Changes

== Platform ==

== Platform ==

Balad strives to have Israel stop defining itself as a Jewish state. <ref name="Haaretz">[http://www.haaretz.com/news/balad-1.179366 Balad - Haaretz]</ref> Ostensibly they want Israel to be a “state of all its citizens”; their detractors assert however that they wish it to be an Arab Palestinian state. This is best exemplified by Balad’s desire to have all Palestinian refugees return to Israel<ref name="Haaretz" />, which will lead to the formation of an Arab majority within the country and probably its unification with the [[Gaza Strip]] and the [[West Bank]].  

Balad strives to have Israel stop defining itself as a Jewish state. <ref name="Haaretz">[http://www.haaretz.com/news/balad-1.179366 Balad - Haaretz]</ref> Ostensibly they want Israel to be a “state of all its citizens”; in reality they wish it to be an Arab Palestinian state. This is best exemplified by Balad’s desire to have all Palestinian refugees return to Israel<ref name="Haaretz" />, which will lead to the formation of an Arab majority within the country and probably its unification with the [[Gaza Strip]] and the [[West Bank]].  

Prominent members of Balad have often supported Israel’s enemies. Its first leader, former member of [[Knesset]] Azmi Bishara, expressed support for [[Hezbollah]] and the terroristic regime of Syria, a country which he visited several times. <ref name="Haaretz" /><ref>[http://www.azure.org.il/article.php?id=249 The New Ideology of Israeli Arabs]</ref> On April 2007 he fled Israel in order to avoid being tried for cooperating with Hezbollah during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3394602,00.html Bishara suspected of aiding Hizbullah for money]</ref> Other members of the party expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=137734 New Balad MK praises Iran’s nuke quest – Jerusalem Post]</ref> and for [[Hamas]]<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=124460 Arab MK faces trial for meeting Mashaal – Jerusalem Post]</ref>.  

Prominent members of Balad have often supported Israel’s enemies. Its first leader, former member of [[Knesset]] Azmi Bishara, expressed support for [[Hezbollah]] and the terroristic regime of Syria, a country which he visited several times. <ref name="Haaretz" /><ref>[http://www.azure.org.il/article.php?id=249 The New Ideology of Israeli Arabs]</ref> On April 2007 he fled Israel in order to avoid being tried for cooperating with Hezbollah during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3394602,00.html Bishara suspected of aiding Hizbullah for money]</ref> Other members of the party expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=137734 New Balad MK praises Iran’s nuke quest – Jerusalem Post]</ref> and for [[Hamas]]<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=124460 Arab MK faces trial for meeting Mashaal – Jerusalem Post]</ref>.