Government Update
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Government officials on Jewish-Arab relations within Israel
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Tensions between Jewish and Arab citizens within Israel escalated following the kidnap and murder of three Jewish teens and revenge murder of one Palestinian teen, and further deteriorated with the launch of Operation Protective Edge. Acts of incitement and violence increased significantly during these weeks, and the impact on long-term relations raised many concerns.
Government leaders such as outgoing President Peres and incoming President Rivlin issued statements urging tolerance and non-violence at the outset of the escalations. Minister Peri and MK Nachman Shai also publicly condemned acts of incitment. Both President Rivlin and Education Minister Piron announced programs to address racism and intolerance in Israeli society.
Other leaders' responses to the crisis raised controversy, notably Foreign Minister Lieberman who called on the public to boycott Arab businesses that go on strike against the military operation, and MK Hanin Zoabi who made a series of statements about both the kidnapping of the three Jewish teens and the Israeli military during Operation Protective Edge.
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President Rivlin working on anti-racism program - Haaretz - Or Kashti - 8.27.14
Minister [Peri] Condemns Racism Against Israeli Arabs - Israel National News - Hezki Ezra - 8.17.14
Education Minister Calls for 'Tolerance' Week - Israel National News - Hillel Fendel - 8.16.14
Lieberman urges Israelis: Boycott businesses of Arabs striking over Gaza op - Haaretz - 7.21.14
Everything will NOT be okay - Jerusalem Post - MK Nachman Shai - 7.10.14
President Peres and President-elect Rivlin decry incitement - IATaskforce.org - 7.8.14
Haneen Zoabi Tests the Limits of Israeli Tolerance - Tablet Magazine - 6.27.14
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Ministry of Justice Incitement Hotline
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On July 3rd, the Ministry of Justice announced the launch of a dedicated hotline to address complaints about racial violence and incitment between Jewish and Arab citizens. The hotline, currently available in Hebrew, aims to provide an additional channel for response to the significant rise in such events. Read more.
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Regional Councils and Municipalities Respond to Local Escalation
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Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality Anti-incitement Campaign
On August 5th, the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa Municipality launched an anti-incitement campaign by "posting a special sign in the city's 440 bus stops calling on the public to promote tolerant discourse." The white-on-black signs read "No to Incitement. No to Harsh Speech. No to Racism." See it on Facebook.
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Mayors' Joint Calls for peace
In early July, Arab and Jewish mayors in the Galilee and Wadi Ara issued joint calls for peace and continuation of good neighborly relations. Both groups of mayors are part of joint leadership initiatives through the Misgav Regional Council and Givat Haviva.
Read the statements.
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Mayors of Jewish, Arab towns urge residents to 'maintain calm' – Haaretz - Eli Ashkenazi, Shirly Seidler, Jack Khoury, Nir Hasson – 7.8.14
Peri, Shelah meet mayors to stem downward spiral in Arab-Jewish relations - Jerusalem Post - Ariel Ben Solomon - 7.7.14
Peres appeals to Arab Israeli mayors to help settle violent riots - Jerusalem Post - Ben Hartman, staff - 7.5.14
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Impact of Gaza Crisis on Negev Bedouin
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Shelter and Security
Negev Bedouin generally have poor access to emergency servcies and bomb shelters. For those living in unrecognized villages, the location of their homes may fall under what the IDF considers 'Open Areas,' where Iron Dome defense shield is not activated. As a result, there have been several Bedouin casualities and one death from Hamas rockets.
While the High Court ruled that shelter is the responsibility of local residents, the Minister of Welfare, Meir Cohen, called on the government to bomb-protect the Bedouin communities.
Help and Respite
Through the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee and the MInistry of Welfare, in partnership with the Jewish Agency and JDC-Israel, the government provided help and respite for children, elderly and disabled Bedouin residents of Rahat and other Bedouin towns in the Negev.
Read more about these services.
Further Reading
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Israel's Bedouin: Caught Between the Iron Dome and Hamas- The Atlantic - Elisheva Goldberg - 8.1.14
There are no sirens in Awajan - Jerusalem Post - Kher Elbaz, Ariel Dloomy - 7.29.14
High Court rejects petition seeking rocket shelters for Bedouin villages now - Haaretz - Revital Hovel - 7.21.14
TAFI: ‘Negev Beduin need protection’ - Jerusalem Post - Ariel Ben Solomon - 7.14.14
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Legislation
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Proposed Laws: Hebrew as Only Official Language and National Minority Status for Arabs
Knesset members from Yisrael Beiteinu, Likud and Habayit Hayehudi are proposing a bill to make Hebrew the only official language in Israel. In response, MK Tibi (United Arab List) is proposing a bill that would recognize Arab citizens as an official national minority.
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President lambastes Hebrew-only bill- The Times of Israel - Itamar Sharon - 9.2.14
Tibi bill seeks to give Israeli Arabs official national minority status- Jerusalem Post - Lahav Harkov - 8.31.14
Right-wing MKs aim to make Hebrew Israel’s only official language - Haaretz - Jonathan Lis - 8.25.14
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Bedouin Land Claims
The cabinet announced on August 4th that they approved a proposal submitted by Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir, who replaced former minister Benny Begin as the government's point-person overseeing plans for resettlement and resolution of Bedouin land claims. Read more.
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Responses to Current Events
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Numerous civil society organizations quickly issued statements and began to take action to address the rise in intolerance and incitement and create opportunities for Jewish and Arab citizens to meet, work together, and stand in solidarity.
Among them, Givat Haviva, Hand-in-Hand, and Awareness-4-You coordinated weekly rallies under the banner "Neighbors at Peace." Shatil, Citizens Accord Forum, and Mahapach Taghir, for example, created fora for dialogue. In other cases, broad coalitions co-signed declarations, like full-page ad in Haaretz, or the declaration signed at IDI.
Others like JDC-Israel and AJEEC provided emergency services to Bedouins in the South. The Abraham Fund Initiatives advocated for better protection of Bedouins, appealed to Israel's Manufactors Association to speak up for Arab businesses hurt by calls for boycott, and addressed police-community relations, among other actions and statements in the media.
These efforts continued through July and August of the military operation. Now more such efforts, such as ACRI's anti-racism education campaign,"This Siren is For Us," (Hebrew) are focused on addressing the issues in the aftermath of escalation.
In the Media:
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The backlash against Arab integration -Haaretz - Ron Gerlitz - 8.20.14
My Israeli Brothers, My Palestinian Brothers- Haaretz - Thabet Abu Ras - 8.4.14
Not just escalation: A frightening new era of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel- 972 Magazine - Ron Gerlitz - 7.13.14
TAFI issues statement, asks PM to stem deterioration of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel - IATaskforce.org - 7.7.14
The choice is ours – Times of Israel - Rebecca Bardach – 7.4.14
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Deterioration in Jewish-Arab Relations
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Tensions between Jewish and Arab citizens within Israel escalated following the kidnap and murder of three Jewish teens and revenge murder of one Palestinian teen, and further deteriorated with the launch of Operation Protective Edge.
Arab demonstrations turned violent and led to clashes between Arab citizens and the police. Joint Jewish-Arab rallies for peace came under attack by counter-demonstrators. Calls for "revenge" and "death to Arabs" were heard in rallies and seen on social media. And Jewish and Arab political leaders often added fuel to the fire. There have been incidents of physical attacks against Arab citizens and stone-throwing attacks on Jewish passers-by in Arab towns.
This deterioration threatens advances and major investments made in recent years by Government and Civil Society to better integrate Arab citizens socio-economically. Leadership involved in these issues are lamenting this deterioration and attempting to seize the opportunity to speak about majority-minority relations, civil rights, and the need to build a shared future.
Further Reading
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Coexistence Bowed, But Not Broken, By War - The Jewish Week - Michele Cabin – 8.19.14
Jews and Arabs in Israel more estranged after war – The Washington Post - Carol Morello, Orly Halpern – 8.16.14
The Gaza effect: In shaky economy, Arab businesses hit hardest - Haaretz - Judy Maltz - 8.7.14
In Jerusalem, nationalistic violence claims more Arab victims – Times of Israel – Elhanan Miller – 8.1.14
War puts employees’ freedom of speech to the test - Haaretz - Hila Weissberg and Haim Bior – 7.30.14
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Arab Voices in the Media
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The escalation in tensions between Arabs and Jews within the country sparked a public exchange among prominent Arab citizens of Israel. In his column, Sayed Kashua declared that “Jewish Arab coexistence has failed.” Also despondent, Zohair Bahloul wrote that “nothing will help.” In response, a number of Arab leaders and media personalities wrote that, despite their frustration, they are committed to shared society and to peace.
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Why Sayed Kashua is leaving Jerusalem and never coming back – Haaretz - Sayed Kashua – 7.4.14
Not going anywhere – Haaretz - Nadia Hilou – 7.8.14 (Hebrew)
I’m sick of being an Arab here– Haaretz - Zohair Bahloul (Hebrew)
Go in peace, dear Sayed - Haaretz - Mira Awad – 7.22.14
We don’t have the privilege of succumbing to despair– Jewish News (UK) - Thabet Abu Ras – 7.28.14
Israeli Arabs, stop whining– Haaretz - Oudeh Basharat – 7.29.14
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A Mixed Marriage in Israel: Demonstrations and Counter-demonstrations
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After weeks of escalated tensions, the wedding in Jaffa between an Arab Muslim man and a Jewish woman who converted to Islam became a focal point for demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, adding another and more personal dimension to the strains on Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. Police held back hundreds of demonstrators who threatened to disrupt the event. Counter-demonstrators aimed to counter the anti-assimilation and anti-Arab messages of the crowd with a show of support.
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Poll: Most Israelis oppose intermarriage – Haaretz – 8.22.14
Crowd Shouts 'Death to the Arabs' at an Israeli Wedding of Jew and Muslim – Newsweek – Reuters – 8.17.14
Hundreds Protest Mixed Wedding, Say It's 'Worse Than Hamas' – Israel National News - Yoni Kempinski, Ari Yashar – 8.17.14
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MK Zoabi Banned from Knesset
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In the last two months, MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) was at the center of numerous public scandals starting with her statement that the abductors of the three murdered Israelis teens last June were not terrorists, followed by her accusation that the Israeli government and military are committing war crimes in Gaza, and ending with her alleged incitement to violence while insulting a civil servant. In all cases MKs from the right demanded to remove her parliamentary immunity and press charges, but the Attorney General decided there was ground for investigation only on the last incident. The Knesset Ethics Committee did bar Zoabi from the plenum for six months, however, the harshest sanction it is able to impose and the first time it has been administered.
Subsequently, Zoabi and Balad members Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas, traveled to Qatar to meet with former MK Azmi Bishara, the founder of Balad who fled the country in 2007 after being accused of money laundering and contact with Hezbollah during the second Lebanon war. Zoabi and her party members pose serious challenges to the boundaries of Israel’s democracy and are at the heart of vigorous debate.
Further reading
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MK Zoabi must be allowed to speak her mind, but also criticized for her words – Haaretz – Ravit Hecht – 8.22.14
Ethics committee to investigate Arab MKs’ trip to Qatar – Times of Israel – Spencer Ho and staff – 8.19.14
Ethics Committee bans Zoabi from Knesset for six months - Jerusalem Post – Lahav Harkov – 7.29.14
A-G closes one incitement case against Zoabi – Jerusalem Post – Yonah Jeremy Bob, Lahav Harkov – 7.28.14
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