Loading ...Israeli Arabs (Arab-48): A Minority in an Inclusive Country? Or A Reminder of the Illegitimacy of Israel?
Introduction
After WWI, European powers established their control over Arab lands. The United Kingdom, for instance, divided its colonies into tiny protectorates. These protectorates’ borders would later form the Arab states today. Residents ruled their protectorates under the UK’s supervision. One of these colonies was the Protectorate of Palestine. After WWII, the UK decided to establish a home for the Jewish population in Europe and the world. This home would serve as a safe haven hoping it would end prosecution. However, instead of encouraging immigration to Palestine or creating a safe space for all backgrounds on its own land, the UK gifts Palestine away. Since then, Israel has expanded its illegitimate occupation to include almost the entirety of Palestine and parts of Lebanon and Syria. With the exception of the West Bank and Gaza, the rest of Palestine has been entirely occupied by Israel since 1948.
Arab – 48
Some Palestinian families refused to be forcibly removed. While Israel took and is taking control of all the land around them, they remain steadfast. These families started to gravitate toward each other forming communities within Israel. No one knew how to refer to them. Israelis? Arabs? Palestinian? Muslims? etc… But, none of them could capture the unique experiences of this community. That is when the expression “Arab – 48” was coined, which refers to the fact that their ancestors didn’t leave in 1948 when the occupation began. This forced Israel to recognize them as citizens, a fact later used to beautify Israel’s image in the media as an “inclusive, diverse country”. To help us understand the reality of daily life in Israel, especially as Arab-48, we interview an Arab-48 international student who studies in the US. He lived nearly the entirety of his 23 years of age near Tel-Aviv.
What is it like being an Arab Israeli?
Here at Arab America, we believe in the shared values of the 1st amendment of the US Constitution. Therefore, we will disguise the interviewee’s real name. This is our way of protecting him from any potential harm this interview might cause back in Israel. For the sake of this article, we will refer to him as John. Born to two Arab Israeli parents near Tel Aviv, John believes that his childhood seemed relatively normal at first. He says that he wasn’t aware of any abnormality in his life until he started attending school. In school, John realized being an Arab Israeli is confusing. “Teachers would always talk about how Israel was formed. We were always taught that Israel’s existence is what God wants. This was interesting because our community, including my family, told a very different story” John said. He believes that it didn’t necessarily confuse him as a child, as he always trusted his family, but it foreshadowed that his life will be anything but conventional.
If I ask you where are you from, how do you answer?
“It depends,” he said. “It’s confusing because it honestly depends on who’s asking and in what context.” This was an interesting answer. Most of us think of this question as very straight forward and more often than not, we do not think about our answers. In this case, John contextualizes his answers. “Israel is normally the official answer. For example, talking to a college advisor or in a professional setting. In less formal situations, I say Palestine.” This answer provoked us to ask John whether or not he feels at home when he’s in Israel. “I do. In spite of everything, I still feel at home when I’m there. I’ve traveled to many countries in Europe, some middle eastern countries, and the US. I never felt like I belong anywhere else.” John answered.
Israel’s Government from an American Perspective
We then asked him how does he feel about Israel given his American experience. “People tend to forget that the government of Israel and Jews are not the same. We don’t like the discrimination created by the state. But Arabs and Jews live in harmony and always have.” He then adds “the government in Israel is not the same as the US. It’s a government built on religion and discriminates against us; those who practice a different faith. I don’t qualify for the same benefits that Israeli Jews qualify for.”
How so, we asked? “For instance, any Jewish person in the world, no matter their citizenship, can legally come to Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship. Displaced Israeli/Palestinian Muslims and Christians cannot. This gives the Jewish population an advantage to grow larger and therefore continue to control the political arena all while limiting Muslims and Christians from growing in numbers. This is not a democracy. This is a theocratic regime disguising as a democracy.”
Censorship
We then asked John if he has been censored before. “No” he answered. “But, the Shabak investigated my family over their opinions.” We wondered what the due process was for these investigations, “nothing” he said. “It’s a police state that can bring you in at any given time for anything. They have the ability to track you and access all of your phone’s data. They have sent two police cars to someone’s house during Covid just because he was standing on his front lawn.” While we understand that this nature of governance is foreign to the U.S. we understand that each country operates differently. What was shocking, however, is what John said next, “you’re name matters. If you call the police and your name sounds Arab, they will be very reluctant to respond, sometimes they send an ambulance. But if you’re a Jewish needing help, they utilize all of their capabilities as fast as possible to help you.”
Diversity
Israel’s demographic makeup is interesting. There are people of all nationalities and ethnicities. So we asked John what he thinks of the diversity of Israel. “Arabs have separated themselves from the rest,” he said. John addressed the 1967 war, during which Israel expanded its settlements by evacuating Palestinians from their lands claiming that it was due to “security threats,” but Israel didn’t allow these Palestinians to return home. Instead, they replaced them with Israeli settlers. “Since then, Arabs wanted to stay close to each other so it’s harder for the government to remove them.”
Flat Out Discrimination
After hearing all of this, we asked John to list any example of outright racist acts against his community that is systemic, and the answer was frightening. “After military service, Jews are entitled to financial aid packages that Arabs are not, even those who serve in the army. Oh, and by the way, Arabs can’t serve on boards or committees that decide school curricula. Let alone the fact that the airforce doesn’t allow Arab Israelis to become pilots. Man, look at our national symbols, none of them include us, none. All of them refer to Jewish semantics. All they refer to is expanding Israeli lands from Mesopotamia [Iraq] to Egypt, nothing about our symbols is national, nothing about them is inclusive.”
Closing Remarks
We were not surprised that the Israeli regime is without a doubt a racist one built to oppress. However, we were surprised to know the extent. As we were finishing off this interview, we felt compelled to ask John about the inner conflict caused by his two opposing identities. He seemed very certain when he said “I do not have an inner conflict, I know exactly where I stand.”
Compiled by Arab America
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