Sir, – In his coverage of Israel’s election (“Netanyahu poised to return to power at head of Israel’s most right-wing government ever”, World News, November 2nd), your correspondent in Jerusalem Mark Weiss casually refers to Balad as “a radical Arab party”.
According to the widely respected Israel Democracy Institute, Balad is a party that “champions turning the State of Israel into a state of all of its citizens,” that is to say – in Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh’s own words – a state that “grants full equality to all.” It further calls for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories and the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, advocates “separation of religion and state” and “recognition of [Palestinian citizens of Israel] as a national minority”, and demands that Palestinian refugees be granted their UN-mandated Right of Return to their homeland in line with international law.
What exactly is “radical” about that?
– Yours, etc,
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CONOR McCARTHY,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.