Lim Guan Eng. -AP
KUALA LUMPUR: The DAP has severely criticised the Israeli Knesset for passing the "Jewish national law", said its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
He said the latest law upheld the concept of Jewish supremacy and suppressed the rights of the minorities especially the Arab race.
"The identity of the Arab population including their language had been ignored and denied through the legal process which was racial in nature. The Arabic language which was previously recognised by law as the official language had now been downgraded.
"The minority race which had been treated as second-class citizens all this while will continue to be marginalised even more," he said in a statement on Saturday (July 21).
The international media reported Friday (July 20) that the Knesset, which is the Israeli Parliament, passed a controversial law which categorised the country as an exclusive Jewish nation.
It was passed after a tense session in Parliament that lasted more than eight hours with 62 members supporting while 55 members rejected the motion.
Lim, who is also the Finance Minister, said the law unilaterally declared 'the whole city of Jerusalem' as the capital city of Israel.
The move, he said, not only contravened all conventions of the United Nations (UN) and international law which recognised the Palestinian nation, it even contravened the principles of peace and humanity in returning stability in the region.
"The DAP which all this while upheld the principles of freedom, equality and friendship will continue to oppose any form of cruelty and racialism regardless whether in Malaysia or anywhere in the world," he said.
Thus, he called on the international community to unite in pressuring Israel to abolish the cruel and racial law and to give equal treatment to the minority races in the country. - Bernama
