Arab and Jewish Israelis can no longer afford to live in parallel worlds. A shared future will only emerge if both sides choose to focus on building the future rather than relitigating the past.
Wise beyond words - describes all of the good bad and ugly complexities of both Jewish and Arab Israeli societies - with a clarion call to Arabs to vote so Israelis that believe in cooperation and coexistence build a joint future together.
If I’m honest he’s looking at this through rose tinted glasses. Yes in a fair and equal world every Arab Israeli would integrate into a democratic state - however Israel is not a democratic state as it has a two tier system, the Zionist culture currently does not allow for anything else. The Arab Israelis living in areas under occupation such as the annexed Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and West Bank will have a very different life experience than their counterparts living in cosmopolitan Tel Aviv. I’m not disputing the ideology of different faiths/cultures living in an integrated society but that is unlikely to happen until the Palestinians are self governing and Arab Israelis are on an equal footing with their Jewish counterparts.
The occupied areas aren’t parts of Israel. They’re analogous to occupied Japan after WWII , whereas Israeli Arabs are analogous to Japanese Americans during and after the war. Japanese Americans did integrate well into American society despite being treated unjustly by the US Government before, during, and after the war and this was part of an improving anti-racist development in mid-century American culture. Surely Japanese Americans deserve at least some of the credit for this, and if so Arab Israelis may have something to learn from their example.
There is no comparison- the Japanese-Americans were US citizens who rejected the atrocities committed by their country of birth and instead fully supported the US way of life. They chose to physically emigrate to the US to become full US citizens. Whereas the Arab Israelis were indigenous to the land but following mass immigration of European Jews, and the creation of new borders by Isreal in 1948, folliwing further ethnic cleansing, they automatically became citizens (albeit 2nd class) by default based purely on their geographical location. Not a choice unlike the one made by Japanese who emigrated to the US. Despite being low ranking Israeli citizens, their citizenship could be seen as supporting Israel’s continual atrocities and genocide of Palestinians having remained as 2nd class citizens in a country that despises their ethnicity and identifies them as “Arab Israeli” as opposed to simply as Israeli. Arab Israelis are genetically indigenous to the land and, notwithstanding the 1948 and 1967 border changes, remain for all intent and purposes Palestinians. If Israel really regarded them as full citizens they would have equal rights and opportunities but this is not the case. Either describe them as simply Israeli or alternatively use a genetic indicator such as Arab or European Israeli, or if you wish to use faith as a marker, Muslim, Christian or Jewish Israeli. I say this because since the 1890s virtually all Jewish immigrants to Palestine (and latterly the 1948 state of Israel) descended from the Ashkenazi Jews from across Europe and USA. Since Israel has continually carried out ethnic cleansing of Palestinians throughout its 80 years of existence I suspect in the current apartheid system “Arab Israeli” will continue to be used to indicate their sub level citizenship.
As I understand it, there are multiple Arab populations here: the Arabs who live in Gaza, those who live in the West Bank, and those (like his family) who live in (and are citizens of) Israel. He’s taking specifically about the last group. What else might he have called them?
That’s the number GPT and Wikipedia give me of Arab citizens and permanent residents of Israel proper (not including the c. 3 million in the West Bank and the 2.2 in Gaza.
Wise beyond words - describes all of the good bad and ugly complexities of both Jewish and Arab Israeli societies - with a clarion call to Arabs to vote so Israelis that believe in cooperation and coexistence build a joint future together.
Sophie’s choice
Can I ask why you are describing Palestinians as Arab Israeli? Apologies if I have misunderstood.
If I’m honest he’s looking at this through rose tinted glasses. Yes in a fair and equal world every Arab Israeli would integrate into a democratic state - however Israel is not a democratic state as it has a two tier system, the Zionist culture currently does not allow for anything else. The Arab Israelis living in areas under occupation such as the annexed Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and West Bank will have a very different life experience than their counterparts living in cosmopolitan Tel Aviv. I’m not disputing the ideology of different faiths/cultures living in an integrated society but that is unlikely to happen until the Palestinians are self governing and Arab Israelis are on an equal footing with their Jewish counterparts.
The occupied areas aren’t parts of Israel. They’re analogous to occupied Japan after WWII , whereas Israeli Arabs are analogous to Japanese Americans during and after the war. Japanese Americans did integrate well into American society despite being treated unjustly by the US Government before, during, and after the war and this was part of an improving anti-racist development in mid-century American culture. Surely Japanese Americans deserve at least some of the credit for this, and if so Arab Israelis may have something to learn from their example.
There is no comparison- the Japanese-Americans were US citizens who rejected the atrocities committed by their country of birth and instead fully supported the US way of life. They chose to physically emigrate to the US to become full US citizens. Whereas the Arab Israelis were indigenous to the land but following mass immigration of European Jews, and the creation of new borders by Isreal in 1948, folliwing further ethnic cleansing, they automatically became citizens (albeit 2nd class) by default based purely on their geographical location. Not a choice unlike the one made by Japanese who emigrated to the US. Despite being low ranking Israeli citizens, their citizenship could be seen as supporting Israel’s continual atrocities and genocide of Palestinians having remained as 2nd class citizens in a country that despises their ethnicity and identifies them as “Arab Israeli” as opposed to simply as Israeli. Arab Israelis are genetically indigenous to the land and, notwithstanding the 1948 and 1967 border changes, remain for all intent and purposes Palestinians. If Israel really regarded them as full citizens they would have equal rights and opportunities but this is not the case. Either describe them as simply Israeli or alternatively use a genetic indicator such as Arab or European Israeli, or if you wish to use faith as a marker, Muslim, Christian or Jewish Israeli. I say this because since the 1890s virtually all Jewish immigrants to Palestine (and latterly the 1948 state of Israel) descended from the Ashkenazi Jews from across Europe and USA. Since Israel has continually carried out ethnic cleansing of Palestinians throughout its 80 years of existence I suspect in the current apartheid system “Arab Israeli” will continue to be used to indicate their sub level citizenship.
As I understand it, there are multiple Arab populations here: the Arabs who live in Gaza, those who live in the West Bank, and those (like his family) who live in (and are citizens of) Israel. He’s taking specifically about the last group. What else might he have called them?
I asked because he said the number of Arab Israelis was approx 2.2 million hence my question.
That’s the number GPT and Wikipedia give me of Arab citizens and permanent residents of Israel proper (not including the c. 3 million in the West Bank and the 2.2 in Gaza.