That's a funny story - you should tell it to my Palestinian friend (he is now in his 70's) who was forced out of his home at gunpoint by the Israeli military (he was a young boy, and says he remembers it as clear as day because they were all loaded onto a truck and his mother literally grabbed the pot of chicken she was cooking because she had no idea where they were going and wanted to make sure her children had food.) He was born in Haifa. He was removed to the area that is now the West Bank.
I swore to myself I wasn't going to get sucked in, but I can't let this pass unchallenged - Arab Israelis do not have equal rights to Jewish Israelis, to start with, please see:
Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which prohibits the acqusition of Israeli citizenship or residency by a Palestinian from the West Bank or Gaza Strip via marriage if they marry and Israeli Arab. The law does allow children from such marriages to live in Israel until age 12, at which age the law requires them to emigrate. How nice and equal.
The Israeli identity card indicates whether holders are Jewish or not by adding the person's Hebrew date of birth. The ID system determines where Arabs and Jews are permitted to live, access to some government welfare programs, and how they are likely to be treated by civil servants, etc.
Land distribution - 93% of the land inside Israel is not held by private owners and is managed as public property. Arab-Israelis are not entitled to this land.
The land distribution policy is how Israel has been able to continue building settlements which are in clear violation of UN resolutions.
In addition, Arab Israelis travel and movement is severely restricted. Do I need to even mention "the Wall"?
And now I want to
because I actually got sucked into something I swore I wouldn't!