The similarity between the struggle of America's blacks and that of Israel's Arabs is expressed in the contents of their respective dreams: a state of all its citizens. The blacks in America had, and still have, a basis for being optimistic. That is the main difference between them and the Arabs of Israel...

...Over the years, America has knocked down many walls of separation, discrimination and racism. According to a survey published in Haaretz last month, one out of every two Jewish young people in Israel believes Arabs should not have rights equal to those of Jews. About 56 percent of them believe it is not necessary for Arabs to be allowed to be elected to the Knesset.

At the opening of the first session of the First Knesset, in 1949, there were three Arabs among the 120 members. Tawfik Toubi, an Arab communist born in Haifa and the last surviving member of that Knesset, warned: Denying democracy and freedom to a national minority leads to the denial of democracy and freedom to all the country's inhabitants. It is impossible to portion out democracy and freedom.