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<h1 class="gmail-story-body__h1">Israel and Arabic: Where else do language and politics collide?</h1>
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<span class="gmail-byline__name">By Reality Check team</span>
<span class="gmail-byline__title">BBC News</span>
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<li class="gmail-mini-info-list__item"><div class="gmail-date gmail-date--v2">22 July 2018</div></li>
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<div id="gmail-topic-tags"><div id="gmail-u12546076532453299"><div class="gmail-tags-container"><span class="gmail-off-screen">Related Topics</span><ul class="gmail-tags-list"><li class="gmail-tags-list__tags"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cp7r8vgl2rgt/reality-check">Reality Check</a></li></ul></div></div></div> </div>
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<span class="gmail-story-image-copyright">EPA</span>
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There were protests over the controversial nationality bill in Israel
</span>
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</figure><p class="gmail-story-body__introduction">Israel has passed a
law characterising the country as principally a Jewish state and
putting Hebrew above Arabic as the official language, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-44881554" class="gmail-story-body__link">much to the anger of Israeli Arabs</a>.</p><p>The
law describes Hebrew as the "state's language", effectively
prioritising it above Arabic which has for decades been recognised as an
official language alongside Hebrew.</p><p>In which other countries has the choice of language proved politically controversial?</p><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">LATVIA</h2><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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Plans for Latvian to be the teaching medium in secondary schools also led to protests
</span>
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</figure><p>This Baltic state and former Soviet republic has a
sizeable Russian-speaking minority, but the government recognises only
Latvian as the official state language. A referendum held in 2012
rejected a plan to accord Russian the status of a second official
language. The authorities also have plans to promote Latvian as the
language of instruction in all secondary schools, although for the
moment, teaching in Russian and other minority languages will still be
allowed at primary-school level. </p><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">CROATIA</h2><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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Croats use Latin rather than Cyrillic script
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</figure><p>After its independence in 1991, Croatia
abolished the Cyrillic script, which had been used when Croatia was part
of the former Yugoslavia. Croats write using Latin script and Serbs use
Cyrillic. However, when Croatia joined the EU in 2013, it did allow
signs in both Cyrillic and Latin script in areas with a significant Serb
minority, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23934098" class="gmail-story-body__link">leading to angry protests by some Croats</a>.</p><div class="gmail-teads-inread" style="margin:24px auto;height:354px;max-width:592px"><div style="margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px"><div class="gmail-teads-ui-components-adchoices" style="display:block"></div><div class="gmail-teads-ui-components-label" style="background-color:transparent;background-image:none;color:rgb(80,80,80);font:bold 12px/12px helvetica,arial,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0px;padding-top:0px;text-decoration:none;text-transform:uppercase">ADVERTISEMENT</div><div class="gmail-teads-player" id="gmail-teads0"></div></div></div><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">INDIA</h2><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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Tamil Nadu state has its own distinctive culture and traditions
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</figure><p>Plans to make Hindi the sole official language of
India in place of English after independence met resistance from
non-Hindi-speaking states in a country with a multiplicity of languages.
Tamil Nadu - with its own ancient language and traditions - suffered
riots over the issue. The central government continues to use English as
well as Hindi for official purposes, and individual states have largely
been left to decide their own language policy.</p><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">TURKEY</h2><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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Kurdish areas of Turkey have long had restrictions on the use of their language
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</figure><p>Turkish is the only official language and there have
long been restrictions on the Kurdish minority regarding the use of
their language. In 2002, under pressure from the EU, Turkey allowed some
teaching and broadcasts in Kurdish. University-level language courses
in Kurdish and other minority languages were introduced in 2009 as part
of reforms.</p><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">CANADA</h2><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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French speakers in Canada worry about the dominance of English
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</figure><p>Canada is officially bilingual, with the
constitution stating that English and French have "equality of status"
in all government institutions and the parliament. However, historically
there's been concern in largely French-speaking Quebec about the
dominance of English, given Canada's proximity to the US. In 1974,
Quebec made French the official language in the province. It's also
taken measures to promote the use of French, for example, policing
restaurants which use non-French words on their menus.</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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