katalog-overlapping voices - Ritesinstitute

tinian localities in this area of eastern galilee survived
and stayed put.
in the so-called little triangle area adjacent to the
west Bank from Um al-fahm in the north down to
kufr-Qasim in the south, twentyseven Palestinian
villages survived because Jordan agreed to transfer
most of them to israel as part of the cease-fire
agreement in spring 1949. in the southern part of
the country, the negev, most of the Bedouin arabs
were displaced to the gaza strip and east of the
river Jordan, and only a tiny portion stayed put on
their lands. however, the israeli government does
not recognize the rights of many Bedouin arabs on
their lands and defines their localities as “unrecognized
villages”. as a result of this policy and the
failed attempts of the government to transfer the
inhabitants of these villages to the recognized
townships, the Bedouin arabs suffer from a special
policy of segregation and discrimination. the
only arab town in this region before 1948, Beer alsabi‘,
was transformed into a Jewish city, a fact
which had negative implications on the indigenous
Bedouin population.
the disappearance of the Palestinian city from israel
since 1948 had negative implications on the
socio-cultural realities of the arab minority. from
an organic and cohesive society, the war and the
israeli policy of preventing the return of the refugees
turned those Palestinians who did survive in
the Jewish state into a traumatized and marginalized
minority. furthermore, the military control
which the government established in the arab
areas turned the arab localities into disconnected
entities. the promises of equal rights and opportunities
for the arab citizens in the Jewish state
were empty words in the reality of segregation and
repression of basic human rights under the military
regime (1948-1966). military officers administered
the arab areas during that period and many
restrictions of movement, economic and political
activities were imposed on the arab citizens by implementing
the British emergency laws of 1945.
thus, the arab citizens in israel were segregated
and excluded from the israeli society and economy.
for about two decades after 1948, the arabs in israel
had no meaningful citizenship and could
hardly resist the discriminatory policies inflicted on
them by the government, the military and other Zionist
institutions.
after confiscating all the lands of the Palestinian
refugees and the “Present absentees”, israeli authorities
started a policy of squeezing the lands of
the arab localities. most of the confiscations of
lands of the arab citizens took place during the
few years which followed the nakba in 1948. a big
portion of the lands left in arab hands were confiscated
and hundreds of Jewish settlements were
built there. as a result of these policies and actions
on the ground, the geographic and demographic realities
of the arab citizens were transformed significantly.
Development and industrialization was plan-
42 OVERLAPPING VOICES
ned and performed for the benefit of Jews at the
expense of the arabs. the continuation of land confiscation
even after the abolition of military control,
in the1970s, generated a collective response of the
“land Day” in march 30, 1976. this day of strike
and confrontations became a landmark in Jewisharab
relations in israel.
the abolition of the military regime at the end of
1966 and the new geo-political realities after June
1967 generated a gradual improvement in the status
of the arab citizens in israel. however, the
change was too late and too little given the built in
policy of discrimination. most of the Jews in israel
and their Zionist leaders believe that the common
good of the state and society should be Jewish. the
arab citizens are excluded from this common good
at best and perceived as fifth column or part of the
enemy in most cases. as a result, demographically,
israeli policy continued to invest money and energies
in order to enhance Jewish immigration into
the country, while entertaining ideas of transfer for
the arab minority. furthermore, in addition to the
concept of as few arabs as possible in the Jewish
state, this was complemented by the old Zionist policy
of redeeming the land, which means seizing
more arab lands. this policy has not changed during
the past six decades. one of the manifestations
of this policy is the building of over 900 new Jewish
settlements since 1948, while building almost
nothing for the arab citizens. those continue to be
segregated in the roughly one hundred localities
which survived the war in 1948.
Socio-political status
the surviving Palestinians in israel after 1948 were
transformed into citizens of the Jewish state. the
israeli citizenship conferred on the arab minority
was meaningless in light of the brutal policies of
segregation and discrimination of the military regime.
even the basic right of voting was manipulated
by the ruling party and other Zionist parties.
Basic rights and services for the arab citizens were
portrayed by the government and its agencies not
as civil rights but rather as a favour given in return
for full loyalty to israel and voting for the ruling parties.
any attempts at independent activity or even
voting for the only non-Zionist communist party
was viewed negatively by authorities and brought
about sanctions and punishment of the alleged
suspects. Under such conditions, the name of the
game for the vast majority of the Palestinian citizens
was survival, not equality. most of the arab
citizens in israel took part in the election campaigns
during the first few decades without being
able to make any difference in israeli politics.
the arabs of Palestine who survived in their localities
were turned into the arabs of israel or “israeli
arabs”. staying put in the homeland and escaping
the lot of their fellow refugees was the
utmost priority. then, they struggled to keep their
homes and the small amount of lands which was
not been confiscated. they struggled also against
the harsh measures of the military governors who
prevented free movement of the arabs including
preventing many farmers from cultivating their
lands. the arab citizens of israel had no illusions
concerning the governments’ promises of offering
equal rights and opportunities. citizen rights of the
arabs were not taken seriously, neither by the israeli
governments nor by the Palestinian survivors
in the Jewish state. in a nutshell, those were the
socio-political realities of the Palestinians in israel
during almost two decades, 1948-1966.
the abolition of the military control at the end of
1966 and the new realities of post June 1967 became
a new landmark in the history of the arab
minority in israel. Until the six Days’ war, the Palestinians
in israel were doubly segregated, not
only from Jews in israel, but also from the arab
world in general and Palestinians in particular. Under
such circumstances, the issue of collective
identity was secondary to existential matters of survival.
the encounter with other Palestinians in the
newly occupied territories generated new dilemmas
of collective identity and of the implications
of being Palestinians, while israeli citizens. on the
one hand, the israeli citizenship became much
more meaningful after the abolition of the military
control but, on the other, more problematic. Being
citizens of the occupying state of their people in
the west Bank and the gaza strip became a troubling
built-in element in their political behaviour.
the occupation of the west Bank and gaza legitimized
the cease-fire borders of 1949.
the focus of international diplomacy and arab
struggle was transferred to the newly occupied territories
in June 1967. in comparison with the Palestinians
in the west Bank and gaza, the arabs
in israel had a superior citizenship status. the issue
of survival was determined during the 1960s
and their new agenda focused on equal citizen
rights. however, being Palestinian citizens of israel,
which occupies brethren in gaza and the
west Bank, is a very complicated double identity
in conflict. the arabs in israel could not be indifferent
to the suffering of their brethren who struggle
for freedom and the end of occupation. But solidarity
with that struggle decreased their prospects
to gather Jewish support for their quest for equal
rights and opportunities in israeli society.
During the 1970s and most of the 1980s the Palestinians
in israel were able to maintain a delicate
balance between the civil and the national agendas.
Until the eruption of the intifada in December
1987, the Palestinian national struggle was led
from the outside by activists of the Plo. During
that period the arabs in israel reaffirmed the Palestinian
component of their identity without surrendering
israeli meaningful citizenship. the Palestinian
community in israel became much more
self-confident and assertive in demanding equal
rights and opportunities. at the same time they as-