Not to mention Jerusalem, Eilat, Tiberius, Safed… and the list goes on.

The xenophobic blight has been escalating in Israeli society and while many opt to ignore or deny its presence, an article published today thrusts the issue flinching into the light:

Renting apartments to Arab students is forbidden in Safed and Tiberias, migrant workers are being thrown out of their apartments in Bnei Brak, where their electricity and water is cut off as well. In Eilat, “black market labor” isn’t wanted. This is no longer just the bad old hatred of Arabs, in the name of fear and security; it’s now become distilled, violent xenophobia as well. [...]

The hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish immigrants from Russia that we absorbed have not spread diseases, corrupted our daughters or damaged the character of the state. Why? Because they are white, like us. They did not taint the purity of the nation or the state. Nor did they have any effect on the sinister beliefs spreading from Safed to Eilat – that our stock is superior and woe betide anyone who tries to integrate into it. Well the truth is, we are not superior, and we have room for the other – even if he’s Arabic or black. [...]

Every decent Israeli must ask himself if this is the kind of state he wants to live in. A state can have an immigration policy, but it must not become racist or persecute aliens, especially when that state is called the State of Israel. [Source]

It is tough reading and Levy is as blunt as he is realistic: it is ugly, unjust and shameful – all aspects that he elaborates on thoroughly.

Readers of Israeli newspapers will have noticed the trickle of articles in recent years: nightclubs that do not admit party-goers of Ethiopian origin,  the (mis)representation of minorities in Israeli society as enemies of the State, and the reluctance of white Israelis to enrol their bambini in schools admitting high numbers of children of Ethiopian origin.

In 2007, the then Israeli Interior Minister, Meir Sheetrit, emitted a gaffe worthy of Prince Philip while proposing that Ethiopian Jews were not really Jewish and had been admitted into Israel because of “political correctness”.

He concluded, “Who needs them? They are all Christians. We need to take care of the future of Israel.”

Let us not even venture down the darkly menacing path that leads to Avigdor Lieberman’s cottage – for that I direct you to Robert Fisk’s take on why Lieberman is the “worst thing that could happen to the Middle East“.

As for the discrimination enacted daily against Palestinians, well – merely click on the category link ‘Palestine’ to the right and all is clear.

Israel is perceived as the sole democratic country in the Middle East region – something that was intoned weekly during my M.Litt. studies.

The issue of discrimination against the Palestinians resides within a much broader and complex discussion that intertwines with international and regional relations, legal complications and two historical narratives that render the peace process forever a Sisyphean endeavour.

That Israeli society now turns on its Jewish brethren on the basis of ethnic origin or sexual orientation is a fresh disappointment.

Or just a stark reminder that democracy is unachievable: Israel is merely ‘playing house’, while the rest of the world smiles indulgently before reaching for the cookie jar.