Israeli Arabs ‘stamped’ on Facebook as second-class citizens

Israeli Arabs have joined a growing number of political opponents to Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial ‘Jewish State’ bill by editing their Facebook profile photos to one that shows their faces stamped with ‘second-class citizen’.

The online trend, using an official-looking Hebrew stamp, is just the latest expression of frustration from both Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis angered at the bill’s challenge to the democratic character of the State.

The profiles stamps are the latest show of opposition to the bill, pushed forward by the prime minister and his right-wing allies, despite repeated warnings that it risks exacerbating an existing undercurrent of discrimination in the country.

“We joked that now with the new law, we are officially second–class citizens and thought we should do something,” said Sana Jamalia, a graphic designer from Haifa who helped start the trend.

Earlier this week, Israel’s president, attorney-general and state prosecutor all came out against it, as did the finance minister and justice minister.

However the bill approved by cabinet on Sunday, which also outlines new powers to remove rights from ‘minority’ citizens, is in fact a watered-down version, with original versions pushing for Hebrew to be the sole official language.