National Schism and Civil Integration Mutual Relations between the Israeli Central Government and the Israeli Arab Palestinian Minority

This book analyzes the changes that have taken place in the mutual relationship between the Israeli establishment and the Arab minority since the early 1990s. Changing internal political circumstances on both sides, often led by external world events, have shaped action/reaction and made relations complex. To date this relationship has not been subject to a social science analysis, despite some excellent books and journal articles setting out the historic and political relations. National Schism and Civil Integration is the first comprehensive book to tackle the multi-faceted political dimensions of the relationship, and likewise the first to study the linkage between the inner politics of the Arab communities and their relations with the central government. Special attention is paid to the central government's engagement from a security-based dialogue to one encompassing civil policy. The study assesses the emergence of Arab Israeli Palestinian composite nationalism, and the advent of new political groupings, in terms of the political players and how they have been influenced by a growing civil awareness of a more structured and dynamic Palestinian national personality. Primary sources include official governmental documents, minutes of parliamentary meetings and verdicts of the Supreme Court, as well as Arab manifestos of political parties, declarations and interviews with Arab leaders (MK members, and heads of local councils), and press reports. The book will be essential reading for all those interested in and engaged with Israeli and Arab politics. [Subject: Israeli Studies, Middle East Studies, Palestinian Studies, Politics]

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements

Part One  The Historical Background
 1 The Formation of a Policy after 1948: Security versus Citizenship
 2 The Establishment of the Military Government
 3 Policy About the Refugee Issue
 4 Different Perceptions Regarding Arab Lands
 5 The Intensity of Enforcing the Governmental Policy
 6 Main Policy Lines, 1967–1990
 7 After “Land Day” 1976 – Citizenship or Security?
 8 Ways the Arab Minority Deals with Israeli Policy
 9 The Pattern of Activities of the Arab Minority,
1948–1967
10 Patterns of Adaptation Adopted by the Arabs from
1967 to 1990
11 After “Land Day”: New Arab Political Structures
12 Signs of growing Activism on the Background of the
First Lebanese War
13 Accelerated Processes of Politicization, 1982–1990

Part Two – The Government’s Policy, 1987–2010
 1 The Civil Dimension of the Policy Towards the Arabs:
The First Signs of a Change in the Direction of Narrowing
the Gap
 2 After the 1992 Elections: from Intentions to Deeds
 3 The Civil Policy from 1996 to 2000: One-sided Striving
to Reduce the Gaps
 4 After the Events of October 2000: Strengthening the Effort
to Compensate the Arab Minority
 5 The Sharon Government: Continuation of the
Government’s Treatment of the Arab Population
 6 The Olmert and Netanyahu Governments: Acceleration of Improvements in Treatment of the Arab Population
 7 The Attitude of the Jewish Majority to the Arab Minority:
Increasing Radicalization, Hatred and Alienation
8 Central Government Resolutions and Politics in the
Aftermath of Two Waves of Violence

Part Three – Political and Social Changes within the Arab Minority
 1 The Political Reality in Israel at the Beginning of the
1990s
 2 The Political Power Frameworks
 3 Four Possible Choices that can be Made by Protest Groups
 4 The 1990 Temple Mount Events
 5 The Gulf War, 1990–1991
 6 The Opening of the Western Wall Tunnel
 7 The Al-Roha Lands Affair
 8 The Events of October 2000
 9 The Political System after the October Events
10 Changes in the Arab Public Demography and Main Characteristics
11 The Israeli Arab: Sociological Characteristics and Political Participation
12 The Arab Associations: A Mixture of Integration and Separatism
13 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in
Israel
14 Social Aspects and Employment in the Arab Sector
15 The Arab Minority and the Issue of National/Civilian
Service

Conclusions

Notes
Bibliography
Index