By IRNA
Brussels : A vice-president of the European Parliament has denounced a decision by the the Knesset, the Zionist Parliament, on Thursday to approve a bill that calls for all lands under the control of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to be allocated to Jews only.
"In this way Israel strikes another blow against democracy, fueling discrimination and apartheid," wrote Luisa Morgantini in an article in the Italian newspaper Liberazione.
An English translation of the article by the Italian MEP was emailed to the press in Brussels by her office.
The proposal of the bill, initiated by the Israeli right wing, Kadima and Likud, prevents non-Jews from participating in bids to purchase land owned by the JNF, 13 percent of all state land in occupied Palestine.
The bill passed by a massive majority of 64 MKs to 16, despite a pre-vote debate in the Knesset presidency, in which many raised their voices against the bill, urging it's cancellation.
These requests were rejected by the legal advisor to the Knesset on the grounds that "racism is not explicit in the proposal.
"So what shall we call the exclusion of Arab citizens of Israel from participation in bids to purchase lands? What can we call it except racist? this bill defined by some Knesset deputies as an "abominable legislation", that serves only to institutionalize discrimination towards non-Jews and to legitimate a democracy on an ethnic basis," wrote Morgantini.
"This law is just one more expression of racism and discrimination in Israel, where demolition of houses owned by its Arab citizens, illegal expropriation of their lands, and uprooting of their trees are going on," she noted.
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