| Israel's proposed 'Jewish oath' for new citizens sparks racism row Loyalty pledge criticised as 'fascist' and an affront to country's Palestinian citizens, who make up 20% of populationThe Israeli cabinet today approved a bill requiring new non-Jewish citizens to swear an oath of allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state", in a move that has brought accusations of discrimination against Israel's Arab minority. One dissenting cabinet minister referred to a "whiff of fascism".The bill, originally promoted by the rightwing foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who has made the issue of loyalty a hallmark of his political career, was passed by a big majority despite the opposition of Labour party members.The loyalty oath will be required of non-Jews seeking to become Israeli citizens, mainly affecting Palestinians from the West Bank who marry Palestinian citizens of Israel.The latter, who make up 20% of Israel's population, have vigorously criticised the proposal – which needs approval from the Knesset before becoming law – as provocative and racist. It has also drawn protests from Israeli Jews, including those in the cabinet.Isaac Herzog, the social affairs minister, told Israel's army radio: "There is a whiff of fascism on the margins of Israeli society. The overall picture is very disturbing and threatens the democratic character of the state of Israel. "There have been a tsunami of measures that limit rights ... We will pay a heavy price for this."Lieberman campaigned in last year's election for a loyalty oath to be required of all existing Palestinian citizens of Israel. However the bill put to the vote today drew back from that, applying only to future citizens. "I think this is an important step forward. Obviously this is not the end of the issue of loyalty in return for citizenship, but this is a highly important step," Lieberman said.At the start of the cabinet meeting, the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said: "The state of Israel is the national state of the Jewish people and is a democratic state in which all its citizens – Jewish and non-Jewish – enjoy full equal rights ... Whoever wants to join us, has to recognise us."It was suggested that Netanyahu backed the bill as a quid pro quo for support from rightwing parties within his coalition government should he bow to US pressure to extend the freeze on settlement construction. The moratorium, which expired two weeks ago, is threatening to scupper talks on a peace deal with the Palestinians.Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli-Arab member of the Knesset, condemned the cabinet's decision. "The government of Israel has become subservient to Yisrael Beiteinu [Lieberman's party] and its fascist doctrine," he said. "No other state in the world would force its citizens or those seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to an ideology."The speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, also criticised the proposal. "This law will not assist us as a society and a state," he said. "On the contrary, it could arm our enemies and opponents in the world in an effort to emphasise the trend for separatism or even racism within Israel."Likud cabinet members Dan Meridor, Benny Begin and Michael Eitan opposed the bill along with Labour ministers.Writing in today's Haaretz, liberal commentator Gideon Levy said: "Remember this day. It's the day Israel changes its character ... From now on, we will be living in a new, officially approved, ethnocratic, theocratic, nationalistic and racist country."IsraelMiddle EastJudaismReligionHarriet Sherwoodguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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China's interest rate rise sends global markets into turmoil • Analysts see move as appeasing US government• Washington wants China to increase the value of the yuan• London's FTSE and other European market indices fall• Dow Jones down 146 pointsChina sent financial markets into turmoil after it increased its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points with effect from tomorrow.The move to raise rates by a quarter percentage point was flagged by the Chinese authorities as an internal signal to property developers that rampant house price inflation was intolerable and would be controlled by the Beijing government.However, the rise was seen more widely as appeasing US policymakers, who have called for China to increase the value of its currency.The IMF warned earlier this month that the world economy was threatened by attempts to artificially depress currency values. China has long been accused by the US administration of maintaining low interest rates to keep the value of its currency low and exports cheap.The pound reacted by falling more than two cents against the dollar in mid-afternoon trading, while the euro was 1% lower on the day at $1.3805Stock markets reacted badly to the news with Germany's Dax down 41.10 points, or 0.6%, at 6475.53, while the CAC-40 in France was 20.99 points, or 0.6%, lower at 3813.51. The FTSE-100 index of leading British shares was down at 5,711, a drop of more than 30 points.In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 146.18 points at 10,997.51.Hitendra Dave, head of global markets at HSBC India, said internal pressures led to the rise. "China hasn't raised so far and [they] have only been raising the reserve requirements. With all the asset price speculation, they had to raise rates to normalise policy. It is the local factors that led them to take this decision."Chris Turner, head of foreign exchange at the Dutch bank ING, said: "This is part of the moderate tightening cycle that we are seeing from Chinese authorities to balance their economy. It is part of the normalisation of interest rates in an economy which is growing at a modestly fast clip."The market is reacting like there is an increased risk of hard landing with the commodity currencies like the Aussie being sold off, but I don't think that is the case," he said.Simon Derrick, of Bank of New York Mellon, said the move was fuelling speculation that Beijing was involved in backdoor deals with the US administration to nudge its currency upwards."The move follows a clear need by the Chinese authorities to take out some of the heat from the economy. Whether this will lead to a broader move on its currency is open to debate. It certainly leads to speculation that the US and China are in some sort of a deal which will perhaps see the US taking a more gradualist approach to quantitative easing. The dollar has already moved higher after this news," he said.CurrenciesGlobal economyStock marketsEconomicsChinaPhillip Inmanguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Wikileaks: 'War logs immensely important' The founder of whistleblowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, tells the BBC why the organisation published thousands of leaked US documents about the Iraq war. bbc.co.uk |
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