katalog-overlapping voices - Ritesinstitute

serted that a Palestinian state should be established
alongside israel in the west Bank and the
gaza strip. they believed that raising civil and national
flags were complementing each other rather
than contradicting. however, keeping this delicate
balance became more problematic after the eruption
of violence. the heat of the Palestinian-israeli
conflict since 1988 had its effect on the precarious
Jewish-arab co-existence in israel.
the socio-political status of the Palestinians in israel
was influenced also by internal developments.
the tiny traumatized community has grown quantitatively
and qualitatively since 1948. the second
and third generations of Palestinians in israel were
much more educated than the defeated and traumatized
community. thousands of arab students
attended israeli universities and many of the graduates
became political and social leaders of the community.
the old conservative leadership vanished
and a radical and assertive one took the lead. this
young and educated leadership upgraded the
struggle for equal rights and opportunities. they did
not restrict the arab citizens’ struggle to the issue
of equality but rather questioned the basic foundations
of israel’s identity and legitimacy as a Jewish
state. they pointed to the inherent contradiction of
the state as Jewish and democratic. israel, as the
state of the Jewish people, excluded the arab citizens
and included potentially Jews who are living
outside the country. instead of having a normal democratic
state of all the citizens, israel is an ethnic
democracy, which discriminates against all non-
Jews, particularly arabs. the official definition and
Zionist ideology of israel are the source of discrimination,
segregation and inequality of the arab citizens
in the Jewish state, they asserted.
the Palestinians in israel are also aware that the
israeli-arab conflict is an important source of their
predicament. hence, they supported a political solution
and a historical compromise between israel
and the arab neighbours, particularly the Palestinians.
the peace with egypt in the late 1970s and
the rising moderate voices among the Plo leaders
gave hope for a compromise on the israeli-Palestinian
front.
the Palestinians in israel were the first to portray
the parameters of such a compromise between the
adversaries. the Palestinians should recognize israel
in return for an end to the occupation and the
establishment of an independent state which lives
in peace with its neighbours. gradually more and
more Palestinians and Jewish israelis accepted the
above parameters, and in the oslo agreement in
1993 many thought that the end of the conflict
would be reached before the end of the century.
the Palestinians in israel were enthusiastic supporters
of the peace process.
furthermore, during the early 1990s the Palestinians
in israel were able to benefit from the linkage
between the conflict and their socio-political status
in israel.
the government of Yitzak Rabin who needed the support
of the arab voters for a political agreement with
the Plo promised a policy of equal citizen rights and
started to fulfil these promises immediately. During
the years 1992-1995 the Palestinians in israel enjoyed
from these equalization policies citizens’ rights
and opportunities. During those years a gradual process
of bridging socio-economic gaps between Jews
and arabs in israel was generated by the government.
the government of Rabin was the first in the history
of the country to stand to its promises of equality for
the arab citizens. Unfortunately, it was also the last
one to date. the assassination of Rabin in november
1995 and the change of government the year after
brought an end to hopes of peace and equality
among the arab citizens.
Prior to 1992, Rabin represented the heavy, repressive
hand of the israeli army in the occupied territories.
But after the oslo agreement his image was
transformed dramatically in the eyes of the Palestinians
in israel and elsewhere. one of the remarkable
examples of this transformation is the reaction
of the arab citizens to the news about his
assassination. thousands of arab citizens mourned
his death in public as they had never done before
when israeli leaders died. they understood instinctively
that Rabin’s death would bring an end to the
peace process with the Plo and could stop his government
policies of equal rights and opportunities
for all citizens in israel. indeed, the past thirteen
years have proved that the right wing assassin of
Rabin succeeded in his political mission.
The Current Realities and the Future
Vision Documents
since october 2000, Jewish-arab relations in israel
seem to be deteriorating in the aftermath of
the events in which 13 young arabs were shot dead
by the police and other security forces. this massive
killing of demonstrators and protesters in the
arab localities inside israel was a new reminder of
the shaky status of the arab citizens in the Jewish
state. the orr committee for investigating the
events of october 2000 pointed to the longstanding
state policies of discrimination against the
arab citizens in israel as the main reason for the
eruption of violence. furthermore, the committee
stated that it is the responsibility of the government
to activate a new attitude and new equalizing policies
toward the arab citizens. the israeli government
accepted officially the report and the recommendations
of the orr committee and promised to
implement them. however, almost four years after
its publication very little has been done in the field
of implementing the recommendations. the arab
citizens were not surprised by the huge gap
between rhetoric and practice. they added one
more source of frustration to the long list of false
promises in their short history as an arab minority
in the Jewish state since the declaration of independence
in 1948.
notwithstanding the events of october 2000 and
their repercussions on the Jewish majority-arab
minority relations, the status of the Palestinians in
israel has been relatively stable since 2001. however,
the status quo is not a desirable option from
the arab citizens’ point of view. Privatization of the
economy and other policies of the government are
increasing the socio-economic gaps between the
rich and the poor in israel. the arab citizens are the
poorest of the poor in the country, according to all
indices. as a community, they suffer from longstanding
state discrimination and the glass ceiling for
their socio-economic mobility is very low. hence,
they constantly struggle for a change in the built-in
inequalities as a pre-condition for a better future.
the political behaviour and expectations of the arab
citizens in israel have been transformed dramatically
during the past six decades. in the first two decades,
the name of the game was survival. israeli
citizenship was a means for staying in the homeland
and preventing expulsion. During that period
the utmost dream was to abolish the military control
and to stop the arab lands’ confiscation by the state
and its agencies. the results of the war in June
1967 brought a meaningful change.
the six Days’ war changed political perceptions
among arabs in the region in general, and among
the arabs in israel in particular. the struggle for
survival was won and the new agenda led by communists
included two demands from the israeli
government:
putting an end to the occupation of the west Bank
and the gaza strip to allow the establishment of a
Palestinian state alongside israel and full equality
for the arab citizens. equality at that stage of
struggle meant, basically, the absence of discrimination
against the arabs. an active or positive civil
agenda which portrays a different and clear vision
was not voiced until the 1990s. in the
aftermath of the oslo agreement and the peace
process in the mid 1990s Palestinian intellectuals
in israel started to formulate their vision. they indicated
that the paradigm of full equality as citizens
in israel is incompatible with the state’s selfdefinition
as Jewish. this definition is inclusive for
many Jews who live outside the country but have
potential influence on its policies. at the same
time, israel as the state of the Jewish people excludes
its arab citizens and lays the foundations
for discrimination against non-Jews, particularly
Palestinian arabs.
Epilogue
lately, the israeli Parliament, the knesset, has
been trying to establish a constitution by agreement.
this attempt was perceived by the arab citizens
of israel as a serious threat to any hope left
of achieving equal rights and opportunities in
israel.
Unlike other cases in world history where constitutions
were established as an integral part of a ce-
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