignorant Mayor himself. Ramle belongs to its citizens and the Mayor can return back to Poland where he belongs. I will be more than happy to donate the flight ticket.

Can anyone who accuses Israel of "racism" for defending the Hebrew state answer the following. In the whole giant Arab world stretching from Morocco in the west to Iraq in the east: 1) how many streets have Hebrew names? 2) How many Arab countries have Hebrew or any other language as a second official language? 3) What Arab country respects the rights of the minorities? Arab citizens in Israel have personal rights and obligations but they have NO NATIONAL RIGHTS just like Jews have no national rights outside of Israel. The real racists are those Arab extremists and their self-hating Jewish supporters who dream about destroying the only Hebrew state in the world. Israel was, is and will always remain the HEBREW STATE. Take it or leave it.

To equate Jewish pride to being against "arabic names" is an insult to the Jewish people and the Jewish religion. And it is an insult to the ancestors of Jews who lived in arab countries, spoke the arab languages and had (judeo-)arabic names and many still do (especially family names). Why are there streets in Israel with german or russian sounding names? Did the germans and russians historically treat jews "better" than arabs? This is pure bigotry...

If your Arab friends want to be really Israeli, please talk them into serving in the army, orat least doing national service (at least in their own communities), talk them into paying their municipal taxes, tell them that it is not fair to be accepted to the major Israeli universities (all founded by Jews) on a 500 psychometric score where a Jewish student needs a 700 score. They want rights and equality, let them fulfill their obligations first. Let them stop moaning and groaning for Naqba, Kafr Kassem, etc. Let them celebrate the democracy, freedom and privileges they endure in Israel. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" - JFK.

do you mean to say that Israel is "just starting"?! are you implying that they have killed 4,286 Palestinians since September, 2000.. and that was only "warming up"!! be careful freedom!!

To really understand how low the mayor went in his statements, it should be noted that on MSN News (in Hebrew) they have extra quotes from his speech and even an audio link of it. (I would place a link to the statements, but Ynet does not allow that...you will have to go see there for yourself). What was left out in the article above is that the mayor of Ramle stated: “So, have you too become the bitXhes of every aXs-fuXXing Arab? What happened? Don’t you have respect for the legacy of your own people?” It is sad that Ynet felt the need to censor out the worst part of the mayor's speech.

Yes Arab citizens have the same INDIVIDUAL rights as all Israeli citizens. They also have the same OBLIGATIONS as all Israeli citizens including showing loyalty and willingness to integrate into Israeli society. However, the Arabs have NO NATIONAL rights in the Hebrew state, just like Jewish minorities outside of Israel don't have national rights. If the Arab in Israel want to feel more at home they should start respecting the Hebrew state and adapt to the Israeli society just like Jewish minorities outside of Israel have for centuries shown loyalty and willingness to integrate into the countries where they lived and still live. The real racists are those like Gilan who dream about destroying the Hebrew nation-state. Move to Gaza or Damascus if you don't like it but Israel will remain a Hebrew nation-state,

I will find an Israeli saying "there is no discrimination against Arabs in Israel"!! "Israel is the only democracy in the ME"!! the world should realise that Israel could never be anything but a state established upon extremist religious beliefs..

The modern state of israel is not established on any religious (jewish) beliefs. It is established on Political "Zionist" principles which have more in common with european nationalism than any form of Judaism. The bigotry expressed here has nothing to do with the Jewish Religion but on the contrary to the LACK of it.

When the Nazis wanted to deport morracan Jews. The Morrocan king (peace be upon him) prevented this. The monarchy continues to protect the rights of the Jewish community until this day. The leading adviser to the king is Jewish, inspite of the fact that Jewish population is (sadly) now negligible. There are places in Morroco with "jewish" names, named after the "qdoshim" (jewish "saints") and so on. Morroco is not a democracy but a monarchy with a monarch descended from the musim prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him. You should visit some time the graves of the "jewish saints"..

Is only partially right. He does not mention the laws in Jordan and enacted by the PLO which forbid selling land to a Jew.

To #36 israeli: Thank you for your polite and sensible response. I agree with you that citizens should be equal both in their rights and in their obligations. As part of a package that would give everyone equal access to education, police protection, health services, electricity, water and other basic services (currently none of these are equally accessible in predominantly Arab areas), I would also require equal obligations including taxes and national or army service. I do not by any means advocate a free ride for our Arabs or our Haredim. In March I applauded the Israeli patriotism of the 18 y/o Arab Israeli who petitioned the IAF to admit him into its pilot training course, and I was disappointed when he was denied. We should be encouraging our fellow citizens who want an equal partnership. I am not advocating any give-aways to the Palestinians. I am not talking about changing the citizenship laws. I'm talking about equal rights AND equal responsibilities for all those who are already citizens. To #39 Dan: You would do well to read what I wrote above as well. I was not, nor am I, advocating separate national rights for anyone. I am advocating equal individual rights as well as equal obligations for all citizens. I agree that Arabs in Israel have some adapting to do, just as Jewish immigrants like myself, Haredim and foreign workers do. I am talking about integrating our Arab fellow-citizens by giving them equal rights, obligations and, yes, dignity. I don't know where you got the idea that I don't like the Hebrew character of our shared state. I support Israel as a Jewish pluralistic democracy for all its citizens, even those who are not Jewish. As for how this makes me a racist, I really can't fathom a guess. Perhaps you will enlighten me.

Did you make ALIYAH ????????? GOOD TO HAVE YOU HERE !!!!! Welcome HOME

yes, I agree with you Abdullah that Israel is not acting upon the Jewish religion and not upon any religion for that matter.. my point is that Judaism is used as a cover for Zionist political beliefs.. but even as a cover it's being used in an extreme manner.. I have no problem with the Jewish religion .. quite the contrary.. Prophet Moses(PBUH) is as dear to me as a Muslim as he is for Jews.. what I am against is the fact that Israel is using the Jewish religion for their racist beliefs..

If everything was so "great" in the Arab world why did almost 1 million Jews become refugees from the Arab world? Don't think that we have forgotten all the countless pogroms and massacres against Jewish men, children and women in the Arab world. Most parts of the Arab world were pro-nazi during the war and Arabs cooperated togheter with the Germans against the local Jewish population in countries like Libya. Morocco had 50 years ago a Jewish population of 300.000. Today only 5000 Jews remain in Morocco. Why?

Imagine for a moment if the Israeli media would tell all the nasty details of the daily Arab anti-Israeli racism. The debate here is not about the mayors' language but about the Arab chutzpah to suggest Arab street names in the Hebrew state. There are no Hebrew street names in the Arab countries and just like Jews outside of Israel must adapt, so must the Arab minority adapt and respect the Israeli society.

What about choosing Arab, French or secular? Jewish in Israel was, is and will always mean NATIONHOOD, which unites both secular and religious Jews. Think before you write.

WELL,WELL,WELL MOHAMMED FROM HAIFA CALLS THE MAYOR OF RAMLE A NAME.... WHY NOT CHECK INTO YOUR OWN CITY AT THE UNIVERSITY WHERE YOUR ASSOCIATES PRAISE NASRALLAH, AL-QUEIDA, ETC ...OPPS I FORGOT... THATS NOT ON YOUR AGENDA , DO NOT GET TOO UPSET MICHAEL MOHAMMED, I WANT TO GRAZE MY FARM ANIMALS THIS EVENING

He is right. Next we need to change all the street names in Jerusalem!

racial nationalism

All Arab complainers be moved to Gaza immediately. How's that for racism?

Ramleh is mentioned during the time of Ptolemy. Maybe it was destroyed by the Arabs and then claimed by them. Learn some history before you call others "congenital idiot"

Let'sstart with the terrorist Arab MK's who are consorting with the enemy.

Hello Dan, You raise a valid point which sadly is mostly ignored - justice for Jews expelled or "frightened" out of "arab" countries. I cannot speak for any other "arab" country other than morroco (and to a lesser extent egypt). The present Morrocan royal family (peace be upon them) protected the JEwish community. That is a fact. That does not mean there wasn't anti-semitism in morocco - this a problem among non-jews in general including germans and russians and africans and not just arabs. So there is no reason why the culture of the latter needs to be singled out for bigotry. Many morocan jews left to Israel simply to fulfill the misva of observing the Torah in the holy land. It was a powerful dream that this community had and found an opportunity to fullfill it. But as you know things didn't work out as the dream for these olim. Oddly enough many suffered from "anti-arab" bigotry like the kind this article highlights in spite of being Jewish. Others left b'cos Morrocco was not very developed to make a better living for themselves. They weren't driven out. If anything attempts were made to encourage Jews to remain. Many non-jewish morrocans and africans who emigarte to europe and america do so not b'cos they're "driven out" but b'cos of simple economics - life is relatively hard in this continent. Inspite of the small numbers in morroco today, Jewish life still flourishes. You should visist the jewish graves that are maintained by arab custodians, the kosher restaurants and so on. In summary, arabs like germans and russians can be anti-semtic. Just like Israelis can display bigotry. But it is the duty of governments to be free of such bigotry and try to help all its citizens The Morrocan monarchy has done more IMHO to protect Jewish citizens than any other arab or european country to date. Imagine history turned out different and muslims never took the holy land from xtians. Then the war today would be between jews and xtians. (That is assuming that the xtians even would have allowed israel to be established to begin with.) Can you imagine a single xtian european country appointing a senior govt. official that is Jewish, under such circumstances? In Morroco, the monarch does not use the conflict in the middle east to justify anti-semtism against his jewish subjects. On the contrary he ensures their protection and even ensures that they live affluent lives. To tell you the truth bigotry is natural but we have to call it as it is. And while a private citizen "has the right" to be bigoted. The govt. MUST not tolerate it within its ranks b'cos it must care for all citizens even those that may fundamentally disagree with it. That is true leadership.