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"This Is Our Country, There Is No Other," Says Arab-Israeli Independence Day Torch-Lighter
(Times of Israel) Jonathan Beck - Lucy Aharish, an Israeli-Arab news anchor, was among the torch-lighters in the official ceremony kicking off Israel's Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday. Aharish, 33, a Muslim Arab, was teary-eyed when she took her turn at the ceremony. After remarks in Hebrew, she also spoke in Arabic, saying she was lighting the torch: "For our honor as human beings, this is our country and there is no other." During the 2014 Gaza war, Aharish, who works as a news anchor at i24News, conducted an on-air discussion with a Hamas official in Gaza where she accused the terror group of using civilians as human shields and called on residents of Gaza to rebel against the Hamas regime there. In an interview this week, Aharish said, "When people ask me 'What are you?' I say that I'm an Israeli. I'm not ashamed of my Israeliness. Then I'm a woman, and then I'm an Arab Muslim. That's the order."