Israeli policies and practices aim to limit Palestinians’ basic rights, whether to housing, economic development or by granting privileges to Jewish-Israelis. These policies and practices create an unbearable atmosphere, which pressures many Palestinians to leave the country, some permanently, others temporarily. Since I am a Palestinian, I know that I am considered inferior by the legal and political systems and, at the same time, a threat to the Jewishness of Israel. This creates a feeling of unrest and alienation, like being a foreigner in your own country! This feeling becomes more and more tangible when listening to officials speak about Palestinians in Israel as a “demographic threat” or the option of transferring us. Moreover, “price tag” attacks against Palestinians are becoming more common and increasingly targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel such as in villages of the Galilee the triangle are and the “mixed cities” such as Haifa and Yaffa. These acts are never taken seriously by the Israeli state. Those who commit these crimes usually aren’t prosecuted. Political Participation Israel uses the Palestinian right to vote as a propaganda tool in order to claim that Palestinians are politically represented and, thus, that Israel is a democratic state. But practically, the Palestinian Members of Parliament have never achieved any changes to the main obstacles concerning equality such as in the areas of land, economy, education and so forth. Therefore, even if all the Palestinians vote, we will never be able to exert any form of pressure or change of laws that the Knesset amends. Jewish Nationality Because Israel considers itself the home of the Jewish nation, not the Israeli people, the non-Jewish Palestinians in Israel can never be part of this nation. Thus we will remain inferior. Even if both Palestinians and Jews hold Israeli citizenship, Palestinians receive different treatments and rights. According to the Israeli Declaration of Independence, Israel defines itself both as Jewish and democratic. Politically speaking, it is not possible for a state to simultaneously define itself as democratic and ethnocratic. Everything in Israel is built in the favor of the Jewish-Israelis at the expense of Palestinian citizens who are being pushed aside in various areas of life. The 1952 Israeli Nationality Law repealed the Palestinian Citizenship Order of 24 July 1925 under which Palestinians were granted the status of citizens and nationals in their country. The repeal resulted in the de facto ‘denationalization’ of this entire population. It is important to note that the official English language version of the Nationality Law carries the incorrectly translated title “The Nationality Law”, as if it were the legal basis for a nationality right, which it is not.126 Since 1952 and the denationalization of all Palestinians, Israeli law proceeded on the basis that citizenship and nationality would be two separate and distinct statuses. 126 Joseph Schechla, “The Consequences of Conflating Religion, Race, Nationality, and Citizenship,” AlMajdal Quarterly Magazine of BADIL, Winter - Spring 2010, http://www.badil.org/en/al-majdal/ item/1401-schechla-conflating-race-and-nationality. 49