ARABS WHO ARE ISRAELIS

Con Coughlin reports on

the divided loyalties of Arab Israeli citizens

Ibillin, Lower Galilee THE roads, like everything else in Ibillin, have the half-finished look that is the unmistakable characteristic of an Arab village. The houses, with large pillars of concrete protruding through their roofs, appear to be a floor short of the builder's design.

This seems not to worry most villagers. Shrivelled old men and women pace out their twilight years in the shade of shop doorways or in the courtyards of local mosques or churches. The more able- bodied, working among the spring fields of brilliant yellow wild chrysanthemums, tend the olive groves and vegetable plantations from which the village has derived its living for centuries.

It is only among the young that any hint of change in this pattern of existence is apparent. The harsh tones of their Hebrew conversation contrast vividly with the black and white keffiyahs, the ubiquitous symbol of Palestinian nationalism, wrap- ped around their necks. The garish fashions of modern Tel Aviv designers are incongruous against the backdrop of the traditional craft of the Arab stone-masons that abounds in the old buildings around the village hall.

But then, becoming accustomed to Israeli habits is something the villagers of Ibillin have been struggling to achieve for many years. For while both by nature and heritage Ibillin is an Arab village, by fate of circumstance it is part of the state of Israel.

It is a dilemma with which Israel's 750,000 Arab population has, in the main, reached a comfortable accommodation, watering down the more tendentious Arab characteristics in return for a share in the prosperity and dynamism of the Jewish state. It is thus with some degree of alarm that Israel's Jewish majority has received the first hints of militancy among leaders of the Israeli Arab minority, the result of their efforts to try to reconcile split loyal- ties to their Arab kinsmen in the West Bank and Gaza and their compatriots in the Israeli security services.

When discussion focuses on Palestinians, it usually concerns either those living under Israeli army occupation or those living in exile in Arab refugee camps or European centres of commerce. But little is heard of the Israeli Arabs with whom lies the ultimate test of whether Jews and Arabs can live together in a state of mutual respect and peaceful harmony. The rem- nants of the indigenous Arab population of Palestine overtaken by the creation of Israel, they owe their citizenship to Israel's proclamation of independence in 1948, which pledged to 'uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of religion, race or sex'.

Given that Israel's very existence has been under constant threat from millions of hostile Arabs gathered around its bor- ders since its creation, the Jews have been more than generous. The Arabs have full voting rights in the only democracy in the Middle East and have benefited enormous- ly in education, business and public utili- ties. Certainly it is hard to conceive of an Arab state affording an antipathetic minor- ity such privileges.

In Ibillin, situated in the Israeli Arab heartland stretching from the Mediterra- nean port of Haifa to Nazareth, the Israeli Arab capital, evidence of peaceful co- existence abounds. Fifty per cent of the village's young labourers work at the Jewish-owned industrial complexes on the outskirts of Haifa. They are as fluent in Hebrew as in Arabic. They follow Israeli fashions, support Israeli football teams, buy Israeli pop records.

There are a handful of Israeli Arab politicians sitting in the Knesset, generally associated with the extreme left-wing par- ties which preach total equality. There are Arab poets and novelists who regard Heb- rew as their first language, such as Anton Shammas whose novel Arabesques became

a national best-seller when it appeared last year.

The quality of citizenship bestowed upon the Arabs, however, has always been considerably less than that given to the Jews and remains so, despite tangible improvements. Many Arabs complain that they are treated as second-class citizens.

As Arabs they are considered a security risk and prohibited from serving in Israel's armed forces, a discrimination that has adverse repercussions in many other walks of life. A good national service record is a prerequisite for a good job in Israel.

For security reasons, the Arabs are also prevented from having their own political parties, so their vote is limited to parties which have predominantly Jewish interests at heart. Israeli Arabs also complain that the funds made available for their public institutions and projects are only a fraction of those allocated to Jewish residents.

In many respects it is understandable that Israeli Arabs will suffer a degree of discrimination while Israel remains at war with Arab governments, and most Arab leaders privately accept this. Their day-to- day goals are to reduce the effects of discrimination in the everyday lives of Arabs.

It is this residual sense of grievance, however, that has enabled the more radical Israeli Arab leaders to whip up support for the campaign of civil unrest being waged against the Israeli authorities by West Bank and Gaza Palestinians for the past five months. So far, support for the Palesti- nian unrest has amounted to little more than a token gesture: collecting funds, donating food and medical supplies and supporting left-wing Israeli calls for an immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories.

And yet there is enough evidence to suggest the Israelis will have to watch their step if they are to prevent the disturbances in the occupied territories spilling over inside Israeli borders, a recurrent night- mare of the security planners. Violent acts, such as throwing petrol bombs and stones, are now frequently recorded in Israel, often in traditionally tranquil areas such as Haifa and Jaffa. There have been several instances of the banned PLO flag being unfurled in Israeli Arab towns and villages and several Arab newspapers have been closed for publishing anti-Israeli articles.

Permanent border police patrols have been set up on the main Wadi Ara trunk road in Galilee after Jewish drivers expressed fears for their safety.

It would be far more difficult for the security forces to contain civil unrest in Nazareth, where Israeli law applies, than in Nablus, which is under military occupa- tion. A widespread revolt against the Israeli authorities would also play into the hands of those Jewish extremists who will only be satisfied when every Arab has been driven out of the biblical land of Eretz Israel.