During the recent holiday of Sukkot, Khalil and Raheem Bakly—Arab Israelis living in the town of Upper Nazareth—built a sukkah outside their house and placed advertisements in local papers inviting both Jews and Arabs to come visit. Just a few days earlier, the Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi gave a speech in Texas where she denied that Jews have any right to self-determination. Evelyn Gordon argues that, while both attitudes have their adherents among Israel’s Arab citizens, the Baklys’ approach is steadily gaining ground:
[A] decisive majority of respondents [to a recent poll] self-identified primarily as Israeli rather than Palestinian, which is something that wasn’t true even a few years ago. In 2012, for instance, just 32.5 percent of Israeli Arabs defined themselves as “Israeli” rather than Palestinian. But the figure has risen fairly steadily, and this year, asked “which term best describes you,” 54 percent of respondents chose some variant of “Israeli.” . . . Moreover, 63 percent deemed Israel a “positive” place to live, compared to 34 percent who said the opposite. . . .
Fully 47 percent of respondents felt that, as Arabs, they are “generally treated unequally.” Many were also worried about economic issues and their community’s high crime rate. But . . . having an overall favorable view of one’s country in no way contradicts having a long list of complaints about it. After all, Israeli Jews complain constantly about their country’s shortcomings while still believing that its merits outweigh its demerits. Why shouldn’t Israeli Arabs do the same? . . .
Finally, in sharp contrast to the nongovernmental organizations that spend their time and energy smearing Israel as racist, others have correctly concluded that inequality can more profitably be fought by investing in Arab education and employment. . . . Even some Arabs from abroad are starting to grasp this. Just last month, a group of Palestinian-American businessmen in Chicago held the first fundraising dinner for a scholarship fund to help Palestinians and Israeli Arabs attend Israel’s Haifa University. . . . Needless to say, that does far more to help actual human beings than, say, advocating anti-Israel boycotts that result in Palestinians losing their jobs. . . .
Many years must pass before change percolates through the Israeli Arab community to the point where the Baklys are more representative than Zoabi. But the trend is clearly moving in that direction. And despite their best efforts, the community’s vocal anti-Israel contingent seems powerless to stop it.
Read more on Evelyn Gordon: http://evelyncgordon.com/israeli-arabs-growing-israeli-identity/