From an
That really sounds like the
The
For a quick overview of candidates, you can check here or here.
If you’re really short on time: you got Meir Porush, a religious extremist and father of a full dozen - a fucking rabbit, I tell ya’ - so ugly his hideous mug isn’t featured on his election posters, but a cartoon version of him (a “fluffy cartoon cross between santa, a rabbi and Dumbledore”, according to the Big Falafel). You got Arkadi Gaydamak, a Russian oligarch trying to buy his way into power and whose Hebrew skills rival mine (and that’s nooooo compliment), and Nir Barkat, a seemingly idiot-savant who made big shekels in high-tech and answers political questions as if, as Gershom says, he was coached by Sarah Palin. And a fourth candidate, Dan Biron, a green party candidate you need not bother know about.
Arabs? Oh, there are Arabs in
Arabs, it is no surprise, are the most discriminated against minority in the city. A rather large one: 34% of the population, actually. And with religious extremists - the politically correct term being “ultra-orthodox” - being another third of the city (32%, for the sake of precision) living on government handouts, Arabs have effectively been providing for them, their taxes going to support the ultra-orthodox, who do not work nor pay taxes. Meanwhile, Arab neighbourhoods are very much neglected, the infrastructure falling apart, and even mega municipal projects such as the tram do not benefit them: the tram will only go through the Arab neighbourhoods to service the East Jerusalem settlements: it will not stop by the Arabs’ doorsteps, of course. However, the municipality thought it was a good idea to get the tram to take over two-thirds of large EJ roads - such as Shuafat road - so as not to clog the roads used by the Jewish residents.
Ironic, huh?
Anyways - so Arabs have several a serious stakes in these elections, including stopping the rise of the religious extremists. Porush’s prediction that the ultra-orthodox will control the country within 15 years is seriously scary.
Yet East-Jerusalemites have ultra-high boycott rates of local elections, mainly because of PA pressure threatening to brand as ‘traitors’ those who participate in these elections, accused of acknowledging the occupation of the Eastern part of the city.
There is nevertheless an occasional Arab candidate or endorsement, though generally insignificant.
Obviously not everyone agrees. A two-pager distributed on the 10th and 11th and signed by a supposed “group of Jerusalemite intellectuals and thinkers” (doubtful - see below) criticises the “outside” calls for boycott, giving “the other side, again and again, an excuse to neglect us and not take us into consideration, making us the target of their racist electoral programmes...” while these same calls remain silent as East Jerusalemites suffer from various legal and illegal fees and taxes.
Later in the text, this deliciously cynical bit:
“let’s announce that we’ll boycott elections - at the condition that one of those “officials” (Palestinian Authority officials, that is) completes his call to Jerusalemites and declares that they shouldn’t deal with the municipality, not pay the imposed taxes, reject the destruction orders and stand solid in front of the racist policies seeking to judaize and evict, and that we will assist your steadfastness and fulfill your needs (...) otherwise the only logical alternative now is to the polls”.
The rest of the article hints, not very subtly, at Gaydamak and his promise to appoint an Arab deputy, etc. So much for the “group of Jerusalemite intellectuals”... :-) Yet the argument still holds: participating might be more beneficial than a boycott.
Attracting/coercing/buying the Arab vote?
Clearly the one who tried the hardest was Arkadi Gaydamak. For starters, he’s the only one who bothered to put up posters, in Arabic, in
“Gaydamak, another type of candidates”
The cover of his 4-page pamphlet read:
“I believe in giving Arabs complete equality with Jews, and I realise that this is not applied in reality; consequently I will seek to implement this as soon as I in the mayor office”
And he even had photos of him with Arabs. Ewww! :-P
More interestingly, his party had some young people - Palestinians, that is - talk people into voting for him, praising his merits in the street.
I met two of these guys - Eyad and Ahmed. Eyad wore a Gaydamak t-shirt - in Arabic, s’il vous plait. Ahmed sat in the minivan. As I engaged them in conversation, Eyad began his spiel about the G-man:
“Gaydamak is the only candidate who’s not religious (false). He’s the best candidate for Arabs (I guess). Actually, he’s in this race just for the Arabs (oh hell no)”.
I interrupt him rapidly: “dude, dude, chill: I’m a tourist. I don’t vote. Cut the crap. Now what’s the deal with that Gaydamak chap?”
The response was prompt: “An asshole. They’re all assholes. They’re all after the big chair”.
I loved that!! We joked around, chatted about everything, periodically going back to the elections topic every now and then.
“they give me those (electoral) t-shirts, and I just go dump them somewhere - and go back for more”, shared Ahmed.
Me: “Dude! Don’t dump them! Give me one! I’ll wear it :)”
Eyad gave me a t-shirt, and a cap. Which is how I ended up like this.
Yey, new pyjamas!
Ahmed: “You know, Gaydamak gave $1.5 million to the Maqassed hospital” (in
“eh, what do you want. Buying the votes, he is”, I replied - and I meant that he was buying his way into people’s hearts. Apparently Ahmed took it more seriously than I meant it and had the most unexpected answer:
“Yep. 180 shekels”.
“Huh???? He’s buying votes?”
“Yep. 180 shekels a piece. Not too bad”.
I stared blankly. Eyad felt like they had said too much.
I tried to take Eyad’s photo with the T-shirt: he promptly refused. “No! Not in this t-shirt! I’ll take it off and you can take all the photos you want!” Embarrassed, I guessed? I later realised he might have been afraid, too. (which is why I changed their names here).
I also heard them discuss who would be deputy mayor if - when! - Gaydamak won. Apparently, it’s the same tale everywhere: more loyal but less competent Mourad has a better shot than more competent but more independent Khaled.
And I realised: Arabs don’t aspire to the “Big Chair”, because they can’t. However, the seconds in command (or the third or fourth, or someone down there!) is up for grabs. It reminded me of Leonardo di Caprio bargaining the Irish community’s vote in exchange for a secondary seat in “Gangs of New York”.Remember that scene, were he sat with the wannabe Mayor who was telling him that the most the Irish can aspire to is sheriff? Kinda felt like that.
Other candidates gave the Arab vote little importance. Meir Porush has a one page leaflet where he compared himself to Nir Barkat, and instead of making electoral promises to the East-Jerusalemites his strategy was to scare people away from Nir Barkat (who’s buddy buddy with Lieberman, apparently), and bring them to him; since he (Porush), I quote, “will maintain the status quo in Jerusalem (oh! Awesome! Porush, I want your babies!) and will work to apply equality between the Arab and Jewish public from the point of view of services (oh, I thought it was in human and civic rights!! Silly me!), because his slogan is hope and equality between sects and ethnicities”.
Oh. I was worried he didn't like Arabs. Ah.
With the vote over, I guess Arabs will do what they do best: watch the results, observe the transition of powere from afar, and hope that whomever was chosen for them won’t be too disastrous.
I’m curious to know the racial breakdown of the vote. I don’t think Arabs were particularly present. But one day, who knows, they may be.
23 comments:
I'm surprised they even have elections, but I guess it's for namesake only, pretty deplorable if you ask me.
And yes...one day perhaps the Arabs will be able to vote in the Middle East, indiscriminantly that is..When? Who knows.
The only thing that is deplorable is the way you choose to present the whole affair, so distorted and biased.
Arab taxes going to Jewish settlements? Are you kidding?! What taxes? 70% of east-Jerusalem Arabs live on welfare, just like the ultra-religious. If they do work, it's cash base under-the-table work, no taxes involved.
The part about neglect of East-Jerusalem is true, I am sad to say, though the Arabs could have voted themselves a strong position in the city council if they wanted to, which of course they don't.
As for Gaidamak buy votes - even if its true, it didn’t help him, I am not sure he crossed the single digit threshold, in any case people can take his money and go vote as they please.
You can hate and despise Israelis as much as you like, but our elections are real, they are not rigged or fixed. Israeli Palestinians, as a large minority, could have voted into much more power then have, if only they could stick together (at general elections, the low participation Arab votes split between at least 3-4 different parties which can't even agree on creating a single 'voting block')
1- 70% of east-jerusalem arabs live on welfare! This is nothing but unture! You cannot even live on welfare (nowadays it doesn't matter how big it is, it cannot ever cover the man basic needs, if they do I am sure that the jews will live on welfare too!!!!).....
2- I am glad to hear that Gaydamak used to pay in order to buy the votes, because it now obvious that he wasn't able to buy even a small percentege of east-jerusalemites!
3-And Yes, we don't want to participate in your elections and we don't recognize your sovereignty over jerusalem.
4-And No we Aren't "Israeli Palestinians" we are permanent residents of Jerusalem and our roots run deep into the soil and you will remain nothing but Anonymous :)
Interesting take on the election. In respect to your assertion that the Arab citizens are supporting the haredi Jews, I am going to add my voice to that of Anon...to an extent.
Here is why:
1) Generally, when one hears about poverty in J'lem, the two groups cited are the ultra-orthodox and Arab populations. As in, neither side is paying much in the way of taxes, as even if they are working "officially", they will end up paying low or no taxes. (We have a graduated tax structure here--that you can take my word for as an Israeli CPA).
2) Arnona, or property taxes, are what fuel the city governments. Exemptions are granted based on income levels; if the Arab population in J'lem is poor, it stands to reason that it will also receive a fair percentage of the arnona reductions. It should also be pointed out that arnona rates are based on property values--the people who are really bearing the brunt of funding the city are the 33% you did not mention--the secular and modern Orthodox populations who are 1) working and 2) living in areas with higher property values.
That being said, the conventional wisdom that blames the city's continuing economic crisis on the Haredim and the Arab sectors does not appear to be entirely correct (Haredim, yes, Arabs, no). See http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART1/804/849.html. I know so little about municipal tax structure--thanks for forcing me to read up!
I personally think it is a shame that the Arab population in Jlem did not vote and that the city council will be pretty much all Jewish as a result. Yes, I understand the principal of the matter but people are suffering now. From my (Jewish and pragmatic) pov, whether Jlem ends up dividing or not, we will continue to live side-by-side and (I hope) be a unified economy. Stability, peace and prosperity is not going to be really achievable if 33% of the population are not sharing in it.
A quick detail, for everyone's benefit, needs to be added here.
There is a different between Palestinian Israelis, or Arab Israelis, and East Jerusalemites.
The former are inhabitants of the State of Israel, hold its passport, and have apparently registered the "highest voter turnout rates (..) across the country", (which seems to piss off interior minister Meir Sheetrit).
The latter are the inhabitants of East Jerusalem, who have been forcibly occupied in 1967. They are not Israeli citizens - nor Palestinians citizens, btw - who are "permanent visitors" (!!) in the eyes of the Israeli government, a very unstable 'privilege' which the authorities can revoke at any moment (including being absent for more than 12 months. Imagine that - you go to the US for a 2-year master degree study, and that means that you're not allowed to come home. However, since Israel considers East Jerusalem to be part of the municipality of Jerusalem, they are eligible to vote in municipal elections.
For the purpose of my article, I chose to gloss over this distinction, which did not serve the purpose of the article. But it is worth mentioning here as it clarifies some of the above comments.
Anon, thank you for your comment.
And Gila, welcome to my humble blog! a delight to read you here!
Thanks for all the precisions, very educating indeed. I was indeed thinking of the Arnona, which has been rapidly increasing in EJ, as far I have learned, particularly since the building of the separation Wall. In neighbourhoods like "Dahyet el Bareed", for instance, which is at the Eastern end of J'lem and which is cut in half by the Wall, I've heard many complaints regarding Arnona, etc.
Look, let's simplify it. East Jerusalemites pay proportionately more taxes than they receive in social expenses; whereas the ultra-orthodox contribute little to the government budget but receive large amounts of money in the form of transfers, social assistance (and child support), government expenditures in infrastructure, etc etc.
so in effect, while the East Jerusalemites suffer from a decaying infrastructure, they are subsidising the way of life of the ultra-orthodox.
Are the main contributors to the budget the other 33%, as you say - the jewish secular/working class of jerusalem? Yes, I fully agree. However is not contradictory to the fact that EJ-imtes suffer from severe discrimination.
Anon, I think Gaydamak ended with 7% of the vote or so. I'm curious to know how much of that came from the Arab vote... anyone know if this info is available?
As for your accusation of 'hate and despise israelis', i find it deplorable and misplaced. Sorry you feel that way.
Regarding whether EJ-ites should or not vote in municipal elections is an interesting discussion. On the one hand, voting would allow them to have (some) say in the way their city is run. On the other hand, voting would be an implicit acceptance of the occupation of their city, which I very much understand as well. Personally, I don't know which I would've chosen if I were an EJ-ite: pragmatism (vote) or morality (no vote)?
What would you have done?
1- It is reasonable that we don 't contribute much in the Israeli economy when it comes to tax payment. This is simply because we are usually paid the min wages in Israel.Min wages means that we are working as waiters, cleaners and if we have a bit of luck as receptionists or teachers in Arabic schools. Unfortunately, names such as Ahmad, Khaled and Mohammad aren't warm welcomed in your companies and institutions.
2- When it comes to Arnona, Trust me we have little or no service when being compared to the Israeli/Western side of the city + to get a significant tax reduction is "mission impossible" in the municipality. We are practically building the western side of the city.
3- I feel it is abnormal to share the occupier his occupation while being in a constant state of fear from being expelled from the city because of our abnormal residency status.
Khaled and Mo-ha-med;
By 'Israeli Palestinians', I was referring to the Palestinians who indeed have an Israeli passport. My personal experience with Arabs is limited to Israeli citizens, and many were definitely not 'waiters, cleaners and receptionists'. Many of them wouldn’t dream of living in PA even if a state would be declared tomorrow.
Of course that doest mean there isn’t racism or prejudice and so on.
I’m the first to admit the injustice done by leaving the East-J’s in the 'twighligt zone', sadly Israel chose both eating its cake and having it too - cannot annex the west bank (for obvious reasons), but wont give it up either.
When I wrote of hating and despising us, I was simply making a statement, which I think reflects the feelings of many Arabs living in Israel. I would feel the same way if I were one of you.
That does not negate the fact the Arab minority's best way of changing things is by using the Israeli institutions - voting themselves into influence, integrating, so on. That is the shortest way to reaching that bi-national state and would scare the hell out of the extremists if that were to actually happen.
It really bugs me that most Arabs aren’t willing even to consider this, they are instead waiting for Zalah-A-Din to come back and lead a great victory or whatever and meantime the chances for peace become ever fainter.
Khaled, we have deep roots here, thousands of years old too, don't make it easy on yourself by thinking of us as European colonialists - that is self deceiving, we are not going anywhere.
The Jewish people know all about being a nation in exile, being un-welcome refugees. That is why we will never give up our birthright for this land, not after waiting two millennia for it. I am truly sorry this came at your expense; I believe it didn’t have to be, but it did. What would you have done if you won 48’? Would you have agreed to concede something, anything? What would you have offered form a position of power? Consider that carefully when you think of your moral “high ground”.
Ok then.... You are most probably not talking about East Jerusalem, because the facts are completely different here....Here, "We have a common oppressor, a common exploiter, and a common discriminator" called ISRAEL.
I am glad to hear that you would share the arabs their feelings of "Hate and Despise" to Israel if you were one of them.
I personally don't think that becoming a "House nigger" is the best option for east-jerusalemites. I am not looking forward to become a second-class citizen. I don't want to fight for my civil rights, I prefer to fight for my independence and to remain a FREEDOM-Fighter "Yea I am waiting for Salah Eddin". I am sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your time in Europe, but we didn't promise any refund for your stay there.
Thanks Khaled it’s fine...no refund expected.
Yeah that field trip to Europe didn’t turn out so good but we are back home now, so its OK.
Seems to me you also want it both ways. You want to fight for your independence but want us to grant you full civil rights, why, so you could abuse them in your fight for independence?
I can’t figure out what is that you want from us. If Israel would retreat from all the West-Bank AND East-J tomorrow the you guys would still think about the remaining ‘occupied’ territory as reason enough to keep the Jihad on, so what is Israel’s incentive for concessions here?
The whole displacement issue is really too raw just now, maybe we should wait 500years or so and talk about it again when you are more calm…
I know you think time is on your side, that it will take just another 50years or so before you can win and 'have it all'. Of course you thought that 50years ago too, with the same wrong assumptions and tactics.
I can't change your point of view nor want to, but I do urge you to re-think what 'having it all" means, the Palestine of 1900 simply doesn’t exist anymore, 7mil in Israel now + 4mil Palestinian refugees…of course I suppose in your plan we are to simply disappear…. Sorry, but we have done the ‘slaughtered victim’ gig too many times in a row, so don’t expect any volunteers.
Granting my civil rights is expected from you by the UN & the international community as long as we are under occupation,I personally don't expect anything from the state which keeps confiscating my land and demolishing my home. Your constant torture and abuse of power towards the palestinian people is a continous reminder to us that we cannot "belong" to your state.
And yea we can have it all, it is the same dream that the Haganah, Irgun and Lehi had 100 years ago. At that time, we were the majority and we were the land-owners while you were the minority. Now, the situation has flipped and I think we can have it ALL "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams". I personally don't believe in committing "Deir Yassins" and stealing others land.
I am curious about Anynomous' suggestion regarding the binational state...
What do you mean by that? a one-state solution? I am extremely interested. Please explain...
Should Israel withdraw from the occupied territories, and allow the Palestinians to have their own state, the whole game of incentives will be very, very different.
I learned that one should be extremely cautious towards those who have nothing to lose.
Maintaining the Palestinians on borderline despair is not the right policy.
As for time - time has never been on the Palestinians' side. I don't know how anyone can assume otherwise.
Palestinian poet Moreed Al Barghouti said that (i paraphrase)"when the negotiations fail, the Israelis go to sleep - in Jerusalem; while we go back to our exile.". The longer the status quo remains, the memories of the lost land will weaken in the Palestinian memory, and more jewish immigrants will take root in Israel. The exodus of Palestinian minds is not coming to a halt.
Changes on the ground are, with time, becoming facts - the Wall, the settlements, the demolitions.
No, time is surely not on Palestine's side.
One thing is sure: the Palestinians, nor the Israelis, are not going anywhere. The quicker they realise this...
In any event - I am enjoying this discussion. And I thank you for keeping it civil..
Mo-ha-med;
By Bi-National state, I was referring to the label some Palestinian leaders use when they talk about their preferred solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Of course, what they actually mean is a Palestinian state with a (tolerated to an extent) Jewish minority.
Now, Israel sees itself as a Jewish state, this is true. But being a democracy I think the Israeli Palestinians can definitely push the status quo to better reflect their national identity. This means integration, more Palestinians is key positions, election participation and influence (most important). The process can take a generation to complete, but at the end Israel can become something 'Israeli Palestinians' can actually identify with.
All the above doesn’t answer the plight of Palestinians in the west bank, which are really in occupied status - here the PA has to shape up and become worthy of being called a state (don’t see it happening)
Of course these requires a huge shift in mentality on the Palsetinina side, accepting Israel is not going to dissappear and give up the ‘Salah Eddin’ thinking.
Sadly, this is not happening, I think my discussion with Khaled shows this.
For your Info, I am Jewish (married+2), 3rd generation in Israel. I Live in the Tel-Aviv area, in the same house my grandfather built 60 years ago and consider myself liberal left, with major disillusions about reaching peace with the Palestinians. I started reading Lebanese, Egyptian Palestinian blogs during the 2006 Leb war (albeit in English - my school Arabic is by now non-existent).
I have learned a lot about the 'Other side' from these blogs mostly strengthening my observation that the Arabs want victory, not peace (and I guess I am seeing the moderate blogs, in English).
This is sad, as I said we are here to stay, and see ourselves as local just like the Palestinians. Anyone familiar with Israel knows it is far more mead-eastern than European in many respects...
Mo-Ha-med, I enjoy your blog and respect your observations, though I disagree with you more often than not. Many times, with all your keen sight, you see only part of the picture or over-simplify the situation. I know we do the same.
Just to make the Anonymous a little less anonymous..
G
Mo-ha-med, to go to your question of "what would you have done?" regarding East Jerusalemites voting in the election, I definitely would have voted and would have encouraged them to vote. A third of the population is HUGE -- they might not be enough votes to win the mayor's race, but they are DEFINITELY enough votes to be a "spoiler" and decide the outcome of the race.
I think it's terrible that East Jerusalem suffers from the neglect that it does. I forget the exact statistics, but West Jerusalem has something like 1,400 playgrounds for children, and East Jerusalem has something like 50. But there aren't enough Jews who are going to stand up for the rights of the E. Jerusalemites, especially if they don't stand up for themselves.
Certainly it is offensive that they were annexed to Israel without be granted citizenship -- I don't believe that is right or fair. My view on territories that Israel won during war is they should act like any other civilized country. If you keep the territory, you have to make the inhabitants citizens. If you don't want them to be citizens, you have to give up the land. You don't get both.
Howver, the E. Jerusalemites refusing to vote, and then complaining about a lack of services sort of reminds me of the story of the teenager who murdered his parents, and then pleaded for mercy before the court because he was an orphan. When it comes to budgets in Israel, you have get in there and push and shove to get your share, otherwise you are a "friar."
Maybe instead of framing it as being collaborators, the Arab community should frame the issue as getting money from the Jews. If E Jerusalem becomes part of a future Palestinian state, the residents can then brag about how they got the Jews to build schools and roads for them and save them money!
Well I am waiting for "Salah Eddin" not to wipe Israel out of the map and I never wanted to throw Jews in the sea. I would love to live in the democratic state of Israel which would grant all the arab citizens their rights. A state which would allow all the refugees to return back to their homes, stop confiscating arab land to build settlements for jewish immigrants and that would stand against jewish terrorism the very same way it stands against arab terrorism. If "Salah Eddin/ Yossi Bellin / Malcom X or even Benyamin Netanyahu" would grant me these rights he would be more warm welcomed.
You've got to understand that Israel has already declared the war against its arab citizens/residents. The way they treat the arab population is ridiculous.I have to admit that Israel could have integrated the arabs in the country if they have treated them in a fair/just manner. Unfortunately ( or maybe fortunately) this proved to be nothing but impossible.
Take Acre, Jaffa and Lod ("Mixed-cities") for example, they have strived to survive and to get fully-integrated within the israeli system. I can't see any difference between east-jerusalem and these cities. The arab residents and the statistics talk about the same level of discrimination that we face. Not to mention the fact that Israel has brutally killed 13 of its citizens during october 2000 demonstratioins and the unexplained attacks by the jewish population of acre against the arab population.
I cannot see any major differences between the israeli left and right. For me the israeli left has occupied our houses and the israeli right has built the settlements in the west bank.
As long as Israel labels itself as Jewish First, Democratic Second it would be nothing that a Jewish State.
I don't think that Israel war against lebanon 2006 was a great time to watch the arabic public opinion or even the israeli one!!!
Khaled;
I don't want to turn this into a shouting match, but I really can’t understand where you get your information. Do you even read the posts on this blog? Israeli Arabs facing "the same discrimination as in the west bank", "no difference between Israeli left & right"?
Have a stroll through Israel's universities, there are plenty of headscarves and Arabic to be heard everywhere.
Go into any of the major hospitals -plenty of Arab doctors and nurses. I grew Up in Haifa, with a sizable Arab community, had Arab and Druze kids in my class too. I have meet Arab colleagues and an Arab manager in High-tech companies (admittingly rare).
I am not trying to "sell" Israel here - there is plenty of prejudice and discrimination to go around, though much less of it institutionalized than you think.
There are Palestinian actors and Celebes seeping into Israel mainstream media, there are engineers and lawyers and people who practice "integration" on a daily basis.
Did you know Shas, the ultra-orthodox Jewish party, manages to get a nice share of Arab votes (those who do vote) every election? Arabs who vote for Shas do this apparently because they identify with their welfare policy.
The sad truth of it is, with all discrimination and injustice that does exits, Israeli Arabs (citizens) have more freedom then their brothers do in their own 21 countries (Yes Mo-ha-med, I include Egypt in that count!).
The majority of Israeli Arabs, especially Muslims, have mixed feelings for Israel at best and hostile at worst, this doesn’t prevent all of the above from being true.
G
First, I was not talking about the West Bank, bc in the West Bank they either get killed or arrested. I was talking about East-Jerusalem. From where do I get my information? I wonder whether this kind of news articles would allow you to see the truth beyond any doubt:
Olmert: Discrimination against Arabs deliberate
And about Hi-Tech:
Arabs out of Israeli high-tech. Obviously, you will have a better chance to get a job in the israeli Hi-tech market industry if you are a graduate from the army's elite technology units (which israeli arabs don't get even accepted in).
Ok, have you heard about the discriminatory law of family reunification? If you are a palestinian who gets married to an arab israeli you cannot even apply for family reunification unless you are a man whose age is over 35 or women whose age is over 25. To read more about this and to open your eyes about another kind of discrimination please read this article.
I know there is a number of arab-israelis who stand out-of-the-crowd and force themselves into the israeli market (at that point, they would be way better than the jewish applicants and the job itself doesn't require army recruitment "Sherut Btsava".)
Concerning the "israeli left", I didn't mean literally no difference. But it is obvious that the israeli left has failed to show/keep its identity as an israeli left and to lobby for peace. Please refer me to any news article which shows me how active/influential the "israeli left" was during the last 8 years. I know that the leftist are more kind than the rightist and have to admit than the israelis who are living in tel-aviv (merkaz) area and way better than those who are around us (Who see arabs as parasites). BTW, I was happy to see the popularity of Dov Khenin in your municipality elections.
At the end, you had the effrontery to say that we have more freedom to express their opinions under your occupation than the other 21 countries.For me, That was nothing but sad, funny and rude.
Anonymous G - thanks for the introduction. Nice to meet you!
By all means, when you disagree with what I write - feel free to let me know! I love a good conversation.
I do hope that Israel evolves into something Palestinian Israelis can relate to - but that seems unlikely to happen...
I will, however, add that the status of Jerusalemites is a different issue. They do not seek integration, nor do they wish to be forcefully integrated.
And if Palestinian Israelis have more freedom than people do in the other Arab countries... well... that’s a pretty low target you’re setting! The comparison should rather be with their co-citizens, shouldn’t it? The “they should be happy with what they’ve got” argument sounds rather dishonest to me - and is going against everything we are aiming for...
Reb Barry - I see what you mean: you would go for the pragmatic solution. Which makes sense, I guess, if you can make the Jerusalemites forget that they are under occupation. Unlikely to happen, though...
Remains the discussion of how to make the situation better *until* the occupation of East Jerusalem ends. And it isn’t a question of wanting the cake and eating it too - it’s a quest to make your day-to-day life a little better, on that micro-level that cares little for world politics. Seeking better health care for your children has nothing to do with any ‘final status negotiations’ or other big words!
As for “getting the Jews the build them schools and roads...” well... hehehehehe!
Re: family unification: I know of this family who lives next door to me, dad is from the West Bank, mum is from Jerusalem. They happen to have had both an Israeli and a Jordanian wedding certificate. And for the children to be apply for a Jerusalem ID under the family unification law, the parents had to get a divorce! According to Israeli law, they are now divorced... and it still took 12 years - twelve! - for the kids to be able to carry Jerusalem IDs.
Mo-ha-med, I like your blog. It's refreshing to see things from a very different perspective.
I have some comments, both about the post and about the comments :-)
1. "Allow all of the Pal refugees to return to their homes":
Khaled, as someone said before, Israel in 2008 is not Palestine in 1938. For that matter the WB, Gaza, Jordan, Egypt and the rest of the region have undergone staggering changes since that time. THERE IS NO GOING BACK. Fields that existed in 1908 are cities, homes that existed in 1928 are shopping malls and there are 7 million people living where a tiny fraction of that number lived before.
Just as massive population explosions have taken place in Egypt and other places, causing huge shifts in the way regional societies function (or dysfunction), massive population growth has occurred in Israel, among both Jews and Arabs. Israel is a small and crowded country. Part of this community consists of the descendants of a million Jews who fled the Arab/Muslim world and settled in Israel. They are Israeli citizens who have no other home to go back to.
I believe that monetary compensation *should* be paid (to both Palestinian refugees and Arab Jewish refugees) and that Pals should have "right of return" to the WB and Gaza if they want that, and citizenship elsewhere (just as Israel gave the Arab world's Jews citizenship), but the descendants of those who left in 1948 will never come to Israel. To drop millions of Pals who have been taught from birth to hate Jews into Israel would cause an incredible bloodbath. Forget it.
We have to live in the real world, the world in which none of us (not Jews, not Palestinians, not anyone else) gets everything they want. We have to live in the real world and move on with our lives. Genocidal delusions, delusions that there will be a military victory, delusions that the clock can be turned back to 1941 or 1947, persist in the Palestinian society and until Palestinians face and accept the fact that these are simply delusions, and self-defeating ones at that, nothing will improve for them.
2. E. Jerusalem Arabs mostly boycott elections:
Very true. Some of this is simple nationalism.
However, while some Arabs in EJ do vote, the PA and Palestinian terrorist organizations have threatened anyone who does so. Mo-ha-med referred to this important point in his post.
With this kind of threat hanging in the air, and with the memory of the fate of "Zionist collaborators" in the WB and Gaza (they are summarily murdered, often by terror groups and sometimes by the PA authorities), EJ Arabs who WANT to vote may not do so.
The threat reinforces peer pressure to avoid voting, and with this kind of violence hanging in the air, EJ Arab society finds it far more comfortable to adopt a Palestinian nationalist line.
3. E. Jerusalem Arabs are not Israeli citizens (whereas the Arabs of 1948 are Israeli citizens):
This is true. However, I believe that because Israel annexed EJ, they have the right to BECOME Israeli citizens if they choose to do so (someone please confirm or correct me). The fact that they don't may be in part due to the fact that if they do so, and Israel turns their neighborhoods over to the PA, they will either have to leave or risk being killed as traitors.
4. An EJ mukhtar considered running in the mayoral race as well, but pulled out.
5. Jerusalem Arabs benefit from Israeli taxes. They benefit from Israel's health services, which are some of the most advanced in the world and are much, much better than those found anywhere else in the region. They benefit from Israeli welfare programs (I believe; someone please confirm or correct).
6. The ultra-orthodox in Jerusalem are not receiving welfare from the municipality of Jerusalem. They are receiving welfare from the state of Israel. It is not the relatively poor EJ Arabs who are funding the ultra-orthodox, but rather secular / modern taxpayers throughout Israel. The EJ Arabs likewise receive health benefits / etc. at the State's expense, paid for by hard-working and honest Jews (and Arabs) elsewhere in Israel. Most of the ultra-orthodox also do not serve in the army, so other Israelis are much more irritated with them than the EJ Arabs are.
7. Where the EJ Arabs are not getting their fair share is in areas where the mayor / council decide what to do, like zoning, building permits, business rules, public transport, upkeep of the roads and school construction. SURPRISE! If you don't vote, the politicians have no reason to listen to you! They listen to the people who vote! That's exactly the way things happen in democratic cities all over the world. EJ Arabs should vote in the elections; with 33% of the electorate, they will be a swing vote, and like other swing votes in Israel, they will have influence beyond their numbers.
The PA needs to stop threatening EJ Arabs and let them vote until some peace agreement is made. The current Palestinian policy is very similar to the Arab world's 60-year policy of leaving Palestinians stewing as non-citizens in squalid refugee camps: Palestinians can't be allowed to become comfortable with aspects of the status quo, or indeed to settle for anything less than absolute victory.
And that policy is one of the reasons why delusional positions remain popular.
Thanks.
-Zvi
Zvi & Mohamed;
Just to confirm Zvi'2 remark No 3, 5:
I looked both of them up, it’s not difficult to do using the Israeli Bureau of Statistics and Wikipedia.
Arab residents of EJ and Golan Heights were given residence in Israel with the *right* of citizenship, upon applying for it. While in the Golan a certain proportion (not the majority) of residents applied and received citizenship, the number in EJ is practically nil, probably because of the peer pressure and nationalism Zvi mentioned.
To stress the point - this has nothing to do with getting relatives of residents to also get residence, which is very difficult, as Mo-Ham-Med described.
Also, to answer Mo-Ha-Med's remark, I do think that the civil freedom, or lack of, in Arab countries is highly relevant when debating Arab rights in Israel. Not because they "should be thankful for what they get", but because you can't ignore the fact that practically all of the organizations/countries holding up the specter of PA independence and resistance are oppressive (from Hamas and PA authority to Hizbullah and Iran). I mean isn’t independence, besides national pride, also supposed to get you civil freedom and rights?! If a Palestinian independent state were declared tomorrow, how would it treat its citizens? - just look at the latest Amnesty report to guess that, and no one suspects them of being Pro-Israeli or Zionist...:).
So, this just further illustrates how, granted ironically, the Israeli institutions remain the best choice for Israeli Palestinians as well as residents of EJ, etc'.
G
Zvi, a delight to read you. Thank you for reading and contributing to the discussion!! And indeed, a different perspective is our motto. :)
Regarding the right of return: regardless of implementability - which, i think everyone acknowledges, is closer to impossible than feasible - a oft overlooked factor is the recognition of this right. I very much believe that a recognition on the part of Israel, an admission of guilt, yes, coupled with financial compensation and allowing the return of a symbolic number of refugees to Israel will be acceptable for most negotiators. (think Geneva Initiative..)
While people may silently acknowledge that all refugees won't be able to return to their ancestral homes, they reject the notion that they should just "forget about it". Not that easy.
I attended a conference last week in Al-Quds university in Jerusalem, and I was talking with Munir Nusseibah, who heads the Human rights clinic of Al-Quds Uni, and we were approached by an Israeli college student - who studies physics - who had questions for Munir about the state of refugees in the West Bank and abroad, and who concluded the discussion with "well, I don't feel guilty about the refugees. It's not my fault they live in bad conditions. I don't feel bad".
Re: voting: there is the threat of collaboration/treason/etc and I think it is significant, but surely not the only reason why people don't vote. Many E-Jerusalemites I know, including Khaled above, aren't the kind to be threatened by some teenage mobster, I can assure you. They refuse to vote out of principle, which I really think is the main cause for low participation. And this is what Israel, if it were actually serious about integrating E-Jerusalemites, needed to work on. Blaming it on the faraway PA is just bad policy.
Regarding citizenship - and G, I am basing myself here on discussions with Jerusalemite friends - it was indeed once possible to become a citizen, fairly easily, basically upon request.
The government has made it significantly more difficult over the past couple of decades or so: now you actually have to take a Hebrew language exam (which means a long time in ulpan...), pledge allegiance to the state/flag/etc etc - conditions which were inexistent now that long ago. And the process takes a couple of years - at least.
In the word a friend who's considering applying for citizenship: "it was easy when no one wanted it - now that people do, they've made it much more difficult..."
For me as a palestinian living in Jerusalem, I would have prefered 1 million times to live under any arabic regime rather than seeing my house being occupied and my own people being massacred all over the world by the israeli army. I cannot be grateful for living in a country in which to be able to work in one its schools or to become an Imam of one of its mosques needs a special permission from Sherut Bitahon Klali שירות ביטחון כללי
. For me WTF! And do you think that these teenagers would ever be able to threat the whole population of Jerusalem [the answer is NO] , the israeli system have done a great job in the last few years in marginalizing any attempt for a clear and powerful palestinian presence in Jerusalem.
For me Mohammad, I neither accept or see the compensation plan as being a solution for our problem. First, a fair compensation for the millions would result in the bankruptcy of Israel.It is funny how Israel demands that the arabic countries compensate the arab.
2- I don't see any bright future for the palestinians in the neighbouring countries . A country like lebanon would never accept a long-term palestinian presence. I am almost certain that such a plan would have garve consequences and a brutal response from the phalangists (Kataeb) and the lebanese forces. Whenever I watch al-Kataeb confrences or open their students forums online, I know that the hatred is still there. Again, the whole world doesn't have to be generous on the expense of Jordan, egypt,Lebanon, Syria or any other arab country.
3- A palestinian doesn't have to accept the amount of humilation he receives in the arab/foreign countries while he has 26990 KM2 beautiful country . Everybody should be offered the right of return to his beautiful peace of land , "not necessarily to his hosue or land but at least to his hometown". This return should not be on the expense of an israeli-jewish presence here.
Concerning the israeli citizenship a permanent resident of jerusalem can apply for the citizenship if he has stayed here for at least 3 years in the last five years. He should pass a hebrew language exam and [swear to be loyal to the state > not sure about this]. However, the interior minister has the right to accept or reject any application.... the citizenship is not a RIGHT by law in such cases.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728156919&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Shows the plans of the
"moderate" israeli government.... they want to expel the ARABS! I don't have any Illusions about "democarcy" IN "ISRAEL"
Whatever man... if you aint part of the solution then you are part of the problem. What have you done for peace in Israel ?
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