|
|
 |
|
55.1%ANMag Issue 17 Public Surveillance
The Palestinian Israeli Minority: Their Role in Israeli Politics and Regional Effects
By Vanessa Zuabi, Staff Writer
Paris, France - On April 24, 2007, Azmi Bishara, leader of the Socialist Democratic Party in Israel and a leading Palestinian human rights activist, resigned from his position within the Israeli Knesset. He had served as a minister of the parliament (MP) within the government since 1996 and has been a primary critic of Israeli government policies. His resignation came during an ongoing investigation linking him with Lebanese officials during the Israeli/Hezbollah war. Bishara asserts he is being persecuted for criticizing Israeli politics. Azmi Bishara’s resignation and his role within Israeli politics bring into question the status of the Palestinian population living within Israel. Often ignored when discussing the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, it is the Palestinian Israelis, who hold Israeli citizenship, who play a determining role in the future of the state of Israel and the status of the region as a whole.
Background on the Palestinian Israeli Minority
Palestinians constitute both an ethnic minority, religious minority (Muslim, Christian and Druze) and linguistic minority (Arabic) within the state of Israel. Following the 1948 war, the displacement of Palestinians refugees occurred on both an international and domestic scale. While 800,000 live in exile internationally, approximately 150,000 have been internally displaced but have stayed within the boundaries of Israel. This population has grown to constitute 20percent of the population of Israel and has been labeled as an ever-growing security threat to the State of Israel. Demographically, Palestinian Israelis reside in three major areas; the Galilee, the border along the West Bank and Israel, and the Negev. Approximately 18.5percent are located in all Arab cities such as Nazareth, Um El-Fahm, Shefa Amr, Taibe, and Tire. Another 50percent inhabit scattered Arab villages throughout the state, 6percent live in unrecognized villages of the Negev and yet another 8percent live in mixed Jewish/Arab cities such as Haifa and Lod.
Between the years of 1948 and 1966, the Palestinian minority lived under military law. They were denied all rights, their land was arbitrarily confiscated and they were often subjected to house searches, house demolition, and no social welfare.
The State of Israel refuses to recognize Palestinians as a national minority, instead referring to them as Israeli Arabs, thus denying the existence of a Palestinian nationality. Opposition groups and outspoken political actors within the government, such as former MP Azmi Bishara have long complained of discrimination by the Israeli government, and the facts support their cries. While much of the Arab Israeli minority live in poverty, only 12.5percent receive any social welfare versus 87.5percent of the Jewish population. 31.5percent of the population of Israeli Arabs lives in overcrowded conditions versus only 5.7percent of the Jewish population, and the Arab infant mortality rate is more than double that of the Jewish infant mortality rate. Wide gaps between Palestinian and Jewish populations also exist in education where Jewish schools receive nearly three times the funding as Arab schools, and poverty rates are so that nearly 30percent of the Palestinian families live below the poverty line and nearly 35percent of children live below the poverty line.
Discrimination within Israeli law is the main contributor to gaps in quality of life between Palestinian and Jewish populations. Many components of Israeli law prevent Palestinians from voicing their opinions and participating in Israeli society. This is most evident in the Declaration of Independence of 1948 which defines three main contingents for the state of Israel: That it is a Jewish majority, that Jews receive preferential law and treatment, and that a similar relationship is established between Israeli Jews and Jews of the Diaspora. There is evidently no mention of the Palestinian minority or their status within the state. Moreover, Israel possesses no constitution, but rather a set of basic laws that serve as a “constitution in evolution.” Prior to 1992, these Basic Laws did not guarantee any form of rights or equality to all its citizens. The Human Freedom and Dignity Law was passed in 1992 which essentially overturned the ability of the Knesset to invade certain freedoms, privacy, and the right to leave the country. While this was an improvement, this law did not guarantee the right to equality. Furthermore, Palestinians in Israel face direct legal discrimination, particularly through the passing of the “Citizen Rights and Law of Return.” The Law of Return guarantees the right of any Jew to immigrate to Israel. The Nationality Law guarantees citizenship for any Jew and their family to gain Israeli citizenship. These laws do not pertain to Palestinians who can only gain citizenship through birth or residence.
Institutional discrimination manifests itself in a variety of ways. Despite the existence of positive laws that pertain to both Arabs and Jews, for example the Compulsory Education Law, Jewish educational facilities receive three times the funding of their Arab counterparts. Services, facilities, equipment, particularly books and teaching salaries are not equivalent to those in Jewish schools. Lack of development within the education system in Arab communities has caused an increased drop-out rate among Arab students.
In addition, laws such as land confiscation or house demolition laws are often implemented selectively in Palestinian Arab communities. Legal implementation is arbitrary, and lack of political representation intensifies the inability to change the status quo within the country. The judicial review and the Supreme Court have never accepted a case of discrimination against the Palestinian minority or ruled to protect their rights. The Court has continuously accepted the claim of the state that certain actions were taken for the national security of Israel and were legitimate due to differences between the Arab and Jewish groups.
Arab Political Parties in Israel
The Palestinian minority in Israel make up 20percent of the population. They are represented by three primary political parties including left-wing Hadash, nationalist Balad headed by former MK Azmi Bishara, and the United Arab List. They have, throughout the past decade, maintained steady support, gaining 8 out of 120 seats in the recent elections.
Of the five Arab parties that took part in last month's Knesset election, Hadash leaned strongly towards the left. Hadash is a bi-national rather than an Arab party consisting of both Arabs and Jews. It is a joint movement with the relatively centrist Ta'al movement of MK Ahmed Tibi. The Progressive National Front, led by outgoing MK Hashem Mahameed, primarily supports civil rights and the restoration of the welfare state. It supports evacuation of the settlements and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Domestically, it calls for an end to ethnic discrimination, recognition of the Arab population in Israel as a national minority, and the separation of religion and state. The party has also called for "decommissioning" Israel's nuclear capabilities.
The other Arab parties make up the largest block in the Knesset and consist of United Arab Front, The Islamic Movement and the National Front. They account for five of the eight Arab seats in the incoming Knesset and are considered center-left political parties. This coalition believes in the two state solution, equal rights for Arab Israeli citizens and the division of Jerusalem. It is a diverse coalition party, but its dominant force is the southern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. It is seen as a religious conservative party which represents a historically disenfranchised group.
MK Azmi Bishara's Balad or National Democratic Assembly seeks to transform Israel from a "state of the Jews" to a "democratic state with equality for all of its citizens" and to end all discrimination against Arabs in Israel. Balad demands that the government of Israel recognize the rights of the Arab minority in Israel to cultural and educational autonomy. It is often considered the most radical of the Israeli Arab parties because of its Azmi Bishara’s statements concerning the Israeli-Arab conflict, but is actually a secular middle-class movement. Balad also possesses a European outlook and program, including its advocacy for European Union-style national minority status for Arab Israelis. It does not support Zionism and condemns the opposition to Arab service in the IDF. Their overall political agenda calls for secularization and equality.
Political Influence in Israel and Obstacles
While these political parties represent the Arab minority as a whole, they are an accurate reflection of the division that exists among this community. However, if united they could prove capable of influencing the course of Israeli politics, particularly following the 2006 Parliamentary Elections where they were able to increase their seats to twelve representatives. Arab political activists like Mohammad Darwish believe that Arab political parties should unite under one coalition in order to gain a broader level of influence within the Israeli Knesset. The ability of the Arab minority to influence the impact of Israeli policy is great however, due to incessant efforts by both the Israeli left and right to suppress their potential influence but this has proved extremely difficult. Since 2000 and even more so following the Israeli/Hezbollah war in the summer of 2006, discriminatory laws, investigations and accusations of key MK figures, most notably Azmi Bishara, were efforts to silence and repress Palestinian Israeli participation in the political process. With the current resignation and potential arrest of former MK Azmi Bishara upon his return to Israel, it is certain that while there exists a great level of division between Arabs and Jews now, it will only be exacerbated following the potential imprisonment of a primary Arab leader. Moreover, the alienation of the Palestinian minority has bred further levels of dissent that were evident during the Israeli/Hezbollah war during the summer of 2006. While Palestinian Israelis made up 44 percent of the Israeli casualties, they strongly supported and sympathized with Lebanon and its people.
How Can Palestinian Israelis Provide A Regional Impact on Middle East Peace?
The Palestinian Israeli minority serves as a key component towards bridging peace between Israel and its surrounding neighbors. Moreover, both former MK Bishara and Tibi, who have voiced their dissent within the context of the Israeli political system, have attempted not only to better the situation of Palestinians and Israelis but also Israelis and their Arab neighbors. For example, former MK Azmi Bishara met with Syrian President Al Assad in 2006 to discuss potential dialogue and peace negotiations between the two parties. Such talks foster foundations for creating an environment essential to building peace. On a social level, the Palestinian minority is able to build social bridges between Jewish and Arab communities. While the implementation of Israeli law in segregating the two communities continues, new social movements and NGOs are working towards bringing students and youth from both sides together in dialogue. Many students interviewed from both Haifa University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem believe that there are still too many differences for Arab and Jewish students to resolve any dilemmas amongst themselves, however it offers the opportunity for both sides to present their points of view. Nevertheless, if efforts made by both Israeli political left and right parties to further suppress the participation of Palestinian Israelis in the political and social sphere continue, it could hinder any effort Israel might have in building lasting peace with both Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and their Arab neighbors.
Arab Association for Human Rights. Facts and Figures Sheet. 2004. www.arabhra.org.
The Enemy Within. Al Ahram Weekly.
Bolderson, Claire. Israeli Anxiety Over. The Enemy Within. BBC News. April 2007.
Israeli Arab resigns From Knesset. BBC News. April 2007.
Kamm, Shira. The Arab Minority and Implications for Middle East Peace. The Centre for European Studies. 2003.
MK Azmi Bishara Resigns from Knesset. The Economist. May 2007.