An Egyptian student responds to Amira Hass

"In a bid to sell us a stale narrative of multiculturalism, Hass draws on outdated, callous and racist diversity rhetoric at its worst. She asks "whether an Egyptian would be permitted to be interviewed by a Palestinian journalist who is a citizen of Israel and writes for Haaretz.” Here we should not forget: apart from suffering the internal dispossession that came with Zionist colonization following 1948, Palestinian citizens of Israel today live under a draconian system whereby their very citizenship and homes are constantly under threat. Just as they are socially and legally criminalized for memories that might render them non-subservient to Jewish Israeli colonialism and assimilation, they are reminded daily of their status as "guests" of the Jewish state and instructed - poorly so, as any purveyor of Israeli pop culture will recognize - in the art of gratitude for the oft-cited "privilege" of electoral rights. Just as the state of Israel insists on touting its non-Jewish population, along with its Mizrahi Jewish population, as the assimilated and obedient badges of diversity, she insists that the contributions of Palestinian Israelis to Ha'aretz renders the newspaper anything but the very Zionist institution that it is. Like many liberals, Hass presumes that relative diversity of coverage and opinion deserve a trophy, and bleakly wonders why more Egyptians were not willing to risk their personal security, the reputation of the revolution, and for some, deeply rooted anti-normalization sentiment rightly wary of Ha'aretz, just so they could grant her the interviews she asked for." (thanks Joseph)