When I first read the Israeli Ha'aretz article "Yuvalim delays vote on Zionist values bylaws" I believed that this sensitive and complex issue is one that can be openly discussed and easily explained. When it was brought to my attention that this 'news' was picked up and distorted by the Iranian daily Teheran Times ( 'Jewish town in the Galilee demands loyalty oath' ) I realized how easy it is to play into the propaganda hands of our foes. When I then read the Jewish Chronicle article "Galilee villages battle to exclude non-Zionists" on the very same issue, I said its time to set the record straight.

 

First of all, the political Yisrael Beiteinu 'citizenship law' has absolutely nothing to do with this issue at all, no matter how hard the Teheran Times tried to make the connection stick. The 35 hilltop community villages under the jurisdiction of the Misgav Regional Council is quite a unique mosaic of Israeli communities – Jewish and Arab all living peacefully together as neighbors with mutual respect, tolerance and dignity. Just as the six Bedouin Arab communities among us have their own unique ethnic and cultural characteristics, the same applies to the small Jewish villages with their own unique communal fabric that is the key to an evolving community. Fore the record, the Misgav population includes an Orthodox village, a Reform movement orientated village, kibbutzim, Moshavim, Mitzpim, and a transcendental meditation community - all with own distinctive features and life styles. We do not discriminate or segregate Arab residents in Misgav. The opposite is in fact the truth.  

 

All of the Jewish communities in Misgav make up less than 10% of the total Lower Galilee population. We are proud of our coexistence projects including a Jewish-Arab Galil day school, joint sports teams with the neighboring town of Sakhnin and many more programs that enhance and solidify the lives of Jews and Arabs living side by side in this corner of Israel. 

 

Yes, the Jewish residents of Misgav are proud to uphold their Zionist identities. This is not even the issue. It is the right of each and every community to decide on the social fabric and ethos of its residents so as to ensure that these small hilltop communities will continue to flourish in their rural surroundings.  Notwithstanding the persistent attempts by a few anti-Zionist organizations to challenge our legitimacy and create more tension between Jews and Arabs in the Galilee under the pretext of 'civil liberties', we will continue to serve as a model of inter-communal coexistence, based on the solid principles of social and cultural diversity and mutual respect of each other's values.   

 

Ron Shani, Mayor

Misgav Regional Council