by Irit Linur
The way Joint Arab List MKs have been conducting themselves as of late is reminiscent of an adolescent temper tantrum. If they really want to achieve something for their constituents, they have to realize it's time to grow up.
One of the details in the US Middle East peace plan is a land swap between Israel and the future Palestinian state. But in reality, chances of Palestinian sovereignty being applied to the Arab villages in the Triangle area are slim. After all, to follow through on the tenets of the plan that would make the Palestinian Authority eligible for American recognition of its statehood would require the Palestinians to undergo a complete metamorphosis.
Still, the idea has been put forward, like other ideas before it. For example: "Gaza will be Singapore of the Middle East," as then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in 2018. And when people say things - others respond. The idea of liberating Taibeh and Umm al-Fahm from the yoke of the "Zionist occupation" outraged the Arab MKs.
The Triangle, a cluster of Israeli Arab towns and villages adjacent to the Green Line, "Is home to hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens," MK Yousef Jabareen said. "The annexation plan includes a section that lays the ground for transfer and denial of their citizenship. Every citizen, Arab or Jewish, who values of democracy and equality, must stand and fight with us."
MK Aida Touma-Suleiman stated that "the transfer plan is a real threat. Like with the settlements and the annexation, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is making the Israeli public think war crimes are a normal thing. The idea of denial of citizenship was abominable when only Lieberman proposed it. Now, with the American plan, it will become an Israeli bon-ton."
The Arab MKs' response was surprising. Why wouldn't they want independence from Israel? Tibi was an MK at the same time as he was an adviser to PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Zoabi boarded the Marmara flotilla trying to breach the maritime blockade of Gaza; Balad founder Azmi Bishara spied for Hezbollah; MK Basel Ghattas smuggled cell phones to jailed terrorists, and would-be Joint Arab List politician Heba Yazbak sings the praises of The children Samir Kuntar and Dalal Mugrabi.
None of the Joint List's MKs accepts the existence of a Jewish nation-state. They see us as racists, violent, practicing apartheid. Who wants citizenship in such a country?
Given that living in the Zionist state is a fact of 71 years, one would expect both sides to come to terms with it. In my opinion, Israeli Jews have and there is no bon-ton for land swaps and the relocation of populations. We are together in the Israeli story and no one is going anywhere.
But Arab Israelis sometimes evoke a sense of confusion. What exactly do they want?
A 2019 survey by the Israeli Democracy Institute yields confusing results: 77% of Arab Israelis deny Israel's existence as a Jewish state. On the other hand, 70% of them believe that there is no conflict between Palestinian identity and allegiance to the State of Israel. Some 63% oppose national service, but almost all of them enjoy working with Jews and would like to live next door. Moreover, 65% of them are proud to be Israeli – the highest figure since 2003, and on the heels of the controversial nation-state law, no less.
The dichotomy is also found at the personal level. Salim Joubran served on the Supreme Court, but in a retirement interview in 2018, he admitted that he can't bring himself to sing Israel's national anthem. Why? The answer is unclear.
On the one hand, "if the state expects all its citizens, including the Arabs, to respect its national anthem, it should respect them and their rights." Okay - so his move sought to protest Arab discrimination? Not necessarily. He also had a problem with the words " "The Jewish soul yearns," meaning that the anthem was another a symbol of the Jewish nation-state. That is no longer a matter of civil rights.
"If one day the words of the national anthem are changed, I think I will have no problem singing it," Joubran said. "I certainly think that words should be added to suit the Arab citizen in Israel as well."
Arab lawmakers often complain about violence in the sector, but in the same breath, they protest having police stations in Arab localities. This objection, by the way, extends from parliamentary opposition to the actual burning of police stations, like in Kafr Qassem in 2017. Arabs play in the Israeli national soccer team, but the team captain, midfielder Bibras Natkho, also refuses to sing the national anthem.
So again, one must ask: What do they want?
Common wisdom believes that the answer is equal rights. This is a convenient answer, but it is inaccurate because at the political level, the equal right Arab MKs strive for is the right to a national definition within the State of Israel.
This, in turn, makes for an awkward situation: The reason we are even having this discussion is that a war was fought and Israel won.
At times, it seems that Arab Israelis, much like their Palestinian brothers outside our borders, suffer from an ongoing adolescent crisis: They want to rebel against the parents, but avoid being thrown out of the house; be included in the decision-making process without assuming any of the responsibility; skip all major events and then get ticked off when they're not invited; fight for a Palestinian state, but buck against the possibility of swapping their Israeli citizenship for a Palestinian one without leaving home.
This does not come across as a desire for integration or equality, but rather as a 17-year-old's temper tantrum.
Israel managed to graduate adolescence but, embarrassed by its victory, it still maintains familial relations even with the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. They fire rockets at us as we, like nice uncles, continue to provide them electricity.
We forgive the Arab MKs their mischievous acts, such as praising terrorists or calling to abolish Zionist hegemony, and allow them their place in parliament with patronizing compassion from the High Court of Justice, whose tolerance is akin to saying, "You are too young and too restless for Basic Law: The Knesset to apply to you."
The patient parent approach is endearing, but it has been 71 years since the War of Independence and adolescence must end at some point.
The first step in the process is to dismiss all Joint List MKs who deny Israel's existence as a Jewish state, or support terrorism, demanded by law. Or as the family might say – if you want to eat mom's food - don't swear at her.
Irit Linur
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-arab-sectors-identity-crisis/
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