Faith

Arab Justice Ignites Controversy After Refusing to Sing Israeli National Anthem

Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran Ignites Controversy Over National Anthem

Israeli Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran (Image Credit: Haaretz)

Last week, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran ignited fierce controversy when he refused to sing the country’s national anthem during a swearing-in ceremony of a new chief justice. Joubran, an Arab Christian, has inadvertently re-sparked a debate over how Israel relates to its non-Jewish citizens.

The New York Times recaps how the incident unfolded:

What happened was this: after the departing chief justice, Dorit Beinisch, issued her final rulings at the court and made her farewell speech — her eyes tearing as she recalled the deaths of grandparents in the Holocaust — she, her colleagues and others gathered at the president’s house for more speeches, rising at the end to sing the national anthem.

As the television cameras panned, they showed Salim Joubran, the only Arab among the court’s 15 justices, standing but not singing. It did not take long for a controversy to ensue.

Some critics of the anthem, which is entitled “Hatikva” (“The Hope”) and includes patriotic language about Israel, say that it is understandable that non-Jewish citizens, like Joubran, would oppose uttering it. The song reads, in part, “Our hope is not yet lost, the hope of two thousand years, to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”

Haaretz carried an editorial that defended the justice last Friday. “Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran has the right not to sing the national anthem. The law doesn’t oblige him to do so, and the song’s lyrics don’t enable him to do so,” it read.

Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran Ignites Controversy Over National Anthem

Israeli Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran (Image Credit: Haaretz)

The article continued, saying that the anthem isn‘t appropriate for the nation’s 1.5 million Arab citizens, as these individuals purportedly face discrimination. Thus, according to the piece, they should have the right to refuse singing it. The piece continues:

The lyrics of Israel’s anthem were written in 1878 by Naphtali Herz Imber as an expression of the national sentiments of the Jewish people, and the Jewish people only. No Arab citizen who had any self-respect, political awareness or national consciousness could sing these words without commiting the sins of hypocrisy and falsehood. [...]

In choosing not to join the choir singing “Hatikva,” the justice made an important contribution to our public discourse. He adroitly reminded Israeli society of the complex situation faced by Arab citizens in the Jewish state. The right to remain silent (his own and that of every Arab citizen ) is the flip side of the right to freedom of expression, and both must be held sacred.

Not everyone sees it this way, though. According to Al Arabiya, David Rotem who is a part of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party and who chairs the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, had strong words for the justice.

“He spat in the face of the state of Israel,” Rotem said, going on to claim that those who oppose to the Jewish hymn “can find a state with a more appropriate anthem and move there.”

Rotem followed these comments up by claiming that Joubran should step down. And Michael Ben-Ari, a member of the Israeli Parliament (the far right National Union Party) has even introduced a bill calling for only those who have served in the Israeli military or national service to be eligible for the Supreme Court. The measure, called the “Joubran bill,” would exclude most Arabs.

While Haaretz calls for a change to the anthem so that all citizens can relate to it, others — like Rotem and Ben-Ari — likely won’t endorse such a measure. But most people don’t see a conflict, it seems, between keeping the same hymn and simply allowing people to opt in or out based on personal preference.

“Arab citizens should not be required to sing words that do not speak to their hearts and which do not reflect their roots,” said conservative Justice Elyakim Rubinstein on Wednesday.

Still, the debate surrounding Israeli identity continues to rage.

(H/T: Al Arabiya)

Comments (49)

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  • Wes Hardin
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 3:22pm

    This is reminiscent of the American practice of forcing black school kids to recite the Pledge of Allegiance talking about liberty and justice for all during the Jim Crow era. Of course there were no blacks on the Supreme Court or any other American court at that time so I guess the Israelis do get a couple of bonus points for having an Arab on its Supreme Court. I hope he’s better than Clarence Thomas. That guy is a real disgrace to the entire country.

    Report Post »  
    • EP46
      Posted on March 7, 2012 at 4:22am

      @WES
      Forcing black kids to recite a pledge written by a socialist ….gets confusing doesn’t it !
      The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy who was a Fabian Socialist, and the cousin of socialist novelist Edward Bellamy. Now it is the socialist/marxist ones who do NOT want the pledge…….

      Report Post »  
  • Chuck Stein
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 1:31pm

    Compare and contrast:
    (1) A Supreme Court Justice not singing their nation’s anthem
    with
    (2) A Supreme Court Justice going overseas and denegrating their nation’s constitution.
    Just some food for thought.

    Report Post »  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 1:24pm

    no, the arab should not be forced to sing his residence’s anthem, since he is only in it to prosper. he is by faith and choice not an actual member of their society.

    just like democrats are no longer Americans in America anymore,. they are the vile rabid dregs who worship no god but obama and they do not honor or respect the American US Constitution or any American Values or Traditions. ..all the obama-atheist communist democats do is live in America to prosper —by collecting the hard-earned tax dollars contributed by the hardworking Republicans and Conservative Indeps.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
  • maryanne3935
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 12:50pm

    If he was living in an arab fundamentalist country, he wouldn’t be allowed to sing. He lives in Israel free from religious persecution, and he won’t sing their anthem. Why am I not surprised. Fool.

    Report Post »  
  • Marsh626
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 12:42pm

    He should have sang the anthem. It’s a sign of respect and patriotism.

    There seems to be a growing rift between ultra-Orthodox Jews and Christians in Israel. That trend needs to be reversed because they should be natural allies against their common islamic enemy.

    Not that either side wants to be enemies with muslims. It’s muslims who are virtually always the aggressors in interfaith conflicts around the world…

    Report Post »  
  • thop1960
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 12:11pm

    I would not have a problem with a non-American refusing to sing our National Anthem regardless of the office he/she held. Now, Americans refusing is a different story. But this IS America and we have freedoms to choose. The same is said of Israel. Why is this a problem?

    Report Post » thop1960  
  • Hickory
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 11:42am

    We have a guy like that in the white house.

    Report Post » Hickory  
  • Kara_ite
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 11:28am

    This person is so mercifully free of the wisdom and knowlegde of the Creator.

    Report Post » Kara_ite  
    • majasdad
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 11:53am

      May God have mercy on your soul for knowledge is truly a sin. Bite not the apple for those who live by the suorrdd will die by the suorrdd . hark the herald angels doth sing to thee for pure is no man’s heart of the matter. But unto you a cyst is forlorn– but the means will be justified in the END.

      Report Post »  
  • DIVINEPROVIDENCE1776
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:23am

    Left v right: A battle is under way for the control of Israel’s judicial system

    http://www.economist.com/node/21538782

    “Whereas Israel’s voters have been moving to the nationalist and religious right, most of its top judges have clung to a more liberal and secular view of the world. On November 10th Salim Joubran, one of three Supreme Court judges deciding the fate of the country’s former president, Moshe Katzav, upheld his conviction for rape. Almost no Israeli batted an eyelid, even though the judge who dispatched the eighth head of the Jewish state off to jail was an Arab, from a community that now makes up one in five of Israeli citizens.”

    Report Post » DIVINEPROVIDENCE1776  
  • JP16
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:23am

    Those stupid Muslims. Oh wait, it was a Christian, hmm, well then, that makes all the difference.

    Report Post »  
    • LouC57
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:46am

      Knock it off. Oh sorry, you may not be aware, “most” Christian Arabs are quite anti-Semitic.

      Report Post »  
  • Watchyer6
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:17am

    Yes, isn’t it ironic that in Israel, a Christian Arab is a Supreme Court justice (not to mention all the Christian and Muslim Arabs in the Knesset)? If the situation were reversed, and the judge was a Christian in any Muslim country, he certainly would not be a judge, and would probably be killed just for being a Christian.

    Report Post » Watchyer6  
  • B-Neil
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:11am

    It all boiles down to; is ( Israeli ) a religian or a country?? The Judge is a Christian. Talk about discrimination of thought. Was it a national anthem or a Jewish prayer song?? Do the people in Israel realy have freedom of religion?? God made Israel and gave it to the Jews. Is there a restriction on sharing??? GOD BLESS AMERICA and INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM

    Report Post »  
    • rose-ellen
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:15am

      arabs comprise christians also[going back to the time of christ].zionists are from europe and israel is a racist state as jews from outside the mid east are allowed to displace native arabs[more native then a zionist from europe].

      Report Post »  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:20am

      This should illustrate clearly the fundamental flaws in our systems of government and justice. It “IS” us. People are the weakest link. And we can’t even reassure ourselves of our own commitment to our principles and our oaths.

      Does that leave you with the same feeling of lack of confidence in the system it does me?

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • tzion
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:32am

      @Rose
      You’re still using rhetoric. If you want a discussion you’ll have to provide facts to back up your argument. In the years following WWI there were less than a million people living under the British mandate which then included what is modern day Jordan. The Jews would see Transjordan become an Arab state and then were offered about 20% of what was left (which didn’t even include Jerusalem). It was the Arabs who rejected this plan and its successor that offered a 50-50 split of the territory. It was Arafat who walked out of camp david when offered a state.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ByJb7QQ9U&feature=channel

      Report Post »  
    • justangry
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 11:46am

      @TZION,

      You know that I’m one of those people who recognize that we don’t have a clue what’s going on over there. That being said, you have to admit that Israel’s immigration policy is racist. The information is available from their own website. Isn’t it logical to assume that if their immigration policy is racist, that there are elements of racism in other areas of their government? You’re a rational dude. Don’t you see the danger of being one-sided on the matter? I’ve said it before, lumping a group of people into a collective and loving them is every bit as dangerous as hating them. Picking a side when don’t have all the facts is absurd. Unconditional support based on religious text is also absurd. They’re men, just like everyone else. They too are tempted by the evils of Satan, are they not? If Satan has a grip on the men in charge, do we still support them unconditionally?

      Report Post » justangry  
    • justangry
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 11:48am

      Rose-Ellen, the same applies to you. You don’t know squat either. Stop with the collectivism.

      Report Post » justangry  
  • momprayn
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:10am

    I’m happy that an Arab Christian is a judge there & he has every right not to sing it; however, I think he is mistaken about Israel and God/Bible (like many American Christians). God still loves Israel and nothing has changed about them being the “chosen people” (but they still need to accept Jesus as their Messiah to be saved). There is much harmful confusion on this and I pray it gets straightened out (read Romans 11).

    Report Post »  
  • iprazhm
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:07am

    …We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile…We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people. ~ Theodore Roosevelt 1907 Teddy Roosevelt the 26th President of the United States
    Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (not Noble) in 1906 for his work in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. This made him the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any of the categories. http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/nobelportsmouth.htm

    Report Post » iprazhm  
  • iprazhm
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:06am

    And just like in America, once you allow those who hate you the power to rule over you, all is lost. It is a cancer that grows slowly from within, spreading to all parts of the body until the body is destroyed.

    “This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest of ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties.” –John Jay, American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States (1789–95).

    In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but is something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile…We have room for but one

    Report Post » iprazhm  
  • LukeAppling
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:57am

    If you can’t sing the National anthem for political reasons you are not a citizen and should be expelled from the country.You either agree with the culture of the country in which you live or you don‘t if you don’t you should not be a citizen. Muslims everywhere have this problem it is a shame they leave their home country because they don’t fit in anywhere and muslims are notoriously violent agains anyone with whom they disagree especially other muslims.Step by step America is facing this problem as our no border policy of Obama allows more and more people into our countyry who do not want to belong here other yhen to change the country to that which they left-oddly.

    Report Post »  
    • justangry
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:03am

      Did you miss the part where the article said he was a Christian?

      Report Post » justangry  
    • Dismayed Veteran
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:35am

      @Luke

      This guy is not a muslim. He is an Arab Christian.

      Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
    • dpmeek71
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 11:10am

      He is an Arab Christian and not a Muslim but there are a couple of things in place in the region that may cause incidents like this. 1. Even Arab Christians have been subjected to the anti-Israel preachings of the Islamic crazies. 2. The Orthodox Jews in Israel are not kind to Christians. They still see us as a Jewish Cult.

      However, ultimately it fails on the Judge. If he is a Christian and believes that Jesus is his Savior and in not just a cultural Christian; Is it not a huge slap in the face of a Jewish Savior, Jesus, to be Anti-Semitic? Also, if he believes that Jesus is the Way, The Truth and The Life. Then he must believe the affirmation that Jesus made of the Old Testament. The same old Testament that provides the Abrahamic Covenant which, is a one way promise to Abraham for the lands of Israel and additional blessings. Bottom line is they are God’s chosen people if we like it or not.

      Report Post »  
  • paleoman
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:56am

    A muslim country doesn’t have to deal with the liberial left. You are a moslem or you are dead.

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:49am

    One more sign of the grwoing madness in this world.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • willbedone
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:47am

    Let’s take a look at this:
    1 an ARAB Christian is on the Supreme Court of Israel.
    2. An Israeli news source is defending this justice to not sing the national anthem.
    Does this sound like an intolerant country wanting to destroy all of its neighbors?

    Report Post » willbedone  
  • BlackCrow
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:36am

    Which is worse, an Israeli judge who refuses to sing the national anthem or American Politicians who ignore their oath to uphold the Constitution to the extreme of tearing it down?

    Report Post » BlackCrow  
    • MidWestMom
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:49am

      American politicians….by a landslide

      Report Post »  
    • edcoil
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:49am

      now you know why you should never open your tribe to others.

      Report Post »  
    • robert
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:01am

      Looks like we have another instance of the problems multiculturalism can cause for a country.

      Homogenous nations, like Japan, are the only ones that have any unified patriotism among the population, and, consequently, can much better withstand adversity when it arrives.

      If the diversity dogs in the US told Japanese leaders that they should have more diversity, because diversity is strength, they would politely listen and when the multicults left the room they would roll around the floor laughing.

      In the meantime, chaos, fighting, ethnic tensions and religious conflicts constantly rage throughout the West, while their leaders look dazed into the camera with their eyes out of focus, glaring wildly, their hair all messed up, telling the populace that “Diversity is our strength.”

      Report Post »  
    • 123456beatriz
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 10:09am

      Both!…but I can add….Moooslemsss must to change because are transforming in intolerable race. France is aware of this, moslems abusing to impose much of their horrible customs. France is stopping them, so…good

      Report Post »  
  • Tri-ox
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:34am

    Kind of like obama refusing the recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or put his hand over his heart for our National Anthem.

    Report Post » Tri-ox  
    • BurntHills
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:50am

      yeah, and look, more importantly: an arab muslim on the ISRAELI Supreme Court . keyword: ISRAELI !! it just goes to show how decent and forgiving and willing to work with those muslims the Israeli Jews are.

      Report Post » BurntHills  
  • lukerw
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:34am

    Does Israel have a means to Impeach a Judge?

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:32am

    .
    That guy is like the Turd in the Punch Bowl……

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • oldguy49
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:43am

      yep ……….and liberals americans are drinking the punch

      Report Post »  
  • Mr.Fitnah
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:31am

    Im always surprised when a muslim doesn’t detonate and kill people of influence and power when they have a chance to do so, they must have had some security there.

    Report Post » Mr.Fitnah  
  • DIVINEPROVIDENCE1776
    Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:22am

    This guy shouldn’t even be on the Israeli Supreme Court. I’m sure it was liberal jewish politicians who put him in that position. Like the libs here, in bed with the devil. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

    Report Post » DIVINEPROVIDENCE1776  
    • HKS
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:31am

      I guess we are not the only country suffering from the liberal plague.

      Report Post » HKS  
    • tzion
      Posted on March 6, 2012 at 9:49am

      As someone who has been to Israel and actively defends them, I have no problem with there being an Arab Justice. The fact that an Arab can become a Judge is living proof that Israel is nothing like South Africa. You take that away and Israel truly would be an apartheid state. Having a Arab citizen of Israel on the Supreme Court who has committed no act of aggression against Israel and has no ties to terrorists does nothing to threaten Israel’s security. Until you can prove otherwise you shouldn’t be talking.

      Report Post »  
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