Taskforce on Israeli Arabs

Ameinu Blog
May 10, 2006
By KEN BOB

On April 26 I had the opportunity to represent Ameinu at what I believe was a historic meeting in New York. More than 170 representatives of American Jewish organizations and foundations gathered to discuss the challenges facing Israel's Arab minority, and why this issue is important not only to Israel but to the American Jewish community as well.

Why historic? Due the broad based sponsorship of the gathering, organized by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues. For example, the steering committee includes those who have been addressing this issue for a long time such as the New Israel Fund and the Joint Distribution Committee, but more strikingly it also includes the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, United Jewish Communities and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). As Abe Foxman of the ADL said in his own remarks, his very presence was more important than what he had to say.

I am also pleased to report that Ameinu made its own contribution to the event. In addition to the active participation by a few national board members, we funded the trip to the United States for one of the most well received panelists, Amal Elsana Alh'jooj, the director of the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation. Simply put, her optimistic message of the need for the Bedouin community to move from an attitude of "needs" to a position of "rights" was widely lauded. She outlined some of the successes her organization (a division of NISPED, an Ameinu strategic partner) has seen and her hopes for further cooperation with Israeli and American Jews. Inspiring and uplifting are two words that come to mind in describing her presentation.

You might ask, why has this change in communal attitude come now? First of all it has been part of a process that has been taking place over the past few years.

The issue of Arab attitudes towards their role in Israeli society was brought into sharp focus since police killed a dozen Arab Israeli citizens during riots in late 2000. As a result, the Israeli government established a commission to examine the entire issue. Quoting from the Task Force mission statement:

"In accordance with the official recommendations of the Or Commission, an Israeli board of inquiry convened after the violent events in 2000, the Government pledged to make elimination of inequality and discrimination between Jewish and Arab citizens a top national priority. As change can only permeate from within a community, this Task Force aims to generate awareness among the North American Jewish and Israeli public regarding civic equality issues in Israel and to encourage Israeli Arabs to contribute, participate and benefit as full citizens."

I believe that the leadership of the organized Jewish community feels that not only is this the correct position to take, but that the current Israel governmental leadership, comprised of Kadima and the Labor Party, welcomes this initiative. In fact, one of the open issues raised at the event was whether American Jews should be taking an advocacy role or simply support whatever steps the Israeli government chooses to take. It will not come as a surprise that Ameinu does not shy away from the advocacy approach; this event provided another venue in which we could speak out. Others do not want to get "ahead of the government" and want to be very cautious. There was full agreement that education within the American Jewish community on this issue is an important next step we can all take together.

I will continue to report to you on the progress of the Task Force and issues related to Israeli Arabs.