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Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant. He has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy Analysis. He also has degrees in Economics, Politics, and Jewish History & Thought.
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By Ariel Natan Pasko
March 26, 2006
Has the former Arafat mouthpiece and longtime "Palestinian" voice in the Israeli Knesset, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, (Ta'al party), turned away from integration?
Arab leaders like Tibi have made much noise recently about a new study conducted by the Geocartography Institute called, "Index of Racism Towards Arab Palestinian Citizens of the State of Israel."
Notice the title of the study: last I heard, the "Palestinians" were a "national" group at war with the Jews of Israel. Are they "Palestinian Citizens" or "Citizens of the State of Israel"? You can't have it both ways. Or can you?
It bothers Israeli Arab leaders, that after years of war and terrorism, 63% of Israeli Jews agree with the statement, "Arabs are a security and demographic threat to the state." It troubles them that 41% of Israeli Jews want separate places of recreation (cafes, malls, etc.) for Arabs and Jews.
Forget the fact that you have to be concerned that every Arab you see, when walking down the street, might be a suicide bomber (so far not one Jew has blown himself up at a mall trying to kill other Jews). It hurts them, that half of Israeli Jews express fear or discomfort when hearing people speaking Arabic near them. How is a Jew -- or an Arab for that matter -- to tell the difference between a "good Israeli Arab" and a "murderous Palestinian" when I hear Arabic? It angers them, that 18% of Jews said they feel hate when hearing Arabic speakers. What was that percentage in the US after 9/11?
Perhaps we should ask the Jihad-loving Al-Qaeda citizens of the United States of America.
Back to Ahmed Tibi...
He used to be such a nice mole for Yasser Arafat. So why the turn toward apartheid-style Arab segregationism now?
Speaking not long ago to Israel Radio, Tibi called on the American State Department to earmark part of its foreign aid monies to Israel to be directed to Israel's Arab sector, or rather its "Palestinian" sector. Tibi wants to build a Palestinian Arab university in Nazareth as well as a Palestinian Arab hospital in the Galilee.
Why the fallback to voluntary segregation? Till now, Israeli Arabs have enjoyed the use of Israeli hospitals (there are Arab doctors and nurses as well as patients), and benefited from enrolling in Israeli universities (even earlier than Israeli Jews, since Arabs are exempt from military conscription). P.S. There are Arab professors at Israeli universities, besides students.
Or, is this the beginning of their drive for "Palestinian" apartheid-style "autonomy" in the Galilee, that will end in irredentist demands for secession from Israel and attachment to a Palestinian state?
One thing we know, even before Hamas was elected to rule the Palestinian Authority, is that the Arabs want "Palestine" to be a Judenrein (Jew-free) Arab-only state.
And Ahmed Tibi is not alone. Not long ago, Israeli Arab leaders met with a group of forty foreign diplomats. They insisted that twenty percent of all foreign aid to Israel, be earmarked for the "Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel." They want 20% of international donor money to be for Arabs only, while other the 80% of aid to Israel, should be for both communities as it has been till now.
So who are the real racists?
After the results of the study were published, Tibi said, "Overall, it pays to be racist in Israel because you don't pay a price for it and you can always explain it away by a security need and a self-defense mechanism." He has learned the lesson well, calling for apartheid-style segregation himself.
With 58% of the "Palestinian Arab citizens" choosing Hamas to represent them in "Palestine," dedicated to destroying Israel, and "Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel" freely proclaiming their support for the Hamas victory, is it any wonder that the study found that 40% of Israeli Jews believe that the state should encourage Arabs to emigrate from the country?
Continuing his intellectual dishonesty, Tibi added: "Racists have a long time ago moved from the street to government benches. Every anti-Arab phenomenon is accepted with understanding within Israeli society."
Has he conveniently forgotten the banning of Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach Party and the consistent persecution (both legally and in the media) of those Jewish political activists that warn of the existential dangers a violent Arab minority represents to Jews in Israel?
Tibi by the way, has drawn comparisons between American soldiers in Iraq and German troops of the Third Reich. The Arab MK has stated repeatedly that upon viewing "atrocities" attributed to the soldiers, he is reminded of the actions of the German troops. Yet, he wants American aid for Arab-only projects.
Fellow Arab MK Taleb el-Sana, also used the study to attack Israeli society, saying the results are a "stain on democracy, moral bankruptcy, and a complete failure by the Israeli education system. In my opinion, this shows we're not talking about a few people but rather, a worrying phenomenon that places question marks over the Zionist movement. The mosquitoes of this racism apparently grew in the swamp of incitement against the Arab public, as well as the occupation and the settlements. This is definite proof that occupation corrupts."
Likewise, responding to the study, Hadash MK Mohammed Barakeh said racism against Israeli Arabs "is a direct result of the official racist discrimination policy that has been led by all Israeli governments. This policy was extended in light of the occupation, which created Liebermanism, Kahanism, Olmertism and Netanyahuism," he charged.
This is the same Mohammed Barakeh, who said in the Knesset not long ago, that although he was sworn in as an Israeli MK, "I admit here that I am not loyal to a state that is Zionist and Jewish."
Notice an interesting phenomena, all these Israeli Arab members of Knesset (who are equal citizens, legally entitled to be elected to Israel's parliament - unlike in Judenrein Palestine) are attacking Israeli society and its institutions for causing the poll results, rather than looking closer to home for the answers.
No, it's not the vicious mass murder of Jews in malls, cafes, and on buses by Arab terrorists that causes Jews to feel uncomfortable around Arabs. Not the apartheid-style (or is that Nazi-style?) demand for a Judenrein Gaza, a Judenrein Palestine, even by so-called moderates like Mahmoud Abbas. Not the consistent polls for the last five years, showing 50-80% "Palestinian" support for suicide bombings, or the fact that Hamas garnered 58% of the vote in the recent elections in the PA. Not the recent announcements by Hamas leaders of their intention to continue what they euphemistically call the "resistance," better called genocidal attacks against Jews in Israel. Not the public support Israeli Arabs, both leaders and led, both educated and not, have voiced for Hamas' victory in the PA. Not the growing active participation of Israeli Arabs in terrorism against Israeli Jews. Not their own admission of disloyalty toward the State of Israel. Not their own call for apartheid-style segregation, and Arab supremist rights in Israel itself. No, it's not any of the above reasons why many Jews have negative feelings toward Arabs in Israel.
No, it's all the Jews' own fault, according to Tibi, el-Sana, Barakeh, and others. How intellectually "honest" of them. It sounds to me like classic racism and anti-Semitism.
Can you believe Israel is letting these anti-Semitic racists run in the upcoming elections?
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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