The new Israel Nation State Law is taking hits because it has declared Israel 'Jewish'.

Well...


1.

"national home for the Jewish people"

Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917

(Balfour was not Jewish)


2.

"The Arab State and Palestine in all their relations and undertakings shall be controlled by the most cordial goodwill and understanding, and to this end Arab and Jewish duly accredited agents shall be established and maintained in the respective territories."

Agreement between Emir Feisal Ibn al-Hussein al-Hashemi, and the President of the World Zionist Organization, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, January 3, 1919

(Feisal was not Jewish but a Muslim Arab. Weizmann was Jewish)


3.

 "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people"

San Remo Resolution, April 25, 1920

(none of the Allied Powers representatives were Jewish)


4.

"recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country"

League of Nations, July 24, 1922

(none of the voting delegates, as far as I know, were Jewish)


5.

"The High Commissioner shall be guided by the statement of British policy in Palestine presented to Parliament by Our Command on the 1st day of July, 1922. While ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, he shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage close settlement by Jews on the land, 

Palestine Order in Council, August 10, 1922 

(the King of England was not Jewish)

6.

The mandatory Power shall use its best endeavours to ensure than an area situated in the territory of the Jewish State, including a seaport and hinterland adequate to provide facilities for a substantial immigration, shall be evacuated at the earliest possible date and in any event not later than 1 February 1948...Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in part III of this plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948. The boundaries of the Arab State, the Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem shall be as described in parts II and III below. The period between the adoption by the General Assembly of its recommendation on the question of Palestine and the establishment of the independence of the Arab and Jewish States shall be a transitional period.

United Nations General Assembly, November 29, 1947

(none of the voting delegates, as far as I know, were Jewish)


(h/t=RTB)


^

The JPost reported

The French Foreign Ministry on Wednesday circulated comments made by Foreign Minister Alain Juppe last week saying that any solution to the Middle East conflict would need to recognize Israel as the nation-state for the Jewish people.

[“France has a very clear position that joins that of Spain and all of our European partners: It is that there will be no solution to the conflict in the Middle East without recognition of two nation-states for two peoples. The nation-state of Israel for the Jewish people, and the nation-state of Palestine for the Palestinian people. There is no getting away from this,” he said.]

Israeli diplomatic officials reacted very positively to Juppe’s statement, saying it was an indication that the Europeans were moving in the direction of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s position that recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people must be part of the parameters for future negotiations with the Palestinians

Israeli diplomatic officials said Juppe’s comment was significant on two counts...The second significant element, according to the official, was that Juppe’s comment about the “nation-state of Israel for the Jewish people” seemed a clear signal as to the type of language France would like to see in the Palestinian statehood resolution in order to gain its support. The official also said it was significant that the comment had been made at a press conference of the Spanish and French foreign ministers, not one between, for instance, the German and Italian foreign ministers, whose positions against the Palestinian UN vote are well known.

and Evelyn Gordon expressed her feelings so:
 

Kudos to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government for finally breaking a European taboo. At a press conference in Madrid last week, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe publicly declared that “there will be no solution to the conflict in the Middle East without recognition of two nation-states for two peoples. The nation-state of Israel for the Jewish people, and the nation-state of Palestine for the Palestinian people.”...This is truly groundbreaking. Until now, no EU country has been willing to state publicly that an Israeli-Palestinian agreement must recognize Israel as the Jews’ nation-state, though the EU routinely details the concessions it expects Israel to make.

By the way, Le Monde, if my French is adequate, doesn't mention that Jewish character aspect:

"Les paramètres [de la négociation], c'est la frontière de 1967 avec des échanges mutuellement agréés et la question des garanties et de sécurité et, dans un second temps, dans le cadre d'un accord global, la question des réfugiés et de Jérusalem"

Same bias at L'Express

Here it is

Le ministre français a estimé qu'il y avait "une bonne chance pour que le Quartette (Etats-Unis, Russie, Onu, Union européenne) lance un appel aux parties à renégocier sur ces bases-là: renonciation au terrorisme et à la violence, acceptation des accords paix antérieurs, abandon de toute autre réclamation une fois que l'accord est conclu et surtout l'objectif de deux Etats nations pour deux peuples".

That doesn't, though, translate as " The nation-state of Israel for the Jewish people, and the nation-state of Palestine for the Palestinian people".

In any case, some people have a problem with this:

Demanding that Israel be recognized as the "national home" of a Jewish American, Canadian, South African or Argentine becomes problematic for many more liberal and secular Jews. Many Jewish Americans who've grown up with the melting-pot values of integration are not entirely comfortable with the idea that their religion assigns them a "national home" elsewhere - a 2007 survey of American Jewish attitudes to Israel found that only 54% of those under the age of 35 were "comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state."

The uniqueness of the Jews is that you'll always be able to find a Jew or a group of Jews who, despite the danger and illogical elements in their stand, will take a view in direct opposition to the well-being of other Jews.