There are more than 1 million 400 thousand Israeli Arabs among a population of nearly 7 million Israelis. They are the descendants of 160,000 Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. For 60 years, the ambivalence of identity has been palpable. They are Israeli citizens, but their identity generally turns towards the Palestinians.
Thus we can talk of the "paradox of identity". Israeli Arabs feel a brotherhood, for their Palestinian cousins, and the members of the Umma, the "great Arab nation". But that sense of irony has evolved over time, and the more or less tense political contexts. One of the two models and identities will emerge at the expense of another.
Thus, Easter Zonszain explains that "since the establishment of the State of Israel, this population has been looking for a place, a status, a definition of tropism and balance; to model Israel to the Palestinian identity or even towards Islam, according to the lulls and storms. Elusively or formally, the Israeli Arab population considers itself in its great majority, loyal to the State of Israel, jealous of its religious and cultural particularities, attracted or repelled by Palestinian nationalism, attached to the Arab nation, and sometimes all at same time."
The focus here is on the Israeli Arabs, without taking into account the territories occupied by Palestinians, or the Arabs of Jerusalem, who have a resident status, and are not citizens.
We will first see what brings them closer to Israeli society, and then see what takes them away. We conclude this study by analyzing how these Israeli Arabs feel, and/or are, close to the Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general.
Initially, the State of Israel had a universal character. The principle of equality of citizens is recognized in their rights, and it is higher than the Jewish character of the state. Israelis, both Jews and Arabs are equal according to the text.
Despite the socio-economic patent (a point which is discussed in more detail in the second part), reports of Israeli Arabs with respect to their state have experienced fairly positive phases. After election in 1992, Yitzhak Rabin had considered improving the situation of Arab citizens as a priority, alongside the diplomatic process initiated with the Palestinians.
Rabin had not only started to increase the budget of the local government substantially, but he also sought to increase the presence of senior Arab officials in the administration. Israeli Arabs could well look to the west of Israel, rather than to the east at the Palestinian entity in the making. A year later, the Arab parties played an important role, giving the Labor party a majority in the Knesset, necessary to pass the Oslo accords. This "Israelization" of Israeli Arabs started to worry some leaders of the Arab minority, who feared the collapse of the Arab identity in Israel.
Tags: Israeli Arabs, the Oslo accords, Yitzhak Rabin
[...] But this hope of Israeli Arabs broke with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, and the abandonment of his policy by his successors. This new divorce naturally tipped the Arabs of Israel in favor of their Palestinian "brothers". The speech was radical, both among the secular Arabs, and those in favor of Islamization. Since 1996, political radicalization is sharper. The Islamic Movement was split in two, creating the northern part, which was led by Sheikh Raed Salah, and represented a radical current. [...]
[...] The seizure of power by Hamas in June 2006 in Gaza, especially since the Palestinian Authority tumbled, failed to consider the Israeli Arabs in the light of a possible future together. This "normalization" is sometimes viewed with fear by the Arab elites, who are trying to revive the divide within the country. Some observers have noted an "Islamization" of this population in recent years. The inequalities they experience, and the latest developments in the region, are the reasons for this multiple radicalization". [...]
[...] According to a survey by the Arab Information Center Elam most Israeli Arabs believe the new media more than those of the Arab Israeli media, and rely on the television channel Al-Jazeera, against who depend on the second Israeli channel, and with a priori confidence in an Arab journalist, against in a Jewish journalist. Periodically, solidarity movements take place between Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. On April of them marched to the town of Al- Kafrayan to claim the right of return for Israeli Arabs whose lands were used for the creation of Israel, just as the Jewish state celebrated its 61 th anniversary. [...]
[...] Historical consciousness plays an essential role in shaping national identity, which explains why its challenge also influences the destruction or weakening of the latter strongly " "This may help us understand this very special feeling of "being together", found among Israelis, and the close proximity between the individual and the collective" A journalist, lawyer, corresponding to several French media, she has been following the 1994 Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process and its effects on Israeli society ZONSZAIN Pascale "The political landscape of Israeli Arabs," Controversies Journal # "The Palestinians in the event of peace." February pages Greilsammer Ilan, "We only have to set Israel's borders."The Express, March "Justice".Association is defined as the "Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel" 5 The "equality".NGOs wishing for an Arab recognition of minority status and rights of indigenous Israel This is especially made the 2009 parliamentary elections the United Arab List Hadash and Balad Quoted in "The political landscape of Israeli Arabs," Pascale Zonszain.Op.cit Ha'aretz, March 2005.Cited by Algazy Joseph, "The continuing trauma of Israeli Arabs", Le Monde Diplomatique, November "Annual Survey 2007", National Insurance Institute of Israel.Diagram: Poverty in Various Population Groups, 1997- Radio France [...]
[...] But most Israeli Arabs want to remain a separate community, and are not trying to blend into Jewish society. Equality does not mean mixture. The assimilation of the Arab minority by the Jewish majority is not an option. Thus, at each election it is common to have parties called "Arab" which are supposed to represent the "community", the "group" of Israeli Arabs. In the last elections in 2009, they won 11 seats out of the 120 on which they were competing, marking an increase compared to 2006 (10 seats) and 2003 seats). [...]
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