“The Jewish Nation-State Act, approved by the Israeli Parliament, is in conflict with the principles of international law and the legal and moral system of the United Nations. By this act, the rights of Palestinian Israeli citizens are ignored; Arabic is no longer regarded as an official language; Jerusalem, occupied by Israel, is declared the capital city; the Palestinians, displaced from their home in 1948, are given no right to return whereas the Jewish diaspora are given the right to settle; and such settlement, deemed unlawful by the United Nations, is encouraged. Furthermore, the fact that self-determination is stated by law as a right only for the Jewish people cannot be accepted as being of benefit to the Palestinians and nor is it acceptable to those Jewish citizens, who believe in living together in a culture seeking negotiation towards a solution.
As Hitit University Senate, academic and administrative staff, we condemn the act in question enacted by the Jewish Parliament, which aims to pave the way for the legalisation of the occupation of Palestine and the current unlawful practices and to make the vision of a two-state solution impossible. We ask Israel to respect basic human rights, international law and the principles of the United Nations.”
