Nullification of citizenship of Israeli Arabs:
The Israeli Arab view

By Dr. Mordechai Kedar

August 7, 2002

The question of the nullification of citizenship of Israeli Arabs who have engaged in or aided terrorist activities against citizens of the country is only one new element in the complex issue of the citizenship and status of Israeli Arabs, almost 20 percent of the population of Israel.

Historically, the Jewish state was imposed on its Arab inhabitants. It is a Zionist state whose agenda and objectives are determined by the Jewish majority. Its flag is the Magen David and its anthem is 'Deep in the heart, a Jewish soul stirs.'

The state is not exactly the embodiment of the political aspirations of its Arab citizens, and its existence and achievements are the most practical expression of the failure of the Arab nations' attempts to destroy it.

Israeli Arabs are linked by national, religious, and frequently family ties to a region hostile to Israel and waging war against it for 54 years.

Since its establishment, the state has regarded them as a security risk, and this is one of the reasons they (except the Druze) are not obligated to serve in the IDF. They live on the social, economic, public, and political fringe of the country, both because the state did not wish to bring them closer and because they themselves did not wholeheartedly want to be part of it.

Psychologically, they are always placed in a dilemma between their legal obligation to observe the law and the moral injunction that obligates them to identify themselves with their Palestinian brothers and with the Arab region. They are required to display loyalty to both warring sides simultaneously, far from a simple task.

One of the expressions of this is the Palestinization of the Arab sector, the increased feeling of belonging nationally, culturally, and religiously to the Palestinian people, and identification with the Palestinian nation in the Palestinian Authority territories and in the diaspora, mainly in the refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

The feeling of nationalist identification has increased since the Oslo process, to the extent that most of them now define themselves as 'Palestinian citizens of Israel.' This crisis of identity reached its peak in October 2000, when 13 Arabs were killed by police during demonstrations, breaches of the peace, and blocking of major roads.

During the last two years, tension has increased. The war against Palestinian terrorism, the depressed state of the economy (that has also affected the Jewish majority), the mutual suspicion, and the severing of relations between Jews and Arabs have created a feeling that 'my country is fighting against my nation and is also hostile to me.'

The Arab media - mainly the satellite channels, led by al-Jazeera – abound in very serious anti-Israeli propaganda, frequently based on disinformation and horror photos.

All these create a difficult atmosphere against the country, its army, and its institutions, and help to legitimize aiding terrorists. Next month is the anniversary of the suicide bombing (the only one so far) perpetrated by a Muslim Israeli, but there have been four cases of Israeli Arabs perpetrating terrorist attacks against Jewish civilians and soldiers.

In such circumstances, the nullification of the citizenship of Israeli Arabs involved in terrorist activities is regarded as proof the country does not want them here - any of them. Interior Minister Eli Yishai's step adds to the fears of increasing legitimacy of the voices calling for transfer of the Arabs or, at least, for redefining the borders of the country so that centers of the Arab population will be incorporated in the Palestinian state when it is established. They see the graffiti on the roadsides: 'No Arabs - no terrorist attacks' and posters declaring: 'Transfer = Peace + Security.' They hear more and more voices calling them 'Arafat's agents,' 'collaborators with Hamas,' 'fifth columnists,' and 'a demographic danger threatening the Jewish state,' and they feel the ground trembling under their feet. The scenario of expulsion - as happened to half of them in 1948 - seems to them to be more and more realistic.

The Interior Ministry can constantly proclaim that nullification of citizenship is only enforced against those involved in terrorist activities, but the Arab man in the street sees this as another nail in the coffin that both Jewish and Arab citizens are preparing for their mutual relationship.

This article was originally published in The Jerusalem Post on August 7, 2002

 

Home | Worthwhile Reading | Cartoons | Videos | Selected Quotes | Links | Contact us

Dr. Mordechai Kedar

Department of Arabic and research associate of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
Bar-Ilan University
Israel