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Les Palestiniens oubliés
- 1. Les Palestiniens “oubliés” La lutte des Arabes-Israéliens pour la démocratie et des droits civiques dans l’Etat d’Israël aujourd’hui • Peter Larson Vice – président CONSEIL NATIONAL SUR LES RELATIONS CANADO-ARABES
- 2. L’auteur canadien Arthur Milner chez notre famille d’accueil. Notre famille d’accueil est palestinienne de culture, arabe de langue, Musulmane de réligion, mais ils sont aussi citoyens de l’Etat d’Israël
- 3. Un bref rappel géographique ….. Acre Haifa
- 4. 1. Cisjordanie 2.4 M 2. Jérusalem 0.3 M 3. Gaza 1.5 M 4. Réfugiés (Liban, Jordanie, Syrie) 4.7 M 5. Israël 1.4 M 6. Diaspora 1.0 M?? Total 11.3 M Où sont les Palestiniens aujourd’hui? Israel 1.4 M Cis-Jordanie 2.4 M Gaza 1.5 M
- 5. Israel Un état moderne, en plein développement économique
- 6. On y vit très bien, avec un niveau de vie très élevé PNB/per capita $32K Mais des tensions sociales économiques croissantes
- 7. La minorité palestinienne (Arabes israéliens) • 20% de la population d’Israël (1.4 million) • Citoyens d’Israël • Plusieurs droits, eg.: • Passeport israélien • Droit de vote • Représenté au parlement • Éducation gratuite • ils élisent propres maires de villes • Éligibles à la cour suprême • Arabe langue officielle • Aimeraient mieux vivre en Israël qu’ailleurs La Knesset (Parlement) Israëlien. 13 des 120 membres sont Arabes
- 8. • Alors – de quoi se plaignent-ils? MK Haneen Zoabi
- 9. Ou nous sommes allés….. Haifa Acre Kefr Qassim • Jérusalem • Tel Aviv • Jaffa • Kefr Qassim • Nazareth • Haifa • Acre • Beersheba • Jizr-az-Zarka
- 10. Qui avons nous rencontré? Jérusalem Haneen Zoabi, MK, National Democratic Assembly, Jamal Zahalka, MK, Leader, National Democratic Assembly, Gershon Baskin, Ph.D. Co-CEO, IPCRI, Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, Mr. Eid Sader, Headmaster, St. George’s School for boys, Mr. Ahmad Tibi, MK, Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, Sabeel, Eitan Reich, Civil Society Officer, Oxfam GB, David Viveash, The Carter Centre, Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsour, MK, Islamic Party, Tel Aviv/Jaffa Libby Lenkinski Friedlander, International Relations Director, Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Lia Tarachansky, Journalist, Jaffa, Adv. Emily W. Schaeffer, Michael Sfard Law Office, Amb. Paul Hunt, First secretary Nathan Naidoo, Canadian embassy in Israel Mary Coptic, Arab Community Association of Jaffa Haifa Rina Jabareen, Executive director, Salah Mohsen, Director of Education, ADALAH, Haifa Archbishop Elias Chacour, Primate of Melkite Catholic Church,Haifa Dr. Yousef Jabareen, Professor of Urban Planning, Haifa University, Waheeh Awad, Former Principal, St. John’s School Hosein Aghbaria, Haifa Committee for Social Development Nazareth Jonathon Cook, Journalist, Dr.Yousef Jabareen, Executive Director, Diraset, Rhadia Kupty, Sabeel, Nazareth, Kefr Qassem Shahin Sarsur, Parliamentary Assistant to Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur Ben-Jamil family Akko Sami Haouri, Arab Citizens group, Akko Jisr-az-Zarqa Sami Ali, Journalist, Jisr-az-Zarqa Negev Haia Noach, Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality, Beer Sheva Shaikh Sayach Al-Turi, Village of Al Araqip, Yossi Arenberg, Beersheva, Hamid Zayadi and family, Beersheva
- 11. La Knesset
- 12. Gherson Baskin Co-président, Israel Palestine Centre for Research and Information (IPCRI) Reverend Dr. Naim Ateek (centre), Directeur, Sabeel Libby Lenkinsky, Directrice, Relations internationales, Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
- 13. Disparities socio-économiques Juifs vs. Arabes israéliens Quelques exemples: Revenus (moyen annuel) Juifs $31K Arabes $21K Taux de pauvreté (familles après transferts) Juifs 12.3% Arabes 44.9% Education (l’obtention du bac) Juifs 75.9% Arabes 30.8% Emploi (Taux de chômage) Juifs 6.9% Arabes 10.9% Emploi dans la fonction publique Juifs 94% Arabes 6% Chiffres de Dirasat (Arab Centre for Law and Policy), ADALAH, and Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel
- 14. L’inégalité semble être bien documentée… Mais pourquoi?? • Les Arabes sont plus arriérés? • Ils n’ont pas encore rattrapé? • Le fondamentalisme islamique? • Ou, y-a-t-il d’autres explications?
- 16. • La route #1 quitte Jérusalem vers le nord
- 17. Jérusalem est une belle ville. Il y a de l’architecture intéressante, des parcs, beaucoup de construction
- 18. • On voit beaucoup de grues. Israël est en pleine expansion. Ces édifices-là sont parmi des colonies illégales dans Jérusalem-est.
- 19. • La route coupe à travers les territoires occupés. Il y a des murs de chaque côté pour nous protéger des Palestiniens
- 20. Ici c’est seulement une ‘clôture’ Mais l’accès est très limité par des tours de guet et le fil barbelé, et les soldats.
- 21. Enfin nous arrivons au village arabe de Kefr Qasm. Nous sommes toujours en Israël, mais ça semble très différent.
- 22. Une des rues commerciales de Kefr Qasm. Au loin – Israël moderne
- 23. At the centre of town – the monument to Kafr Qasim massacre of 1956.
- 24. KQ nous semble plutôt ‘tassée’… On rajoute des étages aux maisons… …. Mais pas appauvrie
- 25. • Sur la limite est de la ville – beaucoup de terre sous-développée • Sur son flanc nord – d’autres terres vides…
- 26. Et au sud-ouest – un parc de haute technologie
- 28. La municipalité juive resemble à la Californie ou l’Europe. Constat: A part quelques villes dites ‘mixtes’, en Israel, Juifs et Arabes vivent séparément. Aucun Juif vit dans une ville arabe, et aucun Arabe vit dans une municipalité juive.
- 29. La ville voisine “Rosh Ha’ayin” “Au cours de 2012, nous lancerons la construction d’un nouveau centre de sports et de récréation et un nouveau centre musical. Nous allons rénover le centre municipal culturel. (…) Nous visons à promouvoir l’éducation, les sports, la culture, la protection environnementale et les services réligieux dans la ville. ” - Du site web officiel de Rosh Ha’ayin • Crée en 1955. Une nouvelle municipalité juive crée sur des terres confisquées des résidents de KQ
- 30. Comparison des deux villes: Kefr Qasm vs. Rosh Ha’ayin • Pop’n: 18,500 • (Cf: 1931 census – 989) • Fondé (Ottoman empire) • 100% Arabe (Palestinien) • Superficie • 9,1 km2 • Densité : 2000/km2 • Rev. moyen 3663 NIS • Pop’n 35,500 • Fondé 1950 - 1955 • 99.7% Juif • Superficie • 24,3 km2 • Densité: 1440/km2 • Rev. moyen 8408 NIS Source: Israeli Bureau of Statistics, 2000 census
- 31. Comparaison (continuation) : Kefr Qassm vs. Rosh Ha’ayin • non • non • non • aucun • 70% • non • oui • oui • oui • Plusieurs • 100% • oui • Bibliothèque municipale • Piscine municipale • Poste de police • Parcs • % des rues goudronnées • Service d’autobus
- 32. Comment expliquer les différences frappantes entre les deux villes voisines? Two neighbouring towns compared: Kefr Qasm vs. Rosh Ha’ayin • Pop’n: 18,500 • (Cf: 1931 census – 989) • Founded (Ottoman empire) • 100% Arab Palestinian • Area• 9,1 km2 • Pop’n density: 2000/km2 • Av. Income 3663 NIS • Pop’n 35,500 • Founded 1950’s (on site of earlier Arab village) • 99.7% Jewish (mostly from Yemen) • Area• 24,3 km2 • Pop’n density: 1440/km2 • Av. Income 8408 NIS Figures from Israeli Bureau of Statistics, 2000 census • Les Arabes israéliens prétendent que tout commence avec la confiscation de leurs terres
- 33. Un saut en arrière Le ‘Naqba’ (Mai 1948) • 750,000 Palestiniens fuyant les combats, quittent leurs terres • Quand la guerre est finie, Israël ne les laisse pas rentrer • Toutes leurs terres sont confisquées et deviennent ‘propriété de l’Etat
- 34. Aujourd’hui 93% d’Israël est propriété de l’Etat ou de ses agences
- 35. Nazareth (pop. 125,000) • Le centre économique de la Galilée • La plus importante ville arabe en Israël • Beaucoup de Chrétiens • (Plusieurs sont réfugiés d’ailleurs en Israel) • Aujourd’hui bloquée par une nouvelle municipalité juive
- 37. Jizr-az-Zarka (pop. 4500) - une des plus riches villes d’Israël. - un spa balnéaire et ‘dortoir’ huppé de Tel Aviv - plusieurs hôtels. • (pop. 3000) • la seule ville arabe sur la côte entre Tel Aviv et Haifa. • Une des plus pauvres en Israël. Chômage très élevé. Caesarea
- 39. L’autoroute #2 passe à côté de Jizr-az-Zarka. Il n’y a pas de sortie. (Ni panneau.) Pour y arriver il faut prendre un détour de 2 km.)
- 40. Un ‘modèle’ qui émerge… • J’ai visité 4 ‘paires’ de municipalités en Israël • Dans chaque cas – la vieille municipalité palestinienne était prise en étau – sans place pour la croissance • A côté, une municipalité juive florissante • Les statistiques officielles montrent que: – 87% des ‘localités arabes’ en Israel sont dans les 3 grades économiques les plus basses. – Dans les 3 grades les plus élevées, toutes les villes sont juives Source: Israel Bureau of Statistics
- 41. La lutte pour la terre n’est pas finie – Le Negev Le village bedouin d’El Araqib Détruit par les bulldozers israelis plus de 30 fois!!
- 42. Le Negev comprend presque 50% du territoire d’Israël • Peu peuplé • En 1949 y habitent • 100,000 Bedouins • Nomadiques • Pastoraux • Sedentaires • Beer-sheva
- 43. • 1949 Israël a déclaré le nord du Negev ‘zone militaire’ • Les Bedouins relocalisés de force dans le “Siyag” (la clôture) et y vivent sous la loi martiale pendant 20 years • 1969, Israël déclare tout le Negev ‘propriété de l’Etat d’Israël’ et propose subventions pour des Juifs qui veulent s’y installer. • Les Bedouin s’y opposent, et tentent de regagner leurs villages d’origine. • Israël les appelle ‘invahisseurs’, et ‘infiltrateurs anti-sémites’ et veut les expulser. • Des luttes continuent dans plusieurs villages • Be’ersheva
- 45. Les oliviers d’el Araqib déracinés et remplacés par des… eucalyptus, financés par le “Jewish National Fund” (JNF)
- 46. • Bershe’eva
- 47. Les Bédouin résistent toujours • Refont leurs villages encore, et encore, et encore • Appellent au cours légaux israéliens et internationaux • Manifestations Haia Noach, une des courageuses Juives actives dans le Negev Coexistence Forum qui défend les familles bédouines
- 48. Le contrôle de la terre par l’Etat • 93% de la superficie d’Israël est propriété de l’Etat ‘au nom du peuple juif’ • La grande partie est mise à la disposition des municipalités juives ou utilisée ‘à des fins juives’ • Il y a très peu de propriété privée • A peine 3.5% du total est disponible aux Israelis arabes
- 49. Les conséquences • Pour les Arabes israéliens (Palestiniens) – Les villes surtassées – Assiette fiscale très faible => manque de services, d’infrastructure, des écoles sans ressources – Incapacité à attirer de l’investissement – Chômage élévé – Humiliation/découragement/chagrin => problèmes sociaux • Pour les Juifs israéliens – Des terres neuves pour le logement, l’agriculture, les usines – Croissance rapide de la nouvelle technologie dans les parcs industriels – Beaucoup d’Arabes avec peu d’instruction, en quête d’emplois subalternes (bonnes, cleaning, agricole, etc.)
- 50. Éducation en Israel • Éducation gratuite pour tous jusqu’au bac • Israël très competitif au niveau mondial • Quatre systèmes scolaires: 1. Publique (juifs séculaires), 2. Publique-réligieux (les juifs orthodoxes), 3. Haredi (n’étudient que la réligion) 4. Arabe
- 51. Quatre problèmes identifiés dans le système arabe 1. Manque de ressources 2. Pauvres résultats 3. Curriculum juif 4. Peu d’accessibilité à l’éducation supérieure
- 52. Manque de ressources pour le réseau d’education arabe • Chiffres officiels par système ne sont pas disponibles • Estimation: Israel dépense entre 3 et 4 fois plus par étudiant juif que par étudiant arabe – Classes plus grandes, manque de ressources, textes vieilles, etc. – Manque de salles de classe – Salaires des professeurs • En plus: programmes spéciaux favorisent les écoles juives
- 53. Les résultats • Taux de décrochage • 40% terminent l’école secondaire (vs. 70% des Juifs) • Les étudiants arabes ont des mauvaises scores sur des tests standardisés
- 54. Curriculum “L’objectif principal de l’éducation est de préserver le caractère juif de l’Etat, en enseignant son histoire, sa culture et sa langue.” – Israeli State Education Law 1953 Dans le réseau arabe, on enseigne l’histoire et la culture juive. On parle très peu de l’histoire et la culture palestinienne ou arabe
- 55. L’accès à l’éducation supérieure • Aucune université de langue arabe en Israël • Pour y accéder il faut passer un test sévère en Hébreu et en Anglais • Certains domaines très limités • Très peu de palestiniens y enseignent (<2%) • Subventions disponibles à ceux qui ont fait leur service militaire • Justifié par le fait qu’un ‘Etat juif’ doit promouvoir les Juifs
- 56. Les Palestiniens israelis résistent calmement mais fermement … • Création des associations de professeurs et étudiants palestiniens • Réclament la transparence budgétare • Font appels aux cours • Invitent les internationaux à venir voir • Demandent la reconnaissance de l’histoire et la culture palestinienne Réunion organisée par by Dirasat (Arab Centre for Law and Policy) Haifa Social Development Committee nous font une présentation
- 57. La crainte juive des Arabes israéliens • Les juifs israeliens vivent dans un état de terreur permanent: – Les attaques suicidaires – Les missiles – Le gaz – Le vol, l’agression, le viol, etc. Une pratique contre des attaques terroristes dans un centre d’achats
- 58. Une forte répression de la dissidence israelo-arabe • Droit de manifestation large (ex:‘occupy movement’) • Mais les manifestations palestiniennes pacifiques souvent réprimées avec force • Loi d’exception reconduite annuellement depuis 1948 • 7 des 11 députés arabes ont été attaqués par la police lors des manifestations • Les députés arabes sous attaque constante dans le Knesset “La police voit les Arabes israelis comme des ‘ennemis’” – Israeli Or Commission report - 2003
- 59. L’effacement systématique de toutes les traces de la culture palestinienne Suppression of traces of Palestinian culture, history and identity • Ci-haut – un cimetière bedouin en ruines dans le centre ville de Be’ersheva
- 60. Le racisme omniprésent • Exclusion des municipalités juives • La discrimination quotidienne • Les limitations professionelles • 50% des Israelis croient que “Les Arabes devraient quitter Israël” • Le tout accepté par la loi et les cours parce qu’Israel est un ‘Etat juif’”
- 61. Un second regard sur la minorité palestinienne (Arabes Israelis) • 20% de la population d’Israel • Citoyens d’Israel • Plusieurs droits, eg.: • Passeport israelien • Droit de vote • Représenté au parlement • Éducation gratuite • Elisent propres maires de villes • Arabe langue officielle • Éligibles au cour suprême La Knesset (Parlement) Israelien. 13 des 120 membres sont Arabes.
- 62. • Alors – le chef de ma famille d’accueil – palestinien, musulman, arabe, mais aussi citoyen d’Israël. Est-il heureux… ?
- 63. • Peut être • Il y a des raisons de se féliciter…
- 64. Mais à quoi pense-t-il quand il se couche…? Two neighbouring towns compared: Kefr Qasm vs. Rosh Ha’ayin • Pop’n: 18,500 • (Cf: 1931 census – 989) • Founded (Ottoman empire) • 100% Arab Palestinian • Area• 9,1 km2 • Pop’n density: 2000/km2 • Av. Income 3663 NIS • Pop’n 35,500 • Founded 1950’s (on site of earlier Arab village) • 99.7% Jewish (mostly from Yemen) • Area• 24,3 km2 • Pop’n density: 1440/km2 • Av. Income 8408 NIS Figures from Israeli Bureau of Statistics, 2000 census
- 65. Mes conclusions Le très beau jardin des Bahai, sur le mont Carmel, Haifa
- 66. • Israel est un Etat moderne, de type européen, situé dans une région Arabe • Selon la loi Israelienne, la discrimination sur la base de religion, sexe, nationalité, etc. est interdite. • Comme dans beaucoup d’autrs pays (y compris le Canada) le racisme, l’intolérance et la discrimination existe Conclusion # 1
- 67. Conclusion #2 • Un traitement préférentiel pour les citoyens juifs est très répandu – dans l’éducation, le logement, l’emploi etc. etc. • Cette discrimination est régulièrement soutenu par les tribunaux sur la base du fait qu’Israél est un Etat juif, et a le droit de promouvoir la société juive. • Pour les Israeliens palestiniens, alors, il y a très peu de remèdes légaux.
- 68. Conclusion # 3 • Israël a plusieurs aspects d’une démocratie moderne. • Il a un parlement, la liberté d’expression, le suffrage universel, le droit de manifester, l’éducation universelle et gratuite, etc. • Mais économiquement, politiquement et légalement, les citoyens non-Juifs n’ont pas le même statut des citoyens Juifs. • Sur cette base, la reconnaissance d’Israël comme un ‘Etat juif’ par M. Harper est très problématique.
- 69. “… Et bien entendu, nous continuons d’appuyer le droit d’Israël d’exister comme Etat juif’.” - Premier Ministre Steven Harper, conférence de presse avec Benjamin Netanyahu, Premier Ministre d’Israel, Ottawa, le 2 mars 2012
- 70. Imaginons qu’une majorité anglo-saxonne à Ottawa aurait démocratiquement voté… 1. Une constitution qui proclame le Canada un pays « anglo-saxon » 2. Que seul l’anglais s’utilisera au Parlement, dans les entreprises et magasins 3. Qu’il soit légal de réserver certaines villes aux anglo-saxons et qu’on leur donne des subventions fédérales 4. Que toutes les universités soient de langue anglaise 5. Qu’il y ait des subventions spéciales pour les écoles anglaises 6. Que dans les écoles et CEGEP de langue française, les profs doivent être approuvés par la GRC 7. Qu’une loi sur les ‘Mesures de guerre’… sera adoptée et utilisée en cas de manifestations, mais appliquée seulement au Québec 8. Etc. etc. Qu’est qu’on appellerait ça??
- 71. Conclusion # 4 • Beaucoup de Canadiens et Québecois croient que la solution serait pour chaque côté d’oublier le passé et apprendre à vivre ensemble • Autrement dit - le problème de fond – serait simplement un manque de tolérance mutuelle • Mais ceci ignore la structure légal, économique et politique qui fait d’Israël un Etat pour les Juifs et non pour tous ses citoyens. • Tant qu’il y a pas l’égalité, c’est difficile de demander aux Arabes d’être ‘tolérants’
- 72. Conclusion # 5 (la dernière) • Dans le conflit entre Israel et les Palestiniens, il n’y a pas que l’occupation de la cis-Jordanie qui fait problème. • Il y a aussi le problème des réfugiées qui ont été chassés de leurs terres, • Mais il y a aussi, le statut légal des citoyens non-juifs dans “l’Etat juif’ d’israel. • Si le Canada se veut un défenseur de la loi internationale et des droits humains, nous devrons dire que tous ces trois problèmes d’injustice doivent être réglés.
- 73. Si vous voulez en savoir plus long: • Visitez Israel, voir les lieux, des lieux, parler avec juifs et arabes (Ce n’est ni cher ni dangereux) • Il y a une tonne d’information sur l’internet pour ceux qui veulent chercher • Je peux vous recommander livres, films, etc. (en anglais, je regrette) • M’inviter chez vous, pour parler avec des amis, ta section syndicale, un cercle de lecture de livres, etc. Peter.larson@nccar.ca
- 74. Est-ce que ça va changer? Absolument 1 Israël changera quand il n’y a plus le choix 2 Mais des facteurs internes et externes font que ça commence à changer Internes • Il y a plus de palestiniens que jamais • La nouvelle géneration de palestiniens est éduquée et connait ses droits • Il y a un débat intense en Israël et dans la diaspora juive Externes: • L’appui américain et européen n’est pas garantie • Les pays musulmans deviennent plus indépendants des E-U. • Un nouveau consensus mondial se dessine à l’ONU 3 Un compromis qui respecte les droits des Juifs et des Palestiniens est très possible.
- 75. Les Palestiniens “oubliés” La lutte des Arabes Israéliens pour la démocratie et des droits civiques dans l’Etat d’Israël aujourd’hui • Merci! Peter Larson Vice – président CONSEIL NATIONAL SUR LES RELATIONS CANADO-ARABES Peter.larson@nccar.ca
- 76. The “Forgotten Palestinians”: The Israeli-Arab search for democracy and equal rights inside today’s Israel Thank you Peter.Larson@nccar.ca
- 77. UN Proposal – Nov. 1947 Britain out – Palestine partitioned • Accepted by Ben Gurion and Zionist Movement • Rejected by Palestinians • Over next 5 months, armed Jewish groups move to take over the country – several massacres of civilians, Haifa and Jaffa shelled with mortars, etc. • Palestinian civilians begin to flee to the interior or Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt • May 14th, 1948 Ben Gurion declares State of Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flood into neighbouring states. • Neighbouring states armies attack Israeli forces to defend Palestinians
- 78. Population of Palestine (1931) • 734,000 Muslims • 169,000 Jews • 85,000 Christians 1931 British Census of Palestine • Palestinian population mostly agricultural • About 20% lived in 3 or 4 major towns (Haifa, Jaffa, Lud, Jerusalem) • The rest lived in hundreds of small farming villages Map Source: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1935
- 80. UN Proposal – Nov. 1947 Britain out – Palestine partitioned • Accepted by Ben Gurion and the Jewish Agency - Rejected by Palestinians • Over next 5 months, armed Jewish groups (Haganah, Stern Gang) move to take over the country – several massacres of civilians, Haifa and Jaffa shelled with mortars, etc. • Palestinian civilians begin to flee to the interior or Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt • May 14th, 1948 Ben Gurion declares State of Israel. Refugees flood into neighbouring states. • Neighbouring states armies attack Israeli forces to defend Palestinians
- 81. “The Naqba” May 1948 - An estimated 750,000 Palestinians fled
- 82. • Source: UN Special Committee on Palestine
- 83. When the dust settled… • Israel created - controlling 78% of former Mandate Palestine • 85% of Palestinians (750,000) are outside Israel and not allowed to return • Israel now has a majority of Jews (600,000 Jews vs. 150,000 remaining Palestinians) • Israeli Parliament democratically votes a series of “basic laws” including the confiscation of all the land belonging to refugees in the name of Jewish people
- 84. What happened to their villages? Abandoned, evacuated and/or destroyed Palestinian localities (comparative figures) Reference Towns Villages Tribes Total Morris 10 342 17 369 Khalidi 1 400 17 418 Abu Sitta 13 419 99 531
- 87. Israel is a complex society of 7.6 million people – about 76% are Jewish Sabra Jews (born in Israel) Others Palestinian Arab Jews from Asia/Africa Jews from Europe and America
Notes de l'éditeur
- Hello My name is Peter Larson. I have called my talk tonight “The Forgotten Palestinians”: the Israeli Arab Search for democracy and equal rights inside today’s Israel. It seems that Israel and the Palestinians are in the news almost every other day. Most of the talk is about the West Bank, or the Wall, or Gaza. But I would like to talk a bit about the Palestinians who live inside Israel. Israel prefers to call them “Israeli Arabs”, which they are of course. They are Arabs and they have Israeli citizenship. And when you are talking to them, sometimes they refer to themselves that way. As you know, in the last few years, Israel has started insisting that it be recognized as a “Jewish State”. In fact, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper met Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in March, he reiterated that Canada recognizes Israel’s right to exist “as a Jewish State”. Tonight I am going to examine the lives of the 1.4 million Palestinians – mostly Muslim, but also some Christians, who live in the “Jewish state” of Israel.
- I became interested in this issue about 2 years ago, after I took a 2 week trip to East Jerusalem and the West Bank. That trip focused on house demolitions in Jerusalem, on the Religious settlers in the Occupied territories, and the struggle against the occupation. Up until then, the fact that there were also Palestinians living inside Israel had kind of escaped me. But here are. In fact, there are 1.4 million of them. Almost 20% of the citizens of Israel. And we hardly ever hear of them. So last November, I decided to go take a look and explore this issue a bit more. My presentation tonight is a summary of the things I saw, the people I met and the things I learned during my 2 week trip. For the first part of the trip I was accompanied by Arthur Milner, an old Canadian friend, a playwright. He also happens to be Jewish. For several days, we were the guests of a wonderful Palestinian family – the Jamil family from Kefr Qasim.Living in their house gave me some interesting insights. I also benefited from advice and guidance from a number of other people in Israel – both Jews and non-Jews – for which I am grateful. Most of the pictures I will show you are my own. A couple have been taken from the internet.
- I know that many of you know quite a bit about the area, but in case you are fuzzy on your geography here is a map of the region today. The purple area is what is called Israel. Its borders are the ones recognized by the international community – including Canada, the US etc. Around Israel you have Egypt on the left, a very long border with Jordan on the East, and in the North Lebanon and Syria. Today Israel controls not only the purple, but also the yellow areas. There are 3 areas – Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan heights. Israel took them over in the 67 war, and has occupied those territories for the last 40 years or so. By the way the “West Bank” is called the “West Bank” because it is the west bank of the Jordan River which flows from the Sea of Galilea to the Dead Sea. If you had looked at this map in, say 1935, all of the area in purple and yellow would have been labeled “Palestine”. In fact I have a 1935 Encyclopedia Britannica article which does just that. But when Israel was created in 1948, Palestine was wiped off the map and most of the Palestinians were forced to leave.
- As I said, during the fighting when Israel was created, about 85% of the Palestinian population fled and became refugees. The new State of Israel has never allowed them to return. So where are the Palestinians today? Well, to simplify things a bit, there are 4 main groups of Palestinians today. About 2.4 million live in the West Bank. On my first trip to the region I spent most of my time here – in Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, the Jordan Valley and East jerusalem. This is where the fight is over the wall, the settlements, the house demolitions and so on that are so much in the news. Another 1.5 milion live in Gaza. I have never been there, but we do hear quite a bit about the difficult conditions for people in Gaza, especially after the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2009. A big group of Palestinians (almost 5 million, according to the UN) still live in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. They wait for the day when they can return to their homeland. And finally, there are about 1.4 million Palestinians who live inside Israel. They never left, and its about their situation that I want to talk today.
- To understand the Palestinians in Israel (or Israeli Arabs, if you want), you have to understand a bit about Israel. Israel is a booming, modern, high tech, European-type country. Its boosters have labelled it “start-up” nation, which alludes to its technological innovation as well as to the fact that it is a “new” country. As you travel around Israel, it is hard not to be impressed by the modern Ben Gurion airport, its super expressways, its light rail system in Jerusalem (light years apparently ahead of Ottawa), and the high tech business parks that seem to be in many areas. Israel feels more like the south of France than it does Egypt or Tunisia. Palestinian Israelis make up 20% of the population, but if you don’t look hard, its rather easy not to notice any Arab presence at all. In fact, I don’t blame tourists who think that the Palestinians are all “over there in the West Bank”. But they aren’t.
- Life for Jewish Israelis is very good. The GDP per capita is about $32K. This puts it somewhere between Greece and Spain. In fact, this probably understates the wealth a bit because it includes the figures for its Palestinian minority which is quite a bit poorer. So for Jewish Israelis it might be another 25% higher than that. The climate is very nice – especially along the coast in cities like Tel Aviv. Its beaches are lovely, and it has lots and lots of outdoor restaurants and cafes. While quite a bit has been made in the news recently about the very backward religious Jews who want women to use different busses, etc. in fact the dominant Israeli culture is very liberal on a lot of issues – gay rights, disabled rights, rights of women. The reality is that today, Israelis have “Peace’. Life is good. They don’t have much incentive to change things.
- On the face of it, Palestinian Israelis seem to be treated rather well. Certain as well as minorities in many countries of the world.
- So – if Palestinian Israelis have all this, what is the problem? I went to hear Jamal Zahalka when he came here to Canada. He is the head of one of the Palestinian Israeli parties the “Balad’, and sits in the Israeli Knesset, or parliament I also went to hear another Palestinian MK – Haneen Zoabi when she came here in 2010. Haneen was the only Israeli MK to be on the Mavi Marmara. I talked to Zahalka when he was here in Canada. I told him I was confused about the situation of Palestinians in Israel. He invited me to come and have a look for myself. So I did.
- I set up a 2 week trip for myself. I arranged many visits and interviews with various civil rights organizations, lawyers and activists – both Jewish and Palestinian. Arthur Milner and I met up in Jerusalem and spent 3 days there. Then we rented a car from Avis, and went to stay in a Palestinian village called Kefr Qassim, which is pretty well in the centre of the country. Arthur and I did some travelling around Israel for a few days before he had to come back to Canada. I stayed on for another week, taking day trips to Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth, Be’er sheva etc. etc.
- The first day in Jerusalem, we spent at the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset. There we visited 4 Palestinian elected members of the Knesset – called MK’s. These included Jamal Zahalka, and Haneen Zoabi from the Balad Party, and Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsour of the Islamist party. They are at quite different points on the political spectrum, but are quite determined to defend the rights of Palestinians to the extent they can in the Knesset. Balad is a political party whose stated purpose is the &apos;struggle to transform the state of Israel into a democracy for all its citizens, irrespective of national or ethnic identity.&apos; It opposes the idea of Israel as a solely Jewish state, and supports its recasting as a binational state. They are always outvoted, of course, in the Jewish Knesset. But they use their status as MK’s to bring to national and international attention the needs and interests of Palestinian israelis. It takes quite a bit of courage to be a Palestinian MK in the Israeli Knesset. According to x, 7 of the 11 Palestinian MK’s have been attacked by police during peaceful demonstrations in the last 2 years.
- Here are some of the other people we visited in the first few days in Jerusalem and “Tel Aviv. Gherson Baskin, is the Co-Chair of an organization called the Israel Palestine Centre for Research and Information. If you do a Google search on his name you will quickly find out that he was a key negotiator in the recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas. We met with Reverend Dr. Naim Ateek of Sabeel in Jerusalem. He is a lovely, quiet, determined Palestinian Christian who works hard for justice for Palestinians and reconciliation with Jews. We also spent some time with Libby Lenkinsky – a Jewish Canadian who now works in Tel Aviv with ACRI, Israel’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations. They deal with the whole range of civil rights issues – from gay rights, to the rights of women, the disabled etc. The rights of Palestinians is also one of their concerns.
- From our first three days of conversations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, we began to get a picture of the situation of Palestinian Israelis that was not quite as positive as the one I showed you earlier. Palestinian Israelis are poorer, have a lower level of education, a higher degree of unemployment, and are way under represented in the public service.
- The people we talked to – both Jews and Palestinians identified a range of important issues facing the Palestinian minority in Israel. These included widespread racism Discrimination in employment The denial by Israel of their identity as a national minority. In fact, the elimination of all traces of historic Arab or Palestinian culture in Israel Violent repression of any protest by the Palestinian minority Severe controls and limitations on the Palestinian members of Knesset The facts of inequality seem to be well documented – by Palestinian, Israeli and International researchers. While these differences are symptoms – we wanted to understand WHY there was such a difference between the two populations. Was it perhaps that Arabs were not as highly developed culturally as their Jewish co-citizens Or perhaps they weren’t as smart, or as motivated?
- To drive from Jerusalem using our GPS takes about 2 hours. You can see that it even goes through the occupied territory. This is completely illegal by international law, of course. In the course of the next few days, we would find several times that we were in “occupied territory’. The only reason we knew it was that our GPS kept telling us that we were going into “area C”. Israel has moved the border unilaterally in many locations.
- For about 10 or 15 km there are fences or a wall on both sides of the road, as it cuts through the West Bank. This is where our GPS was warning us that we were moving into “Area C” which is not open to Jewish israeli citizens.
- Finallly, our GPS told us to turn off the highway and we arrived in the Arab village of Kafr Qassim! The contrast with what we had just seen – the high rise buildings, the divided highways, the modernity of Israel was quite stunning. It was almost as if we had landed in an Indian reserve here in Canada. That is a bit of an exaggeration – we didn’t see any old cars or old refrigerators on the front lawn. But it was definitely ‘different”.
- We were lucky to spend a half a day with the assistant to the former Mayor of Kefr Qassm. He guided us around as we visited KQ and the surrounding area. He was very knowledgeable.
- At the centre of the town is a big monument and a cemetery. It commemorates the Kufr Qassim massacre of 1956, in which 49 unarmed civilians were killed by Israeli border guards. Israel later officially apologized for the incident, but nobody was ever convicted of murder. I was told it was only one of many massacres of Palestinian Arabs in the period 1948 – 1960.
- Seems to be some overcrowding. Construction means adding on another storey to existing buildings. You don’t see it very well, but at the left bottom, you see a Palestinian woman, wearing a Chador driving a 4 x 4. In this town, most of the adult women were wearing headscarves – but not all.
- While KQ seems rather overcrowded, all around it there is quite a bit of vacant land. On the Eastern border – where the camel is – there is a large field. You can see the edge of the town on the right. On the northern border is another open field. I was told that both these areas have been “confiscated” by the State of Israel, and KQ is not able to expand there. In fact, in the top picture you can see the ruins of a building. I was told that someone had tried to build a house there a couple of years ago. But it was torn down by Israeli authorities.
- The southwest border of KQ was quite different. I could see lots of big buildings – turns out it is an industrial park. It employs over 2000 people.
- Here is a view of KQ from Google Here is KQ. You can see the empty fields on the north and on the east side You can also see the industrial park I referred to. You can also see how KQ is hemmed in by the “Green line” on the east, and a highway on the south and another, important highway running north south on the west. So KQ is hemmed in on all sides. Now if you look south of KQ you can see another city. Compared to KQ it looks better planned – the streets are straighter, etc. This is because it is newer. I was created from nothing in 1955 as a new Jewish municipality. This municipality, called Rosh Ha’Ayin was created in 1955 as a new Jewish municipality. It was created on lands that were confiscated by the State of Israel for “public purposes.” The boundary between the two cities is not what you would expect. The line has been drawn so that the industrial park – and the tax revenues it generates – belong to the Jewish town of RH and NOT to the Arab town of KQ.
- But there was something that I couldn’t figure out. Why was one place Arab and the other one Jewish? Why are the towns so segregated? In Canada we have Chinatown, or Greektown, or Little Italy. That is because there are lots of Chinese, or Greeks, or Italians who live there. But in fact, anybody can move there if they want to. This is not the case in Israel. Arabs are not welcome in Jewish towns. Many Jewish communities in Israel are “gated communities” – with barbed wire fences and guards. And many also have “admission committees” that judge those who would be acceptable. They often set Zionist values and “loyalty to the Zionist vision” as conditions for admission. This keeps out Arabs, of course. The Israeli supreme court has ruled that it is illegal to discriminate against Arabs. However, it has also ruled that, because Israel is Jewish state, it is permissible for communities to demand that residents be “loyal to the Zionist vision”. (Haifa, Israel) On 25 January 2012, the Attorney General (AG) submitted the state&apos;s legal response to the Supreme Court of Israel on petitions filed by Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) demanding the cancellation of the Admissions Committee Law. The law, passed by the Knesset in March 2011, allows small communities in Israel built on &apos;state land&apos; (public land) to reject applicants who &quot;do not suit the lifestyle and social fabric of the community.&quot;
- We then drove over to see Rosh Ha’Ayin and Oranit – the two Jewish towns. As far as we could see, Rosh Ha’Ayin was doing very well. At least, that is what is indicated on its website. 1948 – Jews owned 7% of land of Palestine. The rest 93% was owned by Arab Palestinians However, today, the situation is reversed. 93% of all the land is owned by State of Israel and JNF. You can think of it as “crown land”, held in perpetuity for the State of Israel and available only for “Jewish use”. Most of the change took place through confiscation of Palestinian land through various laws between 1948 – 1964. As a result, the land available to Palestinian Israelis now approximately 3.5% of former territory. Much of the confiscated land was leased to new Jewish municipalities. In fact, since 1949, Israel has created 345 new Jewish municipalities. In the same time only 1 new Arab municipality has been created
- So lets take a look at these two neighbouring towns inside Israel They are neighbouring towns – side by side. Less than a km separates the centres of the two towns. One is Jewish – the other is Palestinian In 1948 KQ had about 2,000 inhabitants. Today it has about 18,000 In 1948 RH did not exist. But it was created in the ’50’s on land confiscated from KQ and another Arab town that today doesn’t exist any more. Today it has almost 35,000 inhabitants. And its average income is more than twice as high. This gives it a much better tax base.
- I inquired a bit more about the levels of service in the two towns. The differences are quite striking.
- The obvious answer is that one is Jewish and the other is Palestinian. But how, exactly does that work??
- The Jewish/Israeli takeover of Palestine was not like the German invasion of France, or the Allied conquest of Germany. In those cases, the conquering power left the local populations in place. But the Jewish/Israeli forces wanted to take over the land of Palestine and make it into a Jewish state. This was an actual plan – it was called the Plan Dalet. It was approved by Ben Gurion. Any Palestinian village that resisted the Jewish takeover would be destroyed and its population expelled. An estimated 750,000 Palestinians fled from their homeland. Despite repeated UN resolutions, Israel has never let them return. Where did they go??
- In 1949, KQ had a population of about 2000 people – central square. They farmed the land all around it. At that time, RH did not exist. How did the land from KQ become the basis for the new Jewish municipality of RH? Between 1949 and 1965 the Israeli parliament, which had a Jewish majority, voted some 20 laws relating to the ownership of land. Through these laws Israel “nationalized” almost all the land belonging to Palestinians in Israel. Today, about 93% of the land of Israel now belongs to the state or to another agency called the “Jewish National Fund”. As a result, there is virtually no private ownership of land in Israel. You can’t go out and buy a plot of land like you can in Canada or the United States or France. Its kind of like “crown land” here in Canada. As the owner of the land, the state can determine what to do with it. So in 1955, the State of Israel created the Municipality of Rosh Ha’Ayin and attributed the land around KQ to the new municipality. It was to be a home for Jews arriving from Yemen. As a result, of the confiscations, KQ now hemmed in on all sides. Look at where the Industrial Park is. It is legally a part of RH. There is virtually no land in KQ for new houses or for new businesses to start up.
- Israel ranks local councils and municipalities on a 10 point scale. 10 is wealthy, 1 is poor. Recognized Arab localities make up 87% of those in the lowest 3 grades, and there are none in the top grade.
- Here is one more pair I visited Jizr-az-Zarka – a Palestinian town and Caesarea – right beside it They are both on the sea. One is rich and upscale and the other is poor, dirty and dusty.
- Jizr-az-Zarka Only Arab town on coast Only town not connected to roadway From Wikipedia In December 1947 the local leader, Tawfiq Kadkuda, had made approaches to Jewish officials in an effort to establish non-belligerency agreements with local Jewish settlements.On 31 January 1948 an attack by the “Stern Group” on a bus leaving Qisarya, killing 2 and injuring 6 people, precipitated an evacuation of the population, who fled for fear of further attacks. After that the remaining inhabitants were expelled and the village houses were demolished by the Palmach 4th battalion between 19–20 February and October 1948.13 The few Arabs who remained were killed... Jewish Historians Aryeh Yitzhaki and Uri Milstein described the incidents as a massacre. According to a testimony collected from Battalion members obtained by Israeli historian Uri Milstein: &quot;In February 1948, the 4th Battalion of Palmach, under the command of Josef Tabenkin, conquered Caesaria.“ The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the village remains in 1992: &quot;Most of the houses have been demolished. The site has been excavated in recent years, (…) and turned into a tourist area. Most of the few remaining houses are now restaurants, and the village mosque has been converted into a bar&quot;
- The villages former lands (on left) were confiscated by Israel and given to a Kibbutz. Some villagers now work the land as hired agricultural labourers for the Kibbutz. The road is to develop Israel as a Jewish state. It is not meant to develop the Palestinian Israeli economy.
- Israel ranks local councils and municipalities on a 10 point scale. 10 is wealthy, 1 is poor. Recognized Arab localities make up 87% of those in the lowest 3 grades, and there are none in the top grade.
- Most of the land confiscation took place from 1948 to 1964 or so. Today the confiscation is almost finished. Except in one area. In the Negev. So I headed off to the Negev to take a look.
- Allow me to refresh your memory about the Negev. The Negev is about 1/2 of Israel. It is the bottom “cone”. If you drew a line from the top of the Gaza strip to the bottom of the west bank, then everything south of that would be the Negev. It is mostly desert. The north and north west part of it is the most fertile and it gets drier as you go south. In 1949, it is estimated that there were about 100,000 Bedouin Arabs living in the Negev. There were basically 3 kinds of Bedouin – Nomadic, Pastoral and Sedentary (be’ersheva). In 1948, there were 6000 sedentary Bedouin living in Be’ersheva. Be’ersheva is an oasis – in fact its name I am told, means 7 springs. The Bedouin are Arab, Muslim and Palestinian, but their relation with the rest of the Palestinian population is not an easy one. In particular the nomadic Bedouin were often seen as thieves by Palestinian farmers.
- This is the village of El Araqib in the bottom of the picture. I was there in December 2011. I met the Sheikh of the village. Through interpreters he explained that tens of thousands of Bedouin have refused to move to the 7 towns - Instead they have returned to their “ancestral lands”. They have recreated their villages which are “unrecognized” by Israel. They don’t have water, electricity, sewers or schools. The Israeli government is trying to force them to leave. It claims they are “trespassers on state land”. He told me that the Israeli army has bulldozed his village more than 30 times. Each time the inhabitants come back. Each time it is very violent. People get beaten up, manhandled and dragged off t jail. Israel is tying to evict them. But they say they have been there since before the creation of the state of Israel. Some even have documents from Ottoman times showing they paid taxes on the land. What is Israel’s interest in Negev Military – borders with Gaza, Egypt and Jordan. Fears that Bedouin would not be loyal to Israel 2. Strategic – also site for Israel’s main nuclear facility at Dimona, and largest military airbase 3. Economic – there are apparently oil and gas, and other mineral reserves under Negev, yet to be exploited 4. Agricultural – the best agricultural land in Negev is the area between Be’ersheva and Gaza. 4. Political – Israel wants to ensure a Jewish majority in every area of Israel. Current object
- One of the things Israel does to force the Bedouin to leave is to plough up their lands. Then they plant trees which have little economic value. I even saw where good Olive trees had been ploughed up and pine and other trees planted. Here I am walking around land that has been recently ploughed by an organization called the “Jewish National Fund”. In Canada it raises money as an environmental organization. The JNF claims it is planting trees to fight desertification. But the Bedouin feel that the real objective is to make life unliveable for the Bedouin and t force them off the land.
- A look at the northern Negev from the space shuttle makes things a little clearer. The deep blue is the Mediterranean on the left and the dead see on the right. Here is the border with Gaza, and you can also see the border with the West Bank. So the Negev is everything south of this line. You can easily see that the most fertile part of the Negev is the north west. The Israeli project called the Prower plan is to move all the Bedouin east of a line that goes directly to Be’ersheva. At the same time, it is giving subsidies to Jewish settlements in the area and is trying to encourage Jews to move there.
- The fight against the expropriation of Bedouin land is not happening without a fight. Bedouins have organized themselves into a council of “unrecognized villages” They rebuild, and rebuild, and rebuild They are taking claims to the Israeli supreme court and international institutions And they are organizing demonstrations. This one, on the left took place on the day I left israel. There is an interesting story relating to the picture on the bottom right. He is a bedouin from just outside Beersheva. His land was confiscated, and he lived in an unrecognized village. He had just read in the paper that the city of Be’ersheva – now with a large majority of Jewish residents, has just decided to make a golf course on his land!! The newspaper headline he is showing reads “Will Tiger Woods come to Be’ersheva??”
- By now its pretty clear what are the consequences for the Palestinian minority in Israel. Arab population of Israel – in 60 years grown 10 fold (100,000 – 1.3 million) Cf. Jewish population 600,000 – to 5.8 million Jews (10 x) (by immigration) But during that time, only 1 new Arab municipality, and no new land dedicated to expansion of Arab Communities.
- By now its pretty clear what are the consequences for the Palestinian minority in Israel. Arab population of Israel – in 60 years grown 10 fold (100,000 – 1.3 million) Cf. Jewish population 600,000 – to 5.8 million Jews (10 x) (by immigration) But during that time, only 1 new Arab municipality, and no new land dedicated to expansion of Arab Communities.
- If you go to any website about Education in Israel, you will quickly find that it stacks up pretty well. Israel does well on international tests. It has universal, free education from K- 12. And a very good university system. Israel has 4 parallel school systems. (Somewhat like we do in Canada for English/French school boards, Catholic, etc.) Three of the systems are taught in Hebrew, for Jews, one is in Arabic, for the Palestinian population of Israel. Review the 4. As a result, the Israeli school system is completely segregated along religious/ethnic lines. Less than 1% of Israeli schoolchildren to go “bilingual” (i.e. Arab/Hebrew) schools. The overwhelming majority of Jewish students in Israel have never been in class with an Arab, and few would have any Arab friends.
- The issues came down to 4 main elements Funding levels Outcomes Curriculum, and Barriers to higher education. But to do this I need to take a quick step backward and look at the overall system of Education in Israel.
- This man is now retired and lives in Haifa. He was for 30 years a teacher, principal and inspector in the Arab school system. I spent a whole day with him in Haifa, discussing Education for Palestinian Israelis. He also introduced me to some other educators. Funding – The funding formula is complicated and its hard to get official figures. They are deliberately obscured. School funding is partly done by the municipality and partly by the state. But the net of it is that Arab school system gets about 1/3 resources per student of Jewish system (= larger classes, fewer facilities, older text books, access issues) In addition there are a variety of special programs which favour Jewish school systems, e.g. “schools with high rates of Army enrolmentget special budgetary allowances” (= jewish schools,) Also special allowances for “gifted students’ – these are always Jewish. Allowances for “academically weak students from disadvantaged backgrounds”. This all went to immigrants – none to Arab schools. Long legal battle to supreme court. Agreed. Schools have to roll out to Arab schools, but get permission to do it gradually. As of 2010 still no Arab schools get Shahar money
- I did not succeed in getting into a state run Arabic language school. I was told this would be awkward for the Principal who is after all an employee of the Israeli state. It could cause problems if a foreigner was to come in an take pictures and ask too many questions. But I did spend a morning at a Christian Palestinian school in Jerusalem. I talked to the Principal and teachers, and spend an hour teaching an English class. “Teaching an English class” is really a cover for what I was really doing – talking to the students about their lives and future in Israel today. What I found out was that Palestinian state schools have a poor reputation for quality. There is a very high drop out rate. There is a low completion rate for sr.matriculation and the students who do graduate perform poorly on standardized tests. That’s why Palestinian parents who can afford it, send their kids to Christian schools EVEN IF THEY ARE THEMSELVES MUSLIM. Because the quality of education is much better.
- Curriculum content strictly controlled by State of Israel. No reference to Palestinian history. Any reference to Naqba, massacres, land confiscation “out”. Interpreted as “incitement” against Jews. Palestinian students get very little instruction in Palestinian or Arab history, geography, literature or culture. In fact, they spend more time learning the Torah than the Bible (for Christian Palestinians) or the Koran. In Kufr Quasm, for example, every student knows about the KQ massacre because their parents have talked about it and there is that monument in the centre of town. But no teacher would dare talk about it if he or she wanted to keep his or her job. What’s even more significant, perhaps is that all teachers in the Arab system have to undergo a security screening by the Israeli secret police for “state security purposes”. Tell story of student who asks about PLO – a few days later the teacher gets called in to an interview by principal and agent of secret police. Refer to “the primary objective’ Independence day. Recite poems in class.
- While Israel has 8 very high quality universities – its extremely hard for Palestinian kids to get in. Here are some of the barriers: 1. the baghrout 2. language requirement Hebrew and English NB (= 3rd language for Arabs), 3. No Arabic language university. 4. Few Palestinian Faculty (less than 2% of full-time faculty) 4. Psychometric exam – like IQ test. Supposed to be predictor of success. Jewish students score on average 100 points more than Arab kids. University entrance based on scores. And then there are other obstacles. For example: Engineering, medicine, etc. reserved for students over 20 years of age. In practice this is a discriminatory measure. Most Israeli kids do military service. They can move right into these courses. Special financial support for students who come out of the military The net result is that Palestiinian kids are less than half as likely to go to university as jewish kids. This man – a Palestinian Israeli – found it easier to come to Canada to study in English than to get into an Israeli university.
- Israel very liberal towards dissent among Jews. Gays, communists, atheists, religious fundamentalists, etc. etc. But these dissenters can easily be accommodated into “Jewish state”. Israel takes a very different line toward Palestinians, however. The Palestinian demand for equal rights is seen – rightly - as a threat to the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. Example 1 – in 2000 – A Palestinian Israeli committee composed of elected officials, civil and religious leaders organized a huge peaceful demonstration in Nazareth to protest against yet more land confiscations. It was met by the full force of the law. 13 Palestinians were killed, many by police snipers. Hundreds were injured, and thousands were arrested. A subsequent commission found that Israeli police routinely treat Arab Israelis as hostiles. Nobody was ever convicted of the murders and the commission recommendations were mostly ignored. Example 2: Palestinians who take on leadership positions are severely attacked. 7 of 11 Arab MK’s have been attacked by police during peaceful demonstrations in the last 2 years. Example 3: The Arab party Balad, which calls for a democratic Israel for “all of its citizens” is repeatedly attacked. Its former leader had to leave Israel because of death threats against him. Arab public servants, especially teachers are under very strict surveillance to be “loyal” to Israel.
- I said earlier in my presentation that a visitor coming to Israel sees very little signs of any previous Palestinian culture or civilization. This is not an accident. Israel has embarked on a systematic campaign to eliminate signs of Arab life/culture/history in Israel. For example, the Israeli Department of transport has a program to change all street names from their Arabic names to Hebrew names. At major tourist sites, including one I visited in Jaffa signage was in English, German, Russian and Hebrew. Not Arabic. Palestinian history is ignored or suppressed. I already mentioned the KQ massacre. Teachers cannot refer to that in school. I was told that not 1 resident in 10 of the Jewish town next door would have ever heard of it. This picture at left is from a Muslim cemetery in the centre of Be’ersheba which was the Bedouin Palestinian main centre. Half of the cemetery has been turned into a shopping centre. The other half is dug up and abandoned. There is a high fence around it. Palestinians are forbidden from entering. I visited Canada Park which was particularly egregious. Not only did Israel bulldoze 3 Palestinan villages and erase any trace of them to make a park. But its signage is only in English and Arabic. The Palestinian villages were just a mirage!!
- I already mentioned the incident at the Avis counter. It was not significant in itself. There are racists in every society. But what surprised us was how easily the young woman, who was a representative of Avis dealing with a customer she didn’t know, said it. On the issue of daily humiliations – the young man from the family I stayed with wanted to join a gym in the nearby jewish town. When he got there and showed his ID – he was told it was ‘full”. He got his sister who speaks Hebrew with no accent to call and she was told there was lots of room. I met a brilliant young Palestinian Israeli lawyer who graduated from Hebrew University with high marks. She could not get a job with a Jewish law firm. Her Jewish friends all did. They are ashamed because all of think its racism. The Israel Democracy Institute 2011 report says that 32 percent of Israeli society doesn’t recognize or admit that there is discrimination against Arab Israelis. They don’t understand what the Arabs are complaining about. Because Israel is a “Jewish state” they feel its normal that non-Jews be excluded from Jewish towns. 50% of young Israelis don’t think Palestinians should have the right to vote, and an equal number think they should be “encouraged to leave” Israel.
- On the face of it, Palestinian Israelis seem to be treated rather well. Certain as well as minorities in many countries of the world.
- He is a smart man, a hard negotiator and a hard worker. If you ask him how he’s doing – he’ll say he’s doing pretty well. Certainly one of the better off families in Kufr Qassm. If you ask him if Palestine ever became a separate country – where would he prefer to live – here in Israel or over there? Here of course. Its where his family is from.
- He’ll tell you he has some reasons to be happy. Makes a good living – gas station and olive press Has 11 kids Has a nice house, eats well, I have a passport, I can travel to Canada 4 sons went to university 3 sons went to university in Canada and are now Canadians.
- But I know he goes to bed unhappy, angry and frustrated because: His Jewish neighbours in RH have paved roads, a municipal library, a swimming pool, nice parks and safe streets - RH is booming and expanding while KQ is fenced in and stagnating His roads are unpaved and there is a lack of security in his town RH gets special grants from the Israeli government because it is a Jewish municipality His son is humiliated when he is refused entrance to the gym in Ha Ayin 55 years ago his uncle was murdered by Israeli border guards in what is known as the Kefr Qassim massacre Israel forbids school textbooks from talking about the KQ massacre or any of the events surrounding the Naqba He is worried because he knows that another of his sons has a short fuse – it wont take much for him to “lash out” against discrimination – and that would be dangerous. So… should he encourage that son, too, to leave the country?? The schools in KQ are lousy. Less than 50% of the students qualify for high school matriculation. This, too is pushing his kids to leave KQ There is no police security in KQ 62 years ago, his country, Palestine was taken away from him and he now lives in the Jewish state of Israel which tells him every day in every way that he is a “second class citizen” But most of all – he is unhappy, angry and frustrated because he lives in a society that regularly humiliates him – and he has no alternative.
- Israel has many of the qualities of a “democratic” state. It has a free press, universaal suffrage, a very competitive political system, rights and freedoms for various minorities. It has a highly developed legal system, separation of the judiciary etc. etc. It also has several basic laws that proclaim equality. But those same laws also declare that Israel is a Jewish state. And when arbitrary or discriminatory measures are challenged in court by the Palesitnian minority – they usually fail before the argument that Israel is a Jewish state. Israel&apos;s practices are far removed from Canadian values as expressed in our Charter of rights and Freedoms. In fact, there is no legal recourse for Palestinians against things like discrmination in housing, or education or employment.
- Efen American jews are becoming less confortable with israel.
- Hello My name is Peter Larson. I have called my talk tonight “The Forgotten Palestinians”: the Israeli Arab Search for democracy and equal rights inside today’s Israel. It seems that Israel and the Palestinians are in the news almost every other day. Most of the talk is about the West Bank, or the Wall, or Gaza. But I would like to talk a bit about the Palestinians who live inside Israel. Israel prefers to call them “Israeli Arabs”, which they are of course. They are Arabs and they have Israeli citizenship. And when you are talking to them, sometimes they refer to themselves that way. As you know, in the last few years, Israel has started insisting that it be recognized as a “Jewish State”. In fact, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper met Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in March, he reiterated that Canada recognizes Israel’s right to exist “as a Jewish State”. Tonight I am going to examine the lives of the 1.4 million Palestinians – mostly Muslim, but also some Christians, who live in the “Jewish state” of Israel.
- Hello My name is Peter Larson. I have called my talk tonight “The Forgotten Palestinians”: the Israeli Arab Search for democracy and equal rights inside today’s Israel. It seems that Israel and the Palestinians are in the news almost every other day. Most of the talk is about the West Bank, or the Wall, or Gaza. But I would like to talk a bit about the Palestinians who live inside israel. Israel prefers to call them “Israeli Arabs”, which they are of course. They are Arabs and they have Israeli citizenship. And when you are talking to them, sometimes they refer to themselves that way. But they are also Palestinian. The dilemma was best summed up for me by Catholic Archbisop Chacour, of Nazareth, who told me “ I am a contradiction. I am a Christian by religion. I am an Arab by language. I am a Palestinian by culture. And I am a citizen of Israel.” Those 4 elements define who I am.
- The land allocated to the Arab state (about 43% of Mandatory Palestine consisted of all of the highlands, except for Jerusalem, plus one third of the coastline. The highlands contain the major aquifers of Palestine, which supplied water to the coastal cities of central Palestine, including Tel Aviv. The Jewish state was to receive 56% of Mandatory Palestine, a slightly larger area to accommodate the increasing numbers of Jews who would immigrate there. The state included three fertile lowland plains — the Sharon on the coast, the Jezreel Valley and the upper Jordan Valley. Jerusalem was to be under international control. At the time, there were about 100,000 Jews living in Jerusalem or about 60% of the Jerusalem population. At the time, Jews accounted for about 1/3 of the total population of Palestine. The Israeli Claim to Jerusalem was that the Holy Temple is the most important religious site in the world. And a significant Jewish population (mostly Sephardic Jews) living in Jerusalem
- We were told that the history of KQ and its neighbouring town RH is not an exception. The story is very common. In 1931, on the eve of the creation of the state of Israel, of about a million people living in Palestine, about 80% were Arab Muslims or Christians. A little less than 20% were Jewish. Most of the Palestinians lived in small agricultural villages like KQ. A minority of Palestinians lived in a few cities – like Haifa, Jerusalem, Jaffa, etc.
- Of course, in 1921 when Britain took over the Palestine mandate, the country was almost all composed of Palestinian Arabs. Some were Muslim, some Christian and some Jewish. There has been continuous Jewish habitation of Palestine for over 3000 years. But under the British mandate, hundreds of thousands of European Jews started immigrating to Palestine. Many bought up land in the most fertile areas. Many moved to Jerusalem. They also started agitating to turn Palestine into a Jewish state and to make Jerusalem its capital. By 1947, there were more than 600,000 European Jews in Palestine (5 times as many as in 1931). Jews now constituted about 1/3 of the total population of Palestine. As their numbers grew, they grew more and more militant – even carrying out a guerilla war against the British authorities in order to get their own state. Finally, at the end of WWII, Britain could no longer hold on. It turned the matter over to the Un, and announced that it would withdraw its troops in May 1948.
- The land allocated to the Arab state (about 43% of Mandatory Palestine consisted of all of the highlands, except for Jerusalem, plus one third of the coastline. The highlands contain the major aquifers of Palestine, which supplied water to the coastal cities of central Palestine, including Tel Aviv. The Jewish state was to receive 56% of Mandatory Palestine, a slightly larger area to accommodate the increasing numbers of Jews who would immigrate there. The state included three fertile lowland plains — the Sharon on the coast, the Jezreel Valley and the upper Jordan Valley. Jerusalem was to be under international control. At the time, there were about 100,000 Jews living in Jerusalem or about 60% of the Jerusalem population. At the time, Jews accounted for about 1/3 of the total population of Palestine. The Israeli Claim to Jerusalem was that the Holy Temple is the most important religious site in the world. And a significant Jewish population (mostly Sephardic Jews) living in Jerusalem
- The Jewish/Israeli takeover of Palestine was not like the German invasion of France, or the Allied conquest of Germany. In those cases, the conquering power left the local populations in place. But the Jewish/Israeli forces wanted to take over the land of Palestine and make it into a Jewish state. This was an actual plan – it was called the Plan Dalet. It was approved by Ben Gurion. Any Palestinian village that resisted the Jewish takeover would be destroyed and its population expelled. An estimated 750,000 Palestinians fled from their homeland. Despite repeated UN resolutions, Israel has never let them return. Where did they go??
- When the dust settled, Israel had the borders that Canada now recognizes. (interestingly, Israel has never declared its own borders) By then 85% of the Palestinians had fled – about 750,000 in total. The new State of Israel, now had a majority of Jews (about 600,000 Jews vs. 150,000 Palestinians). With this overwhelming Jewish majority, the Israeli parliament now voted to confiscate almost all the lands belonging to Palestinians. One law was the “Absentee Property Law”. It confiscated the land formerly owned by the 750,000 Palestinian refugees who fled during the fighting and were now not allowed to return. If they did try to return they were shot by the “Border Police”. But it also included those who were not physically on their property when the “census” was taken. Today over 100,000 Israeli citizens are what are called “present absentees”. That is, they live in Israel, but lost their land to the jewish state because they were not there when the census was taken. All of these are Palestinians, of course. Another law allowed the state to confiscate any lands anywhere for “public” use. For public use means for Jewish use, like the creation of a new Jewish municipality, like RH because Israel is a Jewish state. By the mid ’90’s, Palestinian Israelis now owned less than 3.5% of the land of Israel in which they were the former owners.
- After the Palestinians fled the country, Israel undertook to destroy hundreds of villages. Many were bulldozed. Some were even bombarded by the nascent Israeli air force. The intent was to make it impossible for the refugees to return. There is some debate about how many villages were destroyed. Benny Morris, an Israeli historian claims that the number is 369. Others cite higher numbers. Not all Palestinian villages were destroyed. The new state of Israel recognized about 150 Arab villages. There were dozens of other “unrecognized villages” – some of which were later recognized by the state. Kufr Qassm was one of these.
- Israel is also a complex society sociologically. About 76% of Israelis are Jewish About half of the Israeli population is what are called “Sabra” Jews – that means people who were born in Israel. Most of them are Askenazi – which means their parents came from Eastern Europe – Poland, Romania, etc. Another chunk – about 15% are immigrants from Europe and America. The biggest chunk of these are from the former Soviet Union. They have immigrated to Israel since the end of the cold war and there are more than 1 million so called “Russian” Jews in Israel today. They don’t tend to be very religious, but they are very aggressive. And then there are also Jews from Asia and Africa. The largest number come from Morocco. Finally, there are about 20% of the population which is Palestinian Arab.
- This is part of a long term project. One of the reasons that that part of the Negev is the greenest is because Israel takes a huge amount of water from the Sea of Galilee and ships it by underground pipeline down to the northern Negev. This is called the “National Water Carrier”. Israel is proud to say that it has made the “desert bloom”. Of course it has. But doing so isn’t all that hard if you have water. Israel has taken water from the Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and given it to the settlers of the northern negev.