Monday, October 01, 2001 Tishrei 14, 5762 Israel Time: 23:49 (GMT+2)
The plight of Israel's Arab community
By Ori Nir
Precisely one year ago today, Israel's Arab citizens took to the streets to express solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the territories and to voice their sentiments that the Israeli establishment and the country's Jewish majority discriminate against the Israeli Arab community, neglect its needs and totally ignore its distress. The reaction of the Israel Police to the violent disturbances was harsh and sent shockwaves through the entire community.
When the Israeli Arab sector began to recover from these shockwaves - some of the consequences of which can still be felt within the community - the country's Arab citizens also began to nurture hopes and expectations that their "awakening" (a term used by many of them) would set off a few alarm bells and would make both the Israeli establishment and Israeli Jewish society realize just how long the problems of the country's Arab community have been neglected.
This was not just an example of "pie-in-the-sky" thinking; there seemed to be sufficient evidence around to support such optimism. In fact, immediately after the October 2000 riots, a certain change could be seen in the nature of the public political-social debate in Israel: a number of "dialogue booths" were set up; senior politicians, even those who belong to the right-wing camp, began to speak of a need for equal rights for Israel's Arab citizens; an independent commission of inquiry, the Or Commission, was set up to investigate the disturbances; then prime minister Ehud Barak (even if he was partially motivated by the upcoming elections) publicly apologized to the Israeli Arab community; and the government approved a multi-year development program for the Arab sector.
Hopes grew when prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon held a meeting with the leaders of the Israeli Arab community shortly after his victory at the polls. At the meeting, Sharon made some very impressive promises. It suddenly appeared that in the world of Israeli politics, which is so riddled with contradictions and ironic situations, Sharon, of all people, who had always been considered by Israeli Arabs to be the epitome of Zionism's injustices toward them, would undertake a bold initiative to better the lot of Israel's Arab citizens.
Today, one year after the October disturbances, it is clear that all those hopes have been dashed on the rocks. From nearly every possible standpoint - political and economic, as well as from the standpoints of leadership and morale - the distress of the Israeli Arab community is more intense than it was on the eve of the community's "awakening." While the state has adopted a tougher stance vis-a-vis the Arab residents of the territories, there has been a serious deterioration in the relationship between the Israeli establishment and the Arab community within the Green Line.
In Sharon's cabinet, key positions - as far as issues pertaining to the Arab sector are concerned - are held by ministers such as Avigdor Lieberman (National Infrastructure), Limor Livnat (Education) and Uzi Landau (Public Security). All three of these cabinet ministers have a track record of vicious verbal attacks on Israel's Arab minority.
The four-year development program for individual Israeli Arab communities will not be implemented this year either. The ministries headed by Lieberman and Landau are making preparations for launching a comprehensive campaign of law enforcement - during the course of which illegally-built structures will be destroyed - and there will be no set of liberally-oriented planning reforms for Israel's Arab communities. Moshe Shochat, a Jewish official in charge of the education system for Israel's Arab citizens in the southern part of the country, has come out with some serious racist statements concerning the very community he is supposed to be serving; however, he has not been forced to hand in his letter of resignation.
The collective mood of depression that exists among Israeli Arabs is exacerbated by the attitudes of the country's Jewish majority. The nationalist right, which is growing stronger on a daily basis, is inspiring feelings of fear among Israeli Arabs, making them apprehensive about stepping outside their respective communities and strongly discouraging them from protesting both their own situation and the events in the territories. The Israeli left, the traditional ally of the country's Arab minority, has proved that it cannot be counted on for any substantial support.
The only positive development to emerge over the past year - from the standpoint of Israeli Arabs - is the growth of their collective sense of identity as a national minority that has legitimate group rights and has begun to harness its inner energies in a struggle to have these rights recognized.
The cries of distress emanating from the Israeli Arab community are, however, being drowned out by the sounds of bombs going off - sounds that have become a permanent and dominant element in the Israeli "resonance box." As a result, the problems of Israel's Arab citizens are being pushed to the bottom of the national agenda.
At one of the sessions of the Or Commission that took place about two weeks ago, testimony was given by Brigadier General Reuven Levy of the Israel Police who, for the past 25 years, has served Israel's defense establishment as an expert on Arab affairs and who, for the last decade, has been a consultant on Arab affairs to Israel's police commissioner.
"The state is making grave strategic errors," Levy told the commission, with emotion coloring the tone of his voice. "A problem of such magnitude cannot simply be swept under the carpet. These are our brothers and sisters. It must be clearly understood that we must live together with them and that they must live together with us in peaceful coexistence.
"These are citizens who have proved their loyalty to the state over the past 53 years. None of us should be surprised by the fact that when a conflict of this nature is not dealt with effectively, it naturally intensifies and eventually explodes in our faces."
Levy's emotional assertion was highlighted in a newspaper headline, quoted on the radio and then disappeared from the public's awareness.
haaretzdaily.com
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