ISRAELI-ARAB CIVIC LEADERS SAY THEY ARE ON CUTTING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 002644 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON IS KDEM PHUM SCUL ISRAELI SOCIETY GOI INTERNAL SUBJECT: ISRAELI-ARAB CIVIC LEADERS SAY THEY ARE ON CUTTING EDGE OF DEMOCRACY-BUILDING IN ISRAEL ¶1. Summary: Israeli-Arab civil rights representatives stressed to the Ambassador in a June 28 luncheon their commitment to achieving greater equality within Israel as they strive for increasing cooperation with their Jewish compatriots. While they discussed the various problems facing Israel's 1.2 million Arab minority, including socio-economic inequalities and institutional and societal discrimination, they shared thoughts about their desire to rebuild trust between Israeli Jews and Arabs and to counter what they referred to as a trend to delegitimize their status as Israeli citizens. They agreed with the Ambassador's point that successful Jewish-Arab cooperation in Israel could serve as a model for the Middle East. End Summary. ¶2. Representatives of six Israeli-Arab NGOS, plus two Israeli-Arab academics participated in a luncheon June 28 hosted by the Ambassador to discuss issues and concerns of Israel's Arab citizens. Most of the participants were either alumni of the State Department's International Visitor Program or associated with organizations that have been beneficiaries of the Department's MEPI program. The guests, in a frank discussion, all referred to themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel, rather than as "Israeli Arabs." They agreed on many of the main concerns facing the Israeli-Arab community, including societal and institutional discrimination, rising distrust between Jews and Arabs, and government neglect of the Arab sector. The following are some of the main points that were raised. -------------- Include Bedouin in Negev Development Plans -------------- ¶3. All attendees expressed strong concern over the GOI's policy regarding Israel's 140,000 Bedouin, most of whom live in 37 so-called "unrecognized villages" in the Negev. They criticized the GOI's policy of demolishing Bedouin houses in these unrecognized villages, which are built without the necessary permits -- which the GOI rarely issues -- and are therefore considered illegal by the GOI. The attendees asserted that no procedure exists for residents to obtain the building permits. (Note: See Israeli Human Rights Report for full details on this decades-long issue. End note.) Sonia Boulos, attorney for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI),began the discussion with an impassioned plea to the Ambassador to intervene to prevent the GOI's demolition of the house of a Bedouin child who is suffering from cancer. Boulos said that the Supreme Court recently denied ACRI's petition in a long-standing case to require that the GOI connect the child's house to the national electric grid so that her medications could be refrigerated. ¶4. In response to the Ambassador's query, Faisal Sawalha, director for The Regional Council for the Arab Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, said that the GOI does not compensate those whose houses are demolished, nor does it find them other housing. He said that his council or the Bedouin community itself usually helps those affected to rebuild their meager houses -- which he characterized as metal shacks worth on the average about NIS 20,000 (USD 4,400). Dr. Aref Abu-Rabia, chairman of the Department of Middle East Studies of the Negev's Ben Gurion University, and also an IVP alumni, added that he himself lives in an unrecognized Bedouin village and his house lacks running water and electricity. (Note: The GOI offers Bedouin in unrecognized villages the option of moving to one of the eight GOI-sponsored "townships" for Bedouin resettlement. Many Bedouin, however, do not wish to leave their native villages. End note.) Salwaha said that many of these unrecognized villages pre-date not only the 1965 planning laws of Israel, but the establishment of the State itself. ¶5. Most of the attendees voiced concern about the GOI's exclusion of Bedouin representatives from its planning process to develop the Negev and Galilee regions. Sawalha said that Israel's National Security Council (NSC) published recommendations for this plan in January 2006 in which, he claimed, the NSC compared the status of the Bedouin living in unrecognized villages to that of the settlers who were evacuated from the Gaza settlement of Gush Katif, even though the Bedouin are indigenous to the Negev. Sawalha asserted that Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee Shimon Peres on the one hand criticizes the demolition of Bedouin homes, but, on the other, has not acted to change this government policy. Sawalha and Amal Elsana-Alhjooj, a Bedouin activist and founder of the Forum of Negev Arab Women's Organizations and Initiatives, both made the point that the USG should pressure Israel to include the Bedouin community in its planning process for Negev development. Jafah Farah, director of the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel, asked the Ambassador to consider that when the GOI asks for assistance for its Negev and Galilee plan, that the USG require that 20 percent of those in the planning process be Arabs. -------------- -------------- Promote Civil Rights, Socio-Economic Equality, Education -------------- -------------- ¶6. Invitees highlighted the need for greater protection of minority rights and socio-economic equality, including in education. Farah noted that the GOI has yet to implement any of the Orr Commission's 2003 recommendations for addressing the historical socio-economic and societal discrimination that has confronted the Israeli-Arab community and that formed the backdrop to the October 2000 demonstrations in which 12 Israeli-Arab citizens were killed by Israeli police. Farah added that in 2000, the GOI approved a plan to dedicate some NIS four billion (USD 850 million) to the Israeli-Arab sector over several years, but that to date, little of this money has actually been allocated. He claimed that less than four percent of the state's development budget has been allocated to the Arab sector, which comprises 20 percent of the population. This situation, he said, has added to a sense of frustration in the Arab community, which has been manifested by a decreasing voter turnout rate. In the March 28 election, Farah said, only 54 percent of Arabs voted, the lowest turnout rate ever, he said. (Note: The reason the Arab parties did not lose seats in the Knesset was that a smaller percentage of Arab voters cast their ballots for non-Arab parties than in years past. End note.) ¶7. Ali Haider, co-chair of the NGO "Sikkuy" (Hebrew for "chance, or opportunity") The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality, highlighted the problem of equality in government employment, adding that Israeli Arabs comprise only 5.5% of the civil service. Several attendees pointed to the need to establish an equal employment opportunity commission in Israel similar to that in the U.S. and noted that the 2004 visit of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Commissioner Stuart Ishimaru served as the catalyst for the Israeli parliament's (Knesset) action to establish an EEOC. Dr. Faisal Azaiza, director of the Jewish-Arab Center at Haifa University, said that monthly surveys that his center conducts within the Arab population show that Israeli Arabs are mainly concerned about achieving socio-economic equality with the Jewish population, particularly in land allocation and education opportunities. He noted a trend of more Arab women seeking higher education, with some 55 percent of the Arab student population at Haifa University now being female. He also highlighted progress in educational equality, noting that until 1995, only 17 Arabs were lecturers at Israeli universities and that between 1995-2005 some 50 Arabs became tenured professors at Israeli universities. Several attendees emphasized the importance of USG study programs for Israeli Arabs. Mohammed Darawshe, director of development at the Abraham Fund, who received a 2006 MEPI grant for a job placement project for Arab women, noted the benefits of the U.S. Arab Scholarship Fund and stressed the need to expand the fund to include more recipients. ¶8. Attendees also echoed their concern about the Supreme Court's May 14 decision upholding Israel's Citizenship and Entry into Israel law, which bars many Palestinians from the occupied territories from acquiring residency or citizenship rights through marriage to Israelis. Farah claimed that this law has led to the division of some 21,000 families, mainly Israeli Arabs married to Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. Farah also claimed that the State sponsors three Jewish NGOs that are actively campaigning against marriages between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. Farah asked that the Ambassador apply his personal influence and raise concerns over these inequalities with the GOI, and specifically with the Attorney General. Farah and several other attendees made the point during the discussion that the USG should ensure that some of the USD three billion in annual assistance to Israel is allocated to the Israeli-Arab sector. A/DCM Finn described the USG-funded Arab-Israeli Scholarship Fund as one way in which the USG directs assistance specifically to this sector. D/Econ Counselor noted that the U.S. directs many of its environmental and science grants to this sector as well. -------------- Make Israel a Testing Ground for Jewish-Arab Co-existence -------------- ¶9. Attendees discussed the need for Israeli Jews and Arabs to address what it means to share citizenship and be treated as equals in Israel. Darawshe expressed concern about what he and other guests described as growing racism by Israeli Jews against Israeli Arabs. Sikkuy's Haider said that Israeli Jews increasingly favor a GOI policy to encourage Israeli Arabs to emigrate from Israel. He pointed to a recent poll (conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute) that showed 62 percent of Israeli Jewish respondents favoring this policy compared with 42 percent in a similar poll conducted two years ago. Farah criticized government ministers for making prejudicial comments about Israeli Arabs. He cited as an example Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who, Farah said, in a major speech in 2003, referred to Israeli Arabs as a "demographic problem." Darawshe warned against "sweeping this problem under the carpet" and said that this trend is leading toward a delegitimation of Israeli-Arab citizenship. He also referred to a "huge lack of trust" between Jews and Arabs in Israel. ¶10. Darawshe and other attendees emphasized the importance of Israeli Arabs and Jews finding a "working formula" for cooperating and respecting each other's identity. He said that Israel could serve as a model for Jewish-Arab coexistence in the Middle East. Bedouin activist and feminist Elsana-Alhjooj said that she has been working to create a way of communication for Jews and Arabs so that they can speak with each other while recognizing each other's different identities. She referred to this as a "third space" or "narrative." She said that she has met with groups of Jewish religious girls from settlements to educate them about Bedouin culture. She said that one girl asked her why the Bedouin do not leave Israel and settle in an Arab country if they want to be treated as equals. Elsana-Alhjooj said she explained to her that the Bedouin are indigenous to Israel and do not want to leave. -------------- Untapped Internal Arab Market -------------- ¶11. Sikkuy Co-Chair Haider agreed with the Ambassador that Israel's Arab community could be viewed as an asset to Israel. According to Darawshe, Israeli Arabs generate some 7.8 percent of Israel's GNP, and that this represents an amount greater than the level of Israeli trade with Egypt and Jordan. Farah added that at least 4,000 Israeli Arabs attend university in Jordan every year. He said that the GOI has resisted establishing an Israeli-Arab university in Israel and is therefore losing the revenue that this could generate. The Ambassador raised the importance of involving the Israeli-Arab community in the tourism industry. -------------- -- American Jewish Groups Supporting Israeli Arabs -------------- -- ¶12. Several attendees noted that they have received support from American Jewish organizations, both monetary and political. Elsana Alhjooj said that she met in New York City with Jewish fund-raisers -- whom she described as "heavy-hitters" -- who have been receptive to providing funding to the Israeli-Arab community. Farah said that American Jewish groups have shown more sensitivity to Israeli-Arab concerns because they understand better than Israeli Jews what it means to be a minority and are more willing to listen to Israeli Arabs' concerns. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES