Years ago and throughout different periods, I came across people who happened to be Arab citizens of the State of Israel.
The original Arab population in Israel is that population that did not leave towns and cities in 1948 after the State of Israel declared its independence and what followed of the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. My interaction with the Israeli Arabs first came to surface when I went to a boarding school in Jerusalem by the name of St. George school- the actual boarding house was few miles away at the YMCA in Ramallah -the temporary capital of the Palestinian Authority lead by Mahmoud Abbas- we had students from the so called inside the green line- an artificial line that separates the State of Israel from the West Bank according to the **1949 Armistice lines established between Israel and its neighbors (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria).
The students from Israel of course were Israeli citizens, the rest of us were, as my self, Unidentified- Gaza, or Jordanians- mainly the West Bank. The friends and colleagues from Israel always felt torn apart between their citizenship and residence to the state and their historic belonging to the Palestinian people in the historic pre 1948 League of Nations British mandated Palestine. I personally would have advised them that there is no problem; you can be a German Israeli, a Palestinian Israeli and such. No need to pretend that you are ashamed of this and that, no need at all. Back on track, these students always felt- while with Palestinians, from the West Bank and Gaza- the need to show that they are part of the overall so-called Palestinian struggle to gain independence.
Moving to another era that took place in Cairo-Egypt after the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979 following the historic visit to Jerusalem by the late Egyptian president Anwar Al-Sadat. I stayed for few months in a little hotel in Cairo that was also attended by tourists from all over the world and among them were tourists from Israel that some happened to be Arabs. In that hotel, that I stayed while attending law school at Cairo University, we used to set in the restaurant in the evenings and just talk.
At one time, couple of the Israeli Arabs confided to me, they felt comfortable with me for some reason because the subject is so sensitive, that they prefer to live under Israeli rule than to go back under Palestinian or Arab rule.
These two friends said and I quote" we prefer to live in hell under Israel than to live in paradise under the Arabs" end of quote. I was not shocked, knowing the Arab political system but I was pleased that they felt this way. They are now citizens of the state of Israel, their job is to be smart citizens and productive citizens, and they can of course continue to ask for equality and such as long as they use peaceful means.
The Arabs in Israel live well in their homes and towns, they attend universities and they have representation in the parliament, the Knesset. They still have not reached the top political and military positions but this is normal and things will change for them as long as they remember that they are citizens of Israel and their loyalty should go to the state that they bear its' citizenship.
The political and social systems in Israel will develop as the peace process with the neighboring Arab countries gains solid ground, and once there are peace treaties and normalization of relations among all countries in the new Middle East, the life of the Israeli Arabs will evolve to more relaxed relations.
The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will have a state and there will be a Palestinian state in the future, however, the Israeli Arabs must look at the new state as a neighboring state with special ties. They know that they do not want to move there and they know that they want to continue to be part of the state of Israel***. Israel can as the debate goes right now to have it's identity as a Jewish state and in the same time move to ensure a multi-ethnic society that will allow qualified people to govern regardless of their ethnicity. The Arabs in Israel will use their relations to both Israel and Palestine to be one of the bridges that cross the spectrum between Israel and the Arab countries.
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* Israel population consists mainly of Jewish and Arabs. The definition of Arab population in Israel relates to both Muslims and Christians. There are other groups such as the Bedouins and the Druze. The Arabs are exempt from serving in the Military, the Druze and the Bedouins are active members of the State of Israel Defense Forces. The demographics according to the CIA-The World Factbook, total population is 7,233,701 divided as follows: Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2004)
**Source from Wikipedia
*** Read my blogs: Ahmad Tibi, Danny Ayalon, Khalid Mashal, Avigdor Lieberman. Also, read An Article From Haaretz: Israel & Palestine, Multi-Ethnicity for related details and Jerusalem.
The original Arab population in Israel is that population that did not leave towns and cities in 1948 after the State of Israel declared its independence and what followed of the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. My interaction with the Israeli Arabs first came to surface when I went to a boarding school in Jerusalem by the name of St. George school- the actual boarding house was few miles away at the YMCA in Ramallah -the temporary capital of the Palestinian Authority lead by Mahmoud Abbas- we had students from the so called inside the green line- an artificial line that separates the State of Israel from the West Bank according to the **1949 Armistice lines established between Israel and its neighbors (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria).
The students from Israel of course were Israeli citizens, the rest of us were, as my self, Unidentified- Gaza, or Jordanians- mainly the West Bank. The friends and colleagues from Israel always felt torn apart between their citizenship and residence to the state and their historic belonging to the Palestinian people in the historic pre 1948 League of Nations British mandated Palestine. I personally would have advised them that there is no problem; you can be a German Israeli, a Palestinian Israeli and such. No need to pretend that you are ashamed of this and that, no need at all. Back on track, these students always felt- while with Palestinians, from the West Bank and Gaza- the need to show that they are part of the overall so-called Palestinian struggle to gain independence.
Moving to another era that took place in Cairo-Egypt after the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979 following the historic visit to Jerusalem by the late Egyptian president Anwar Al-Sadat. I stayed for few months in a little hotel in Cairo that was also attended by tourists from all over the world and among them were tourists from Israel that some happened to be Arabs. In that hotel, that I stayed while attending law school at Cairo University, we used to set in the restaurant in the evenings and just talk.
At one time, couple of the Israeli Arabs confided to me, they felt comfortable with me for some reason because the subject is so sensitive, that they prefer to live under Israeli rule than to go back under Palestinian or Arab rule.
These two friends said and I quote" we prefer to live in hell under Israel than to live in paradise under the Arabs" end of quote. I was not shocked, knowing the Arab political system but I was pleased that they felt this way. They are now citizens of the state of Israel, their job is to be smart citizens and productive citizens, and they can of course continue to ask for equality and such as long as they use peaceful means.
The Arabs in Israel live well in their homes and towns, they attend universities and they have representation in the parliament, the Knesset. They still have not reached the top political and military positions but this is normal and things will change for them as long as they remember that they are citizens of Israel and their loyalty should go to the state that they bear its' citizenship.
The political and social systems in Israel will develop as the peace process with the neighboring Arab countries gains solid ground, and once there are peace treaties and normalization of relations among all countries in the new Middle East, the life of the Israeli Arabs will evolve to more relaxed relations.
The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will have a state and there will be a Palestinian state in the future, however, the Israeli Arabs must look at the new state as a neighboring state with special ties. They know that they do not want to move there and they know that they want to continue to be part of the state of Israel***. Israel can as the debate goes right now to have it's identity as a Jewish state and in the same time move to ensure a multi-ethnic society that will allow qualified people to govern regardless of their ethnicity. The Arabs in Israel will use their relations to both Israel and Palestine to be one of the bridges that cross the spectrum between Israel and the Arab countries.
-------------------------------------------------------------
* Israel population consists mainly of Jewish and Arabs. The definition of Arab population in Israel relates to both Muslims and Christians. There are other groups such as the Bedouins and the Druze. The Arabs are exempt from serving in the Military, the Druze and the Bedouins are active members of the State of Israel Defense Forces. The demographics according to the CIA-The World Factbook, total population is 7,233,701 divided as follows: Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2004)
**Source from Wikipedia
*** Read my blogs: Ahmad Tibi, Danny Ayalon, Khalid Mashal, Avigdor Lieberman. Also, read An Article From Haaretz: Israel & Palestine, Multi-Ethnicity for related details and Jerusalem.
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