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A1. International Crisis Group, Report on Israel's Arab Minority And DOCUMENTS AND SOURCE MATERIAL INTERNATIONAL Palestinians in the occupied territories but also its own Palestinian minority. A1. INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP, As Palestinians in Israel organized ral- REPORT ON ISRAEL’S ARAB MINORITY lies in solidarity with Gazans and West AND THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT, Bankers, Israeli Jews grew ever more NAZARETH/JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH/ suspicious of their loyalty. Palestinian BRUSSELS, 14 MARCH 2012 (EXCERPTS). citizens’ trust in the state plummeted af- ter Israeli security forces killed thirteen The International Crisis Group’s of their own during protests in Octo- (ICG) 119th Middle East Report, titled ber 2000. A rapid succession of con- “Back to Basics: Israel’s Arab Minor- frontations—the 2006 war in Lebanon; ity and the Israeli-Palestinian Con!ict,” 2008–2009 Gaza war; and 2010 bloody runs to 45 pages. The excerpts below are Israeli raid on the aid !otilla to Gaza— from the Executive Summary and Sec- further deepened mistrust, galvaniz- tion III, “Palestinians in Israel and the ing the perception among Israeli Jews Peace Process.” Not included are long that Palestinian citizens had embraced background sections covering the de- their sworn adversaries. Among Arabs, teriorating situation of the Palestinian it reinforced the sense that they had no citizens of Israel since the second inti- place in Israel. Several have been ar- fada broke out in September 2000, and rested on charges of abetting terrorist a mapping of the political trends, move- activity. Meanwhile, the crisis of the Pal- ments, parties, and other political actors estinian national movement—divided, within the Arab minority. The extensive adrift, and in search of a new strategy— footnotes have been eliminated to save has opened up political space for Israel’s space. The full report can be found on Arab minority. the ICG’s website at http://www. As a consequence, Palestinian citi- crisisgroup.org. zens began to look outside—to sur- rounding Arab states and the wider Executive Summary international community—for moral . For over six decades, Israel’s sustenance and political leverage. They Palestinian citizens have had a unique have come to emphasize their Palestin- experience: they are a Palestinian na- ian identity and increasingly dissociate tional minority in a Jewish state locked themselves from formal Israeli politics. in con!ict with its Arab neighbors but The result has been steadily declining they also constitute an Israeli minority Arab turnout for national elections and, enjoying the bene"ts of citizenship in among those who still bother to vote, a a state that prizes democracy. This has shift from Jewish Zionist to Arab par- translated into ambivalent relations with ties. Palestinians invest more energy in both the state of Israel and Palestinians political activity taking place beyond in the West Bank, Gaza, and beyond. the reach of of"cial institutions. Un- They feel solidarity with their brethren surprisingly, Shaykh Raed Salah—the elsewhere, yet many Arabs study in Is- leader of the northern branch of the Is- raeli universities, work side-by-side with lamic Movement in Israel, which refuses Jews, and speak Hebrew !uently—a de- to engage with the country’s political gree of familiarity that has only made institutions—has become the highest- the discrimination and alienation from pro"le Arab politician. which they suffer seem more acute and Yet Palestinian citizens’ con!icting demands for equality more insistent. experiences has meant that such re- Since 2000, a series of dramatic actions go hand-in-hand with others: events have both poisoned Jewish-Arab continual demands for achieving their relations in Israel and reinvigorated its rights within Israel; persistent criticism Palestinian minority. The collapse of of Israel’s democratic shortcomings; and the peace process and ensuing intifada the absence of any visible interest or harmed Israel’s relations with not only willingness to relocate to an eventual Journal of Palestine Studies Vol. XLI, No. 4 (Summer 2012), pp. 185–202, ISSN: 0377-919X; electronic ISSN: 1533-8614. © 2012 by the Institute for Palestine Studies. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: jps.2012.XLI.4.185. JPS4104_13_Documents.indd 185 09/08/12 5:59 PM 186 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES Palestinian state. They undoubtedly feel would be swapped for some of the so- deeply Palestinian. But they also take called West Bank settlement blocks. their Israeli citizenship seriously. Alarmed that they could twice pay Simultaneous Arab marginalization the price for a two-state settlement— and revitalization also has manifested through acquiescence in their state’s itself in initial efforts by its leader- “Jewishness” and through forcible loss ship to de"ne the community’s politi- of their citizenship—Israel’s Palestin- cal aspirations. The so-called “Vision ian minority is making it ever clearer Documents” advocate full Jewish-Arab that peace deal or no peace deal, there equality, adamantly reject the notion will be no end to Palestinian claims un- of a Jewish state, and call instead for a til their demands also are met. To which “binational state”—in essence, challeng- Israel’s response is: Why pay the hefty ing Israel’s current self-de"nition. This, price of an agreement with the PLO if it for many Jews, is tantamount to a dec- leaves behind an open wound right in laration of war. our heart? For its part, Israel’s Jewish majority— It was not meant to be so. Origi- confronted by an internal minority de- nally, the notion was that progress in veloping alliances outside the state and the peace process would help improve seeming to display solidarity with its Arab-Jewish relations in Israel. Instead, foes—has grown ever more suspicious simultaneous deterioration on both of a community it views as a potential fronts has turned a presumably virtuous "fth column. It has shunned Palestin- circle into a dreadfully vicious one. Nei- ians, enacted legislation to strengthen ther the State of Israel nor its Arab mi- the state’s Jewish identity, and sought to nority will be willing to reach a historic ban certain Arab parties and parliamen- understanding before the Israeli-Palestinian tarians. Today, what for most Palestin- con!ict has been settled; and settling that ian citizens is a principled struggle for con!ict will be near-impossible with- equal rights is perceived by many Is- out addressing the question of Israel’s raeli Jews as a dangerous denial of Jew- nature—which itself cannot be done ish nationhood. What for most Jews is without the acquiescence of Israel’s Arab akin to complicity with their enemies is citizens. viewed by Palestinian citizens as an ex- For now, this downward spiral has pression of af"nity for their brethren. resulted in relatively few violent con- This is taking place against the back- frontations. For the most part, Israel’s drop of a peace process in which very Palestinians fear an escalation could little is happening—and what is hap- erode their civil rights and further jeop- pening only makes matters worse. ardize their status in the state. But the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in- frequency of clashes is rising. Should sists that the Palestine Liberation Orga- current trends continue unabated, lo- nization (PLO) accept Israel as a Jewish calized intercommunal violence should nation-state in the context of a "nal sta- come as no surprise. tus agreement. That request resonates It will not be easy to sort this out, widely with Israel’s Jews but raises all not with a frozen peace process, not sorts of red !ags for its Palestinian citi- with deepening Jewish-Arab antagonism zens, who have vigorously pressed the and mutual fears. But some things are PLO to reject it. They might not have clear. First, that there are long overdue a veto, yet President Mahmoud Abbas measures Israel should take to begin cannot easily dismiss their views on to address its Arab minority’s demands such matters and has shown no incli- for equal rights, regardless of the con- nation to do so. All of which has only !ict with its neighbors, as well as steps elevated the centrality of the demand, Palestinian citizens can take to lessen making it all the more important for Is- Jewish fears. Second, that although ob- rael’s government and all the more un- stacles to Israeli-Palestinian peace are acceptable to its Palestinian minority. legion, a signi"cant one involves the Add to this the idea, !oated by For- dispute over Israel’s identity. Third, eign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s party, that this obstacle cannot be overcome of “populated land swaps,” under which to any party’s satisfaction—not to the certain Arab-majority areas of Israel PLO’s, which cannot afford to ignore an JPS4104_13_Documents.indd 186 09/08/12 5:59 PM DOCUMENTS AND SOURCE MATERIAL 187 important Palestinian constituency; not Israel] in order to allow the peace pro- to Israel’s, which insists on ending all cess to move forward. Palestinian claims—without buy-in from The positive mood, however, quickly Israel’s Arab citizens. soured. Netanyahu’s "rst government . (1996–1999) walked back some of the changes Rabin had introduced. The III. Palestinians in Israel and the northern Islamic Movement retreated Peace Process into the wider Islamic world, whereas The Oslo accords, by essentially ex- Azmi Bishara and his Balad Party ad- cluding Israel’s Arab minority from opted an uncompromising citizenship the peace process, limited Palestinian discourse. While Ehud Barak’s 1999 claims inside Israel to the refugee ques- election initially raised hopes, he had tion. Over the past several years, this in- turned his back even before the 2000 creasingly has been challenged by actors Camp David negotiation on some Israeli on all sides, who argue that the Israeli- groups—including Palestinian citizens— Palestinian con!ict cannot be fully or who had elected him.
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