THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, December 3, 1976 25

Arab-Jewish Campus Relationships Are
Investigated by Haifa College Professor

By HAIM SHACHTER

World Zionist Organization

JERUSALEM — Re-
cent events on the cam-
puses of the institutions
of higher learning in Is-
rael created the impres-
sion that the relations be-
tween the Jewish and
Arab students were un-
tenable. But this picture
was dispelled by an in-
quiry instituted by Prof.
Johanan Hoffman, head
of the Department of
Psychology at the Uni-
versity of Haifa, both be-
fore and after recent out-
bursts of friction.
In January of this year,
Prof. Hoffman instituted
an inquiry among two
groups of students at
Haifa University. One
group consisted of stu-
dents picked at random,
and the other, of students
who were known to have
considerable involve-
ment in the Jewish-Arab
problem.
The leading question
was: Are Jewish-Arab re-
lations possible? The pic-
ture that presented itself
was encouraging. A very
high percentage of the
replies given by both
Jewish and Arab stu-
dents indicated that they
regard good mutual rela-
tions between the two
sections of the commu-
nity as highly possible.
Only four percent of the
Jewish students replied
that relationships between
Arabs and Jews are unde-
sirable. Among these,
some of the replies were
extreme in character. Re-
plies of this kind came
from Jewish and Arab stu-
dents with a high degree of
involvement in Arab-
Jewish relations. Of
greatest interest was the
fact that the Jews and
Arabs in this category
were markedly similar.
One of Prof. Hoffman's
finds which has not yet
been thoroughly exam-
ined is that some of the
student circles are more
liberal and some less. For
example, students of eco-
nomics tend to be less lib-
eral than those-of educa-
tional psychology. Jewish
students also differ-
entiate between Druze
and the Arabs, whereas

Arab students find no dif-
ferehce between them.
As in former inquiries
instituted by Hoffman
among secondary school
pupils, there is a marked
difference between the
attitude of Jewish and
Arab students to ac-
cepted notions among
the groups to which they
belong. Jewish students
believe that both the
Jews and the Arabs en-
deavor to keep apart and
stand aloof from one
another.
Not so the Arabs. They
believe that it is the Jews
who do not fraternize
whereas, the Arabs en-
deavor all the time to
draw nearer to the Jews.
In general the Arabs re-
plied: "We are prepared
for rapprOachement; the
other side is unwilling."
The , view has been ad-
vanced that the replies are
not always'sincere, and
that the Arabs are trying
to embellish the picture. In
order to put the accusation
to the test, Hoffman con-
ducted a similar inquiry in
the West Bank, the people
questioned being of simi-
lar cultural standards.
Here; entirely different
replie's were forthcoming.
Theidifferences between
the.-replies in the two in-
quiries showed that the
answers given by the
Israeli-Arab students
were sincere.
Hoffman subsequently
launched an inquiry
among Jewish students
alone. The questionnaire
was drawn up differently
and the replies point to
the measure of consis-
tency among the respon-
dents.
A total of 88 out of the
95 students questioned
replied that on no account
may Arab students be re-
jected from the univer-
sity. However, 54 stu-
dents were of the opinion
that political activities by
Arab students should be
limited and that political
demonstrations must be
forbidden.
Another important dis-
covery is that there has
been, lately, a drop in the
readiness on the part of
Arab students to establish
relations with Jews. Arab

Detroit Campaign Mission Has
Four Bnai Mitzva at the Wall

Dr. Murray Shekter, center, waits to congratulate
Martin Mayer and Richard Schwartz after their Bar
Mitzva at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Also Bar Mitva
during the recent Detroit Campaign Mission to Israel
was David Caplan.

students now find fewer
opportunities for mutual
rapproachement although
objectively speaking con-
ditions have not changed.
Hoffman believes that
the situation is charac-
teristic of the outlook of a
minority. The Arabs ac-
tually want to integrate
and seek greater close-
ness, but the Jews are
preoccupied with their
own affairs — aliyah, se-
curity, etc., and pay little
attention to the out-
stretched hand of the
Arab. They profess no
hatred for him; they are
simply oblivious of his
existence.
In the course of time
the self image of the
Arab, particularly after
the Yom Kippur War has
become more asserted.
The Arab is less depen-
dent on the Jew. He has
grown increasingly es-
sential to the country's
econony. The number of
Arab intellectuals has in-
creased, and for these
reasons as well as on ac-
count of political de-
velopments, the Arab's
outstretched hand has
grown somewhat tired.
Much therefore, depends
on Jewish initiative.
At Arab-Jewish meet-
ings which -Hoffman at-
tended, both Jews and
Arabs put in an appear-
ance the first time; but
the Jews failed to turn up
the second time. There
appears to be a certain
fear on the part ofJews to
face the problem.
Prof. Hoffman traces a
greater openness to the

raphy

question, in the universi-
ties than in the secondary
schools where there ap-
pears to be greater fear to
contend with the ques-
tioning. Hoffman asserts,
that the Israel Ministry
of Education is appar-
ently not doing enough to
improve the situation.

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