The Arabs of Israel: Sixty years of exclusion by Arabs

[Venom]

There is a community of 1.3 million Arabs living within Israel but outside the Arab world. They have been neglected, ignored and often looked down upon by their fellow Arabs as traitors who have stayed behind while many Palestinian Arabs fled the violence of the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.


Upon the founding of the state of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs fled their homes and took refuge in neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, whereas about 120,000 Palestinians chose to stay and took up Israeli citizenship. These Arabs now make up about 20 per cent of the population of Israel; this number does not include the 600,000 Arab Jews who migrated to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s, many of whom still identify with their ancestral homes.

These Arab Israelis, having lived in Israel for six decades, have among them third and possibly fourth generation citizens and are not likely to leave the country in the near future.

The Arab Israelis have every right to demand more representation and equal treatment in their adopted country as they struggle, like any minority, to assert themselves. Although the Israeli constitution guarantees them equal rights, their situation resembles that of the animals in George Orwell's literary masterpiece Animal Farm in which those who control the farm proclaim that "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (no offence intended to either Jews or Arabs).

The sad truth is that the Arab Israelis enjoy more rights in a country that identifies itself as a Jewish homeland than they would have if they were living in any of the 22 Arab states that surround them. They can vote – genuinely vote with no pressure, rigging or strings attached. They have members of parliament who represent their rights, one of whom (Ghaleb Majadleh) holds a cabinet position, and they have the right to sue the government. Any of these would be considered an unthinkable excess in some parts of the Arab world.

In October 2000, a dozen Israeli Arab citizens were killed in clashes with the police as they marched in the wake of the second intifada. The Israeli government described the events as "tragic" and said that it "regrets the loss of life of citizens"; it paid compensation and censured the Israeli soldiers, one of whom was an Arab Israeli.

It is unimaginable that Arab states such as Egypt or Syria would entertain the notion of having the government sued, or opening an investigation into the many riots that turned violent in their streets in the past few years; nothing less than a total media blackout would have been imposed.

Israel, just like the US, has a system of lobbies that serve to look after and advance the causes of certain groups. We Arabs must take advantage of this opportunity and support our brothers and sisters who live inside Israel instead of ignoring and neglecting them.

Three times as many Arabs live in poverty as Jews in Israel. These are people with the power to vote in legislation that would protect the use of the Arabic language in a land over which we continue to recite poems, write articles and draw paintings to proclaim our love and devotion. People who maintain our traditions, culture and history, speak in our tongue and uphold our values – yet we turn our backs on them.

We claim that we care about the land of historic Palestine, but do we really? Is the best way to support the courageous people who have stayed in their homes and protected their lives and civilisation to ignore them for another 60 years?

Sadly, too few Arabs have decided to look beyond the animosity between Israel and the Arab world, and as a result we have almost no relations with our brethren within the state of Israel. None of the popular television song contests that broadcast in the UAE or Lebanon hosted even one Arab Israeli youngster. No summer camps invited Arab Israeli boy and girl scouts to interact with their kin on the other side. In fact there has been a policy of total exclusion between us.

Will the Arab world benefit from their departure from Israel? Who will take the 1.3 million additional Palestinians when we can't wait to expel those who already inhabit the numerous refugee camps in the Levant and North Africa? Why not support them financially, morally and psychologically?

It is only the Emir of Qatar in the Gulf who has donated a sum of US$6 million to build a football stadium in the Israeli Arab town of Sakhnin in 2005 after it became the first Arab-Israeli side to win the Israeli Football Cup. Sixty years of waiting resulted in a meagre US$6 million from the ultra-wealthy GCC states. Sixty long years. And we wonder why…


zawya.com

[dodzi]

There is a paradox about the Arab Israelis. Being accorded many rights as citizens of the State of Israel, Israel is showing the world that it is a democratic country that respects its citizens whatever religion or ethnic origins they are of.

Israel also disputes the fact that the other Arabs were driven from their homes and villages. It says that the Arabs fled willingly, and that their homes were left untouched for decades...

But ask yourself this: even today, the Israelis are worried about the demographic weight of those 1.3 million Arabs. Some are even suggesting they should be integrated into future Palestine.

Now imagine all those who "fled willingly" never had left... We would have a State of "Israel", with a majority of Arabs today! So how is this rhetorical leitmotiv of Israeli democratic values supposed to be accurate in this case?

[Jorje]

Originally Posted by dodzi

There is a paradox about the Arab Israelis. Being accorded many rights as citizens of the State of Israel, Israel is showing the world that it is a democratic country that respects its citizens whatever religion or ethnic origins they are of.

Israel also disputes the fact that the other Arabs were driven from their homes and villages. It says that the Arabs fled willingly, and that their homes were left untouched for decades...

But ask yourself this: even today, the Israelis are worried about the demographic weight of those 1.3 million Arabs. Some are even suggesting they should be integrated into future Palestine.

Now imagine all those who "fled willingly" never had left... We would have a State of "Israel", with a majority of Arabs today! So how is this rhetorical leitmotiv of Israeli democratic values supposed to be accurate in this case?

You're right. It's all one big paradox. Will the Israeli Arabs ever feel really at home with the Jewish majority regardeless of their attitude? As long as the national identity of Israel is determined by "Jewishness" and the need to conserve a Jewish majority, I don't think minorities will ever feel a sense of full belonging on equal terms with other Jewish citizens.

Still, Israeli Arab citizens do have more rights than most other Arabs.

[tsedek]

Will the Israeli Arabs ever feel really at home with the Jewish majority regardeless of their attitude?

I can only tell from my own experience rather than reading the newspapers about other parts of this country - and here, in Tel-Aviv, I find that people first and foremost connect to other people. I work with jewish-israeli lawyers and arab-israeli lawyers - and they find themselves in one league (like the 'label' is lawyer, and not ethnicity, or being man or woman, or whatever) - and I found the same thing counts for people less fortunate economically. When I was in Jaffa a few days ago I noticed a huge graffiti on the wall of a very shabby building - written in both hebrew and i presume the arabic said the same - complaining how the government (more the municipality) is forcing those people out of Jaffa so they can build luxury apartments for the very rich. Again: here I noticed the "belonging" factor was in the circle of the impoverished Jaffa citizens against the rich (and the municipality).

On Shabats when I come back from the sea, I always take a sherut (which is a minivan acting like a bus) and the drivers are mixed jews/arab-israelis. Even if you hold a knife against my throat I am not able to tell who is who. They both listen to the same music (mizrahi/arabic/hebrew) talk half/half arabic/hebrew and look the same. Again: I can distinctly see a group of people being in the same frame of mind/way of life - instead of two groups feeling apart from each other for whatever reason just because they have a different ethnicy.

well, OK that was my 2 cents.

[Neo_Con]

Originally Posted by tsedek

I can only tell from my own experience rather than reading the newspapers about other parts of this country - and here, in Tel-Aviv, I find that people first and foremost connect to other people. I work with jewish-israeli lawyers and arab-israeli lawyers - and they find themselves in one league (like the 'label' is lawyer, and not ethnicity, or being man or woman, or whatever) - and I found the same thing counts for people less fortunate economically. When I was in Jaffa a few days ago I noticed a huge graffiti on the wall of a very shabby building - written in both hebrew and i presume the arabic said the same - complaining how the government (more the municipality) is forcing those people out of Jaffa so they can build luxury apartments for the very rich. Again: here I noticed the "belonging" factor was in the circle of the impoverished Jaffa citizens against the rich (and the municipality).

On Shabats when I come back from the sea, I always take a sherut (which is a minivan acting like a bus) and the drivers are mixed jews/arab-israelis. Even if you hold a knife against my throat I am not able to tell who is who. They both listen to the same music (mizrahi/arabic/hebrew) talk half/half arabic/hebrew and look the same. Again: I can distinctly see a group of people being in the same frame of mind/way of life - instead of two groups feeling apart from each other for whatever reason just because they have a different ethnicy.

well, OK that was my 2 cents.

In your experience as a citizen of Israel, can you tell us how Arabs are treated in Israel? Is there widespread discrimination or is it a few isolated events? Do most Israeli-Arabs support attacks against Israeli-Jews?

Are Israeli-Druze counted as Israeli-Arabs?

[Learned]

The "Israeli" Arabs are comparable to, for example, Iranian Jews. Both "Israeli" Arabs and Iranian Jews have the choice to leave their country, land, and people behind and move out (and some have done so) because they both live in countries where the government is defined by a religion that is not theirs. And yet in both cases many have chosen to stay most probably because of the connection they have to the land and the region. In both cases, I do not think that the existance of either community is something that is reflective of their respective regimes. The fact that an there are Arab "Israeli's" isn't something to "Israel's" credit. These Arabs were on this land before "Israel" ever existed.

Polling data of "Israeli" Arab opinion:

60.8 % of Israeli Arabs believe it is not possible for the Palestinian citizens in Israel to obtain equality while Israel defines itself as a Jewish State.

72.0% say Israel as a Zionist state is a racist state.

73.1% do not beleive Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish Zionist state.


Rating their Patriotism:

Arab patriotism 86%
Palestinian patriotism 61%
Israeli patriotism 38%


More Here: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/.../arabpoll.html

[tsedek]

Neo_Con, I keep on reading that they are being discriminated against here in the newspapers and documentaries on tv, but in my personal experiences I have never met an arab-israeli being discriminated against.

That is no scientific proof, but just my experience and I can only vow for my experience.

[tsedek]

I don't know if it is allowed to place photos - but this is what I found downtown Jaffa this last Sunday, I think the "when can Jaffa host Fairouz" is quite telling, no?

[Les Taire]

my friend is palestinian born in jordan, he has a girlfriend who is "arab" israeli.

he told me that Arab Israelis are treated as equals and not discriminated against for the most part.

the arab states really need to help the palestininans out a lot more, maybe even give them passes to work in their countries and leave Lebanon.

i prefer to be an arab israeli then live in pretty much any other arab country (I imagine). that is their land and they made the most of their opportunity, and it is a lot better then the alternatives which the other Palestinians face. I often wonder how they feel living amongst "the enemy" but I guess a lot of them feel accepted.

[Neo_Con]

Originally Posted by Les Taire

my friend is palestinian born in jordan, he has a girlfriend who is "arab" israeli.

he told me that Arab Israelis are treated as equals and not discriminated against for the most part.

the arab states really need to help the palestininans out a lot more, maybe even give them passes to work in their countries and leave Lebanon.

i prefer to be an arab israeli then live in pretty much any other arab country (I imagine). that is their land and they made the most of their opportunity, and it is a lot better then the alternatives which the other Palestinians face. I often wonder how they feel living amongst "the enemy" but I guess a lot of them feel accepted.

Arab Israelis are for the most part committed to the destruction of Israel. In spite of this, they still receive the same rights as Jewish Israelis and are treated better than their Palestinian "brethren" are in the Arab countries. That says quite a bit.