THE LAST OF THE ISRAELI ARABS

January 26, 2008 at 3:45 pm (Israel, Palestine)

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
“I am an Israeli Arab”…. those words were said to me about ten years ago by my very dearest and closest friend. My response was…. “If that’s the case then I am a Jewish Palestinian”. My statement seemed to make as much sense (or not) as his did…. but things have changed.
Today one does not hear the term ‘Israeli Arab’ as often as one did ten years ago…. today there is a stronger identification with the Palestinian people and with Palestine itself.
One might ask why that is… there are many reasons. Firstly is the second class status that the Israeli Arab has endured while maintaining Israeli citizenship. He has been treated no differently than Palestinians living in the occupied areas. His villages suffered during Israel’s war with Lebanon last year but compensation for damaged property or lost wages have not yet come to light.Also keep in mind that ‘Arab Israeli’ villages and neighbourhoods are in many cases walled in or surrounded by electrified fences. This is to let the locals know that they are not viewed any differently from the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. They are seen as a threat to Israeli society…. which is interesting if you are aware of the following seen in THIS video produced by my Brother Haitham.

Or we have THIS short video showing the true colours of a racist Israel soldier…
After watching both of these videos, one has to ask who is a threat to whom…. the answer is obvious.

Then we come to still another section of the ‘Israeli Arab’, the Bedouins…

Bedouins living in the Negev, another area within Israel are constantly suffering under the yolk of zionist tyranny. For the most part, these Bedouins serve in the Israeli army, giving their all to the Jewish state. In return they return to their homes only to see their entire village bulldozed to make way for an Israeli road or an irrigation system. They are denied medical care in many of their villages and worse yet, many have been moved close to nuclear facilities where the radiation is slowly killing them off. THIS link has much information about the plight of the Negev Bedouin population. Needless to say. fewer of these Bedouins find themselves identifying themselves as Israelis, they are Palestinians.

Last, but not least, let’s not overlook the treatment given to representatives elected to the Israeli Knesset by the Arab electorate. Does the name Azmi Bishara ring a bell? Did we forget the hounding he received from the government, the forced exile he is still under to escape punishment for crimes he did not commit… he is but one example, but the most recent one.

Despite all of the above, there is a small section of Palestinians that one can rightfully refer to as Israeli Arabs. They are a small band of collaborators led by one Mahmoud Abbas, the former President of Palestine. Again, despite the above, despite the present siege of Gaza, they still see themselves as leaders of the Palestinian people. Tomorrow they will be meeting with representatives of the Israeli government to ‘discuss’ the events in Gaza. It’s too damn late for those discussions. What is needed are immediate actions to end the siege and to restore calm to the million and a half people whose very lives are at stake at the moment.

A convoy arrived this morning at Gaza to deliver essential materials…. the following was the only bit of news I could find so far on this action… Israeli forces turn away aid convoy at Erez Crossing

So bottom line is that the concept of an Israeli Arab is nothing but a myth, unless you are a member of Abbas’ cabinet.

9 Comments

  1. maria said,

    January 26, 2008 at 4:36 pm

    Excellent, all you you are PALESTINIAN, the forbidden name for so many years. All together, in only ONE voice, FREE PALESTINE, FREE PALESTINIANS.

  2. Skulz Fontaine said,

    January 26, 2008 at 7:10 pm

    I am a Palestinian. I want freedom. I want freedom for Palestinian children, Palestinian women, and Palestinian men. Palestinians should NEVER have to crawl on their knees before Israel, the U.S., or the world for that freedom. Allow Palestinians to breath free air, drink free water, and eat food that hasn’t been handed out by the U.N.. Not that the U.N. handing out free food is a bad thing. Growing one’s own food does have an air of human dignity about it, that’s all. TEAR DOWN THE WALLS THAT INCASE ALL PALESTINIANS INSIDE CONCENTRATION CAMPS! Give ALL Palestinians the freedom to be human!

  3. DetainThis said,

    January 26, 2008 at 7:18 pm

    I wish I could Press all your entries; they’re all so powerful.

  4. THE LAST OF THE ISRAELI ARABS « Desertpeace « DetainThis said,

    January 26, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    [...] THE LAST OF THE ISRAELI ARABS « Desertpeace THE LAST OF THE ISRAELI ARABS « Desertpeace [...]

  5. handsignals4theblind said,

    January 26, 2008 at 9:32 pm

    Israel archaeologists have found no evidence of the Jews being slaves in Egypt
    Israel is dishonest about how it was created. They used terrorism to form their country ie King David Hotel bombings, The Levant incident (50’s)
    They arrived as imperialist colonialists and expect people to believe that all the arabs just left their villages. The historical record proves otherwise

    This country reminds me of Apartheid and it should be boycotted until it addresses the iniquities of it’s illegal occupation and humiliation of the Palestinian people. The usual narrow minded will scream anti semitic to escape the truth. Last time i looked Arabs were semites too.

  6. Top Posts « WordPress.com said,

    January 26, 2008 at 11:58 pm

    [...] THE LAST OF THE ISRAELI ARABS (Ben Heine © Cartoons) [image] “I am an Israeli Arab”…. those words were said to me about ten years […] [...]

  7. Marlene N. said,

    January 27, 2008 at 12:02 am

    There are no “Israeli” Arabs because Israel does not recognize an “Israeli” nationality, but instead recognizes over 100 identities which it considers as nationalities, such as “Jewish” being one. (Palestinian is not one) This is a matter that has been before the courts in Israel for years. It seems rather incredible that while Israel demands the world to recognize its existence, it refuses to recognize the existence of its own citizens as “Israelis” necause then it would be a state of all its citizens as Israelis, and not a state of the Jews which encompasses anyone who meets Israel’s racist criteria of who is defined as a Jew throughout this entire universe.

    So it would be correct to say that there are Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel who are all second-class citizens as they do not meet the necesssary requirements to be first-class. Just because Arab citizens are given the right to vote does not mean they have equal rights in Israel and this is a myth perpetuated by Israel itself as being “the only democracy in the Middle East.” The only “hypocrisy” in the Middle East is a much better description.

  8. michael said,

    January 27, 2008 at 2:32 am

    To be called an antisemite by a jew i regard as an award for meritorious services to humanity.

    Seeing as this lot can’t sleep well unless they have recently exploded the head of a Palestinian child with a 5.56mm sniper’s bullet, i think we all during this time should regard ourselves as Palestinians in honour of a jew brutalized people, for in any case that will also be our fate as soon as the jews can see a way to do it. All 6.7billion of us.

    I think it’s the endless replay in their heads of a child’s head suddenly transformed into a pink haze – watermelon, anyone ? – that gets these soulless creatures thru the day.

    If anyone is appalled at what i have just said, think a moment, could you squeeze off a shot thru a child’s head ? Not just once – maybe accident, but near on 200 ? No accident here, this is high sport, a exquisitely depraved variant on snuff kiddy porn.

    Such as can enjoy shooting a child thru the head i suspect secretly also enjoy looking at snuff kiddy porn. So much for Israeli `Purity of arms`propaganda.

  9. Ben said,

    July 8, 2009 at 1:40 am

    The Israeli Arab is a myth, long live the Hebrew Muslim! (http://state-of-exile.blogspot.com/2009/06/unity-in-land-of-struggle.html)


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