Loading ..."Basis for living together": Israeli parliament votes to make Arabic compulsory in schools
The vote came amid increasing tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, with a wave of deadly attacks on Israelis and clashes at protests in the occupied territories.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted unanimously in favour of the bill in first reading on Wednesday, with about half of all deputies in attendance.
It will now be studied in committee before returning to parliament for a second vote.
Both Arabic and Hebrew are official languages of Israel, but while the vast majority of Israeli Arabs speak Hebrew, Arabic is not widely spoken among the Jewish population.
The bill was introduced by lawmaker Oren Hazan, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud Party, who said it was meant to reach out to Arab Israelis.
“Language is a door to culture,” he told AFP. “I am looking reality in the eyes and I understand there is no possibility to walk to peace without understanding each other.”
Source: www.yourmiddleeast.com