Political scientists have noted a world-wide decline in liberal democracy over the last decade or so, in nations ranging from Brazil to Poland to the Philippines.
I never understand the claim that the Nation-State Law "demoted" the status of Arabic when the very next clause after the one you refer to says "This clause does not harm the status given to the Arabic language before this law came into effect." That aside, I have never been clear on this: Has there ever been a law that explicitly made Arabic "official"?
You are absolutely correct that the Nation-State Law contains a contradiction in that it says that Arabic retains the status it had while in fact declaring Hebrew the only official language. As for the original designation of Arabic as an official language, that was simply a result of the continuation of all Mandate laws not otherwise explicitly replaced. The Mandate had three official languages; by removing English as the third official language, Arabic remained in place as the second -- until passage of the new Basic Law.
Thank you. My general take on the N-S Law: It mostly codifies things that have stood without ever being stated in law, and so it was less big a deal than its critics claim. My other general take is it is shoddy constitution making to pass such measures by almost the narrowest majority possible when the only real purpose is signaling to your core constituency that you are "doing something" and to everyone else that they are not part of the project. (This comment probably contained a contradiction, too, but that's kind of the point.)
Further: When I toured the Knesset for the first time, I was genuinely (and naively) surprised that debates could not be in Arabic. I had heard, after all, that Arabic was an "official language". and my understanding is that legislatures normally operate in any language that is "official" for the country in question. Hence my questioning whether official status for Arabic ever meaningfully existed (as opposed to some sort of "special status" for lack of better term), notwithstanding the Mandate laws you mention. I guess a related question is, How common has the use of Arabic in official documents been? I assume ministries communicate with Arab speakers in Arabic (right?), but are official documents generally made available in Arabic? I should know the answer, but do not (obviously).
The practice never matched the official status. Knesset members are allowed to speak in Arabic, but as I understand it this seldom happens because it is complicated, given that most MKs don't understand Arabic. There is a government educational system that operates in Arabic, and in dealings with the Arab-speaking community I think documents are generally available in Arabic, but outside of that Arabic was never on an equal status as an "official" language.
Thank you. Yes, never on equal status is what I thought--and that means it is, in my view, mistaken to say that the Basic Law on the Nation State "downgraded" Arabic's status. (To be clear, in case it matters, I do not "support" the law; I just think this point and others regarding it get overstated at times.) Regarding the Knesset, I did not mean that Arabic could not legally be used in debates, I meant the absence of simultaneous translation as one sees in the Canadian parliament, for example, and Arabic translation of broadcasts of sessions. Naively, having understood that Arabic was an "official" language, the first time I visited the Knesset, I expected that there would be facility for members and the public to understand each other regardless of the language being spoken during debates.
(I see I said in the earlier comments "debates could not be in Arabic" but that's not how I understood it at the time of my visit. I meant lack of accommodation/translation.)
I never understand the claim that the Nation-State Law "demoted" the status of Arabic when the very next clause after the one you refer to says "This clause does not harm the status given to the Arabic language before this law came into effect." That aside, I have never been clear on this: Has there ever been a law that explicitly made Arabic "official"?
You are absolutely correct that the Nation-State Law contains a contradiction in that it says that Arabic retains the status it had while in fact declaring Hebrew the only official language. As for the original designation of Arabic as an official language, that was simply a result of the continuation of all Mandate laws not otherwise explicitly replaced. The Mandate had three official languages; by removing English as the third official language, Arabic remained in place as the second -- until passage of the new Basic Law.
Thank you. My general take on the N-S Law: It mostly codifies things that have stood without ever being stated in law, and so it was less big a deal than its critics claim. My other general take is it is shoddy constitution making to pass such measures by almost the narrowest majority possible when the only real purpose is signaling to your core constituency that you are "doing something" and to everyone else that they are not part of the project. (This comment probably contained a contradiction, too, but that's kind of the point.)
Further: When I toured the Knesset for the first time, I was genuinely (and naively) surprised that debates could not be in Arabic. I had heard, after all, that Arabic was an "official language". and my understanding is that legislatures normally operate in any language that is "official" for the country in question. Hence my questioning whether official status for Arabic ever meaningfully existed (as opposed to some sort of "special status" for lack of better term), notwithstanding the Mandate laws you mention. I guess a related question is, How common has the use of Arabic in official documents been? I assume ministries communicate with Arab speakers in Arabic (right?), but are official documents generally made available in Arabic? I should know the answer, but do not (obviously).
The practice never matched the official status. Knesset members are allowed to speak in Arabic, but as I understand it this seldom happens because it is complicated, given that most MKs don't understand Arabic. There is a government educational system that operates in Arabic, and in dealings with the Arab-speaking community I think documents are generally available in Arabic, but outside of that Arabic was never on an equal status as an "official" language.
Thank you. Yes, never on equal status is what I thought--and that means it is, in my view, mistaken to say that the Basic Law on the Nation State "downgraded" Arabic's status. (To be clear, in case it matters, I do not "support" the law; I just think this point and others regarding it get overstated at times.) Regarding the Knesset, I did not mean that Arabic could not legally be used in debates, I meant the absence of simultaneous translation as one sees in the Canadian parliament, for example, and Arabic translation of broadcasts of sessions. Naively, having understood that Arabic was an "official" language, the first time I visited the Knesset, I expected that there would be facility for members and the public to understand each other regardless of the language being spoken during debates.
(I see I said in the earlier comments "debates could not be in Arabic" but that's not how I understood it at the time of my visit. I meant lack of accommodation/translation.)