Editor,
In "Israel's 60th birthday a muted revelry," published in Tuesday's Daily Lobo, Santhosh Chandrashekar claims "Israeli-Arabs suffer what's akin to institutional racism in the U.S."
While Israel is not perfect - no country is - Arab citizens of Israel have more human rights and personal benefits living in Israel than in any other country in the Middle East.
Arabs have the right to vote and are currently represented by 12 members in parliament with one Arab cabinet Minister. They are granted uncensored freedom of speech, freedom of movement and all other similar democratic freedoms.
In addition, Arabs receive full health care and educational benefits and other subsidies from the government similar to their Jewish counterparts. Arab women especially benefit from the freedom Israel has to offer as opposed to other Arab countries where women can't vote, let alone drive a car.
While Chandrashekar claims that Israeli Arabs "live in impoverished neighborhoods," he has obviously not seen the Arab mansions of the Galilee or Arab luxury homes in neighborhoods surrounding Jerusalem.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Also, Chandrashekar says there is "an invisible wall" between Arabs and Jews. I would recommend a trip to Jerusalem where he could visit the mall, zoo or the center of town to see Arabs and Jews together taking advantage of what the city has to offer.
In short, Israel has survived and thrived over the past 60 years against all the odds. This alone is a reason this year's party won't be "muted."
While not all Arabs will outwardly celebrate this Independence Day, I'm sure that in their hearts, many will.
Josh Hasten
Daily Lobo reader
