On the Intrinsic Value of Arabic in Israel- Challenging Kymlicka on Language Rights

alongside national minorities, who raise similar demands. ~ a n g u a ~ e rights are commonly defined as rights that protect the use of particular languages, namely one's mother tongue or native language.' Language rights are regarded as minority rights because in a heterogeneous linguistic society, it is only the minority groups whose language requires legal protection. As opposed to members of majority communities, whose languages enjoy strong status without needing special legal protection, members of minority groups are usually under constant pressure to abandon their mother tongue in favour of the majority language.* Language rights have a strong positive dimension.' If a minority language is to flourish, it should be spoken by the government and not only by members of the minority group, and it should be a language of elementary and higher education. Moreover, minority members should be able to speak their language when communicating with the government. Therefore, the state should employ workers who are fluent in this minority language so that they can communicate with minority members in their language. That is to say, comprehensive legal protection of