Israeli Arabs: Jewish co-existence a challenge
Palestinian Arab researchers publish vision of co-existence in booklet circulated throughout Arab sector. Booklet suggests basic law acknowledging Israel a common homeland for both Arab, Jewish sectors
Senior officials in the Arab sector advertised their vision in booklets which were distributed to government offices and to seniors in the Israeli political system.
The document was the first of its kind, and its careful construction by senior researchers and intellectuals from the Arab sector took over a year. At the top of the document’s list of issues was that of the Arab Palestinian identity and in Israel and the problem of citizenship.
Regarding their relationship with the country, the document suggested “working to establish a basic law acknowledging the country as a common homeland for its Palestinian Arab and Jewish citizens. This principle should be anchored in the preface of basic law and the Israel’s future constitution”.
The document also touched on the issue of the legal status of Palestinian Arabs in Israel and suggested a legal system which would “completely embrace laws prohibiting discrimination in both the public and private sector, and the official recognition in the collective existence of Palestinian Arabs in the country and their unique national, religious, and cultural identity”.
The document also mentions the 1956 Kfar Kassem massacre, the 1976 Land Day demonstrations, and the 2000 October riots.
Jewish sector not interested in co-existence
Higher Arab Monitoring Committee Chairman Shawki Khatib explained, “We’ve already seen the reality of which the Arab public says to the Jewish public, ‘I want to live together, and I really mean it’, but the Jewish public has still not reached the same conclusion.”
“This document is a preliminary spark. Its importance is not in its publishing, but in what happens after it,” he concluded.
The vision was put on paper in efforts to build a foundation for an action plan that would represent the varied voices heard amongst Arab leaders. To that end, Khatib turned to a group of researchers who spent 18 months on negotiations which eventually led to the writing of the booklet.
The writers hoped the publication of the booklet would lead to a serious and deep dialogue among both Arabs and Jews, which would ultimately bring on the process of change.
