Ammunition Against the Nation State Law: What Adalah Missed

Adalah is challenging the Nation State Law in Israel’s Supreme Court, claiming that the law is racist. The legal minds behind the petition claim that:

There is no [other] constitution in the world today containing a clause that determines that the state belongs to one ethnic group or that a given state is exclusive to a certain ethnic group.

They say they checked many constitutions from around the world. I guess Ireland was not among them. I am sure that with a little bit more exploration, I would find more national constitutions similar to that of Ireland, but for now, let us satisfy ourselves with this one.

The Irish constitution begins thus:

In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred, We, the people of Éire, Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial, Gratefully remembering their heroic and unremitting struggle to regain the rightful independence of our Nation,And seeking to promote the common good, with due observance of Prudence, Justice and Charity, so that the dignity and freedom of the individual may be assured, true social order attained, the unity of our country restored, and concord established with other nations, Do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution.

I do believe that leaves out Jews and members of other religious groups who do not believe in Jesus. Jews, Moslems, Hindus and others do not get to determine the national character of Ireland.

The Irish nation hereby affirms its inalienable, indefeasible, and sovereign right to choose its own form of Government, to determine its relations with other nations, and to develop its life, political, economic and cultural, in accordance with its own genius and traditions.

I have no doubt that Adalah would find that their Muslim traditions and beliefs are not going to determine cultural national character of Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish constitution specifies the national flag and the first language being Irish, with English a second language. Ireland is much clearer than Israel in this regard:

Fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State are fundamental political duties of all citizens.

We would do well to adopt that clause into our own Nation State Law.

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Other articles on this website on the topic of the Nation State Law:

Ouch! The Nation State Law and the Druze

National Law Hysteria: An Opportunity We Dare not Miss

National Law: Lessons Learned from Christian Lebanon (Shadi Khalloul)