Too many people form opinions without ever visiting or experiencing the larger scale of reality. One could go to a random West Bank town and see poverty and cry out that the Israelis are racist against Palestinians. Without experiening the whole of Arab life in Israel both before and after the Intifada, no opionion is worth a "grush" as they say in Israel. A grush being a denomination small enough not to be valued.
The most common phrase regarding Arabs in Israel is "second class citizens." A term which is relative only to "first class citizens," and others who may be considered even lower. What priveledges denote one's class are often blurred within a myriad of variables, opinions and ability. One may say being born in an impoverished area of Compton would qualify an American as a second class citizen financially. But a person from Compton has the same American passport as a person from Calabasas. Of course, this person from Compton does not advocate the destruction of Calbasas. He does not fight for Compton to be it's own state. And he does not bomb cafes in Calabasas on a weekly or even daily basis.
So one who is an advocate of Palestinian rights would say, Israeli Arabs have seperate passports and therefore are treated like second class citizens. However, these passports signify the will of the Arab people of Israel to be their own state, and therfore are essentially indicative of the Arab desire not to be a part of the state known as Israel. These passports were once valid throughout the world. The rise of a violent Intifada made these very passports suspect not only in Israel, but in all Arab countries as well. Arab nations wishing to eliminate the violent uprising from their agenda slowly began denying these documents at their borders for fear of terrorism. In Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, these passports, an issue of Arab pride in not wanting to be dominated, became a hallmark of terrorism. Hezbollah, Hamas, and countless others used these documents, or rather, usurped these documents to carry out terrorist acts. The repurcussions were not considered, their people were not considered and the stigma was unfotunately attached with every bombing. So one may argue, how is Israel racist of for scrutinising a passport from a violent minority when countries that hold a majority of the same race are doing exactly the same? Can there truly be an Arab Apartheid against their own relatives? And if so, shouldn't this question be adressed equally among all nations in the region doing the scrutinising? Recently, NPR and Middle Eastern Focus have had several guests speaking of the disparity between Palestinian Arabs and their brothers in other Arab nations like Jordan and Lebanon where they are also deemed second class by virtue of passports..
This brings us back to the poverty question, which is what many advocates would state is the denominator of class, the poor cities of the West Bank and Gaza, and the Arab quarters of Israel.
One may say, their lower quality of life is indicative of predjudice. I am not arguing by any means the perfection of equality in Israel. Like any other nation on Earth, there are disparities in race and finance. However, and this is an immense however, we can look to our own nations history and see what a second class citizen is in terms of state controlls. In the beginning of colonization, those migrating to the new America rebelled because of the tax structure. As defined second class citizens of Brittain, the pilgrims and later forefathers were unduly taxed when compared with the remaining patriots to the crown who stayed behind. There is no such thing in Israel. Your passport in no way denotes how much one is taxed. In fact, Palestinians who live outside of Israel proper are constanly asking for funds collected within Israel which rightfully belong to Israeli Arab citizens. Per capita, Israeli Arabs recieve more than their share of taxes in public services and Israeli Jews pay taxes to provide public services for Palestinians on a regular basis. Not to mention revenue lost in protecting places as common as shopping malls where every Israeli- regardless of race, is searched at the door.
This was even more dramatic before the Intifada when Israelis were building hospitals, schools, roadways, garbage systems and water filtration plants for Palestinians who paid no money into Israel proper. At this time, Palestinians were afforded the same ability to make money as regular Israelis and Israeli Arabs and Palestinians were flourishing and living in million dollar homes on both sides of the green line.
My favorite Israeli Arab Cab driver, Abed, who has worked as a translator before for CNN and BBC, described the worsening of his life post Intifada.
Abed is a Jerusalem Arab, born generations into Jerusalem, he holds the seperate passport. He recounted tales of before the intifada when the road to Jerico was open. At the time, from Israeli, Arab and Christian tourists, Abed used to make 50,000 to 100,000 U.S. Dollars a year in fares. A sum which converted into shekels is a kings ransom. Before the uprising, Abed bought a home in Jerico, a virtual castle for what he made, where his residence adress precluded him for paying taxes into Israel despite his freedom of movement. He was by all financial means a first class citizen who didn't pay taxes. He had free reign traveling throughout the territories and throughout Arab states with his Arab Israeli passport. Since the beginning of this current Intifada, Abed is still allowed travel throughout Israel, albeit through checkpoints now. However, Abed can no longer travel to Jordan, Egypt, or Lebanon. He can still go to his home in Jerico, rather quickly comparatively to others because he has relationships with the checkpoint guards, but there are no fares to take back and forth. Since the Intifada, Jerico has lost 30 million dollars anually in tourism revenue. No one is willing to go where they could be a target of terror.
Abed now makes about one eighth of what he used to make. No one on the Palestinian side considers his plight. But on the Israeli side, his wife recieves a welfare stipend equal to what Israeli impoverished women recieve. On top of which, over 20% of Israel's population recieves this stipend, equally regardless of race.
Abed is now a second class citizen, not in Israel where he is well known by soldiers who wave him by, but at the bank, where we all are mostly. He was forced to accept weapons drops at his home in Jerico to make ends meat.
Across Israel, and down into Egypt, the tourism industry is dead while the Intifada rages. The ramifications often hit Palestinians and Arabs hardest because many of them sell goods related to tourists, which they were once rich from. The morality of this war cannot in any way justify the destruction of these people personal livelihood. What good is a state of your own when your children cannot eat? They have been made second class financially by this uprising, and it is clear they can no longer blame it solely on the Israelis. Mansions where Arab peoples live in Israel are being sold of, due to lack of revenue. Everybody feels the pain of war. But one cannot say Israelis scare away tourists. For this, only the Intifada is to blame. The lack of revenue has put Israelis in a position where they can no longer generate as much revenue for their own country. And yet, revenue generated in Israel is still being given to Palestinians. The largest suffering population is currently the Ethiopian Jewry who recieve charitable benefits due to the fact that they came from such an impoverished nation (to date the only Ethiopians accepted by any other nation as refugees). Ethiopians feel the brunt of the charitable subsidies being diminished as their school money goes over the green line for services.
Arabs in Israel also enjoy complete equality among sexes, mandated by Israeli law. It is the only country in all of the Arab lands which gives women the same opportunities as men. NPR has broadcasted many Afghani women stating that they hope some day to be like the Arab women of Israel. Even staunch Palestinian activists who are female warn of a reversal of these freedoms should a completely Muslim government take hold.
The aim of this article is not to show how benevolent Israelis are, nor is it to show that they are free of racism or any of the other plagues of society like poverty. The aim is to show that blame rests on all sides, that peace is good for everyone as we can see by the prosperity all enjoyed before the Intifada. I would not excuse an Israeli who made harsh comments or advocated apartheid like conditions. But, by the same tolken, no Arab nation should be excused to the point where they commit the same attrocities or worse, and are not criticised even remotely by the left.
If one is to call for equality in the Middle East, one must direct those calls to all the governments of the region, and not solely at Israel because it is comprised of Europeans and Arab Jews who fled their respective nations for want of freedom. That is racism, ethnocentrism, religious bigotry and sexism, and there is nothing relative about it. One cannot hold Israel to higher standards than all it's other neighbors, unless one is to admit that it should be better than everyone else. In respect to sexism, one can clearly state it is better from a leftist perspective. In respect to racism, the Intifada has fostered a fear of Palestinians that may be somewhat unjustified, but is by no means without total merit.
We have here a nation of refugees, creating refugees, there is no simple solution. But the Palestinian cause is in no way forwarded by Hamas or Islamic Jihad. It has only served to damage the revenue of their own people, who rely on Christians, Muslims, and Jews to enjoy the land while they make a living serving them or owning businesses that do so.
Many Arab land owners were made wealthy by sales to Jews. Their wealth has been spent on Mercedes and other material goods. The infrastructure of Palestine is not Israel's responsability. Palestinians recieve more per capita aid than any other refugee population in the world. Arafats robbery of his peoples coffers should be scrutinised as well.
In short, while racists are a fact that no nation has ever overcome completely, racism is not the essential problem against the Palestinians. It is Palestinian racism against Jews and Christians, and the manifestation thereof through bombings and violence, that has turned Palestinians into financial second class citizens.
The holy land is just like Disney World, the essential analogy would be Mickey fighting Goofy for the rights to Epcott Center. Whether Mickey or Goofy wins, no one will visit them while they are fighting. As long as these characters don't get along, Donald is out of a job, poor, a second class duck. If they can make peace, it has the potential to truly be the happiest place on Earth.
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