62 Friday, September 21, 1919 Israel's Arab Population: Ignoring A Major Problem MOVIE GUIDE By GIL SEDAN JERUSALEM (JTA) — As Israeli leaders spent more and more time and energy trying to cope with the problem of three million Palestinians beyond the country's borders, they were swiftly drifting away from the nation's own Arab citi- zens, those who once upon a time were known as "Is- rael's bridge to peace." ,BERKLEY THEATRE 2990 W. 12 Mile Rd. Berkley LI 2-0330 All Seats $1.00 at all times "ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ" (PG) with Clint Eastwood 7:20 & 9:30 Sun. 2:55, 5:05, 7:20 & 9:30 During the long years of a state of war between Israel and its Arab neighbors, Is- raeli Arabs enjoyed the nickname. Now that peace is a reality, the bridge slowly is collapsing, and the almost 600,000 Arab citi- zens of Israel are generally considered more as a hazard than an asset. WASHINGTON THEATER 426 S. Washington, R.O. 541-0082 ALL SEATS $1 at all times Clint Eastwood in "ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ" (PG) Fri. & Sat. 7:20 & 9:40 Sun. 5, 7:20 & 9:30 Mon.-Thurs: 7:20 & 9:30 Wed. Mat. 1:00 Almost daily there are 6TEAK PUISTAURANTI THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS O HAPPY NEW YEAR STEAKS PRIME RIB SEAFOOD BANQUET FACILITIES AVAILABLE Up To 80 People • Weddings • Sweet 16's • Sales Meetings 666 f So uth of - • Hors d' Oeuvres Parties • Reunions • Anniversaries • Etc. NORTHWESTERN . 35 n_ 1448 signs and feelings of tension between the Jewish and Arab communities, while the government stands al- most hopeless in the face of the deterioration of rela- tions. At the beginning of the year, six Arab students were suspended from their studies at Hebrew University for a three- month period because , they signed a petition supporting the Palestine National Council, often described as the Pales- tine Liberation Organiza- tion parliament in exile, then convening in Damascus. At the same time, more "moderate" Arab students maintained close contacts with their colleagues at the West Bank Bir Zeit Univer- sity, known as the stron- ghold of the pro-PLO Arab intelligentsia. Other students went one step further and joined the El Fatah terror organiza- tion. Eight of them were re- cently sentenced to pro- longed jail periods. Last June, villagers in - the usually peaceful village of Meiliya, east of Nahariya, clashed violently with police over an attempt to pave a road through the village to a new Jewish set- tlement nearby. For the first time since the establishment of the state, representatives of t *** * *** * ****** * ******* * I • • • 1979 TI1E NEW BAGEL BASKET: • DELI AND FULL SERVICE RESTAURANT WISHES YOU A HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW* YEAR . WE WILL BE CLOSED FROM 3 p.m. FRI., SEPT. 21 REOPENING SUN., SEPT. 23, 8 p.m. WE WILL BE CLOSED FROM 3 p.m. SUN., SEPT. 30 REOPENING TUES., OCT. 2, 7 a.m. GREAT HOT & COLD MEALS & SANDWICHES SERVED ON ALL TYPES OF BREAD HOT BAGELS ALL DAY T DAYS A WEEK. FROZEN CUSTARD, YOGURT, ICE CREAM TAKE-OUT DEPT. OUR REGULAR HOURS e ♦ MONDAYS 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS, 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. SUNDAYS 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ORCHARD LAKE RD., 1/4 MILE S. OF MAPLE RD. e IN THE WEST BLOOMFIELD PLAZA 851 9390 5740 the 400,000 Bedouins of born after 1948 and the Negev joined Arabs of graduated from Israeli the north in nationalist schools, entered the univer- protests. The occasion sities. But rather than iden- was a government spon- tifying with the system that sored bill which forced had made them into the new thousands of Bedouins Arab intelligentsia, they from the Negev land they revolted and generally settled on to make room identified with the Palesti- nian nationalist theme. for the new air fields. They identified them- In addition, last month, Gen. Avigdor Ben-Gal, selves not as Israelis, but as commander of the northern Palestinians, or (if they command, likened the wanted to ease the shock), Arabs of the Galilee to- "a as Palestinians of Israeli cancerous growth in the citizenship. body of the state." He de- Of course, the change nied, however, that he had did not -come about sud- said this. As if to aggravate denly, nor was it only a things, the government matter of ideological failed to promise appropri- transformation. Objec- ate compensations for large tive social and economic Arab families for recent difficulties, such as the price hikes, arguing that as few jobs offered by the families whose heads did government for Arabs not serve in the army they (due to security reasons), were not entitled to the were quite often the same compensation. Due to background which made public criticism, the gov- it easy for nationalist ernment changed that deci- feelings to develop. sion a few days later; but the The stronger the young damage was already done. nationalist Arab generation Those who argued that becomes, the more difficult Arabs are discriminated it is for the older, more mod- against seized the case as erate Arabs. Nowadays, one can wander for hours in the perfect example. Under the circumstances, northern Arab villages it was hardly a surprise to looking for an Arab who will hear a young Arab declare dissociate himself from the on television the following Palestinian identity. Such weekend: "In five years, you Arabs are often considered (the Jewish interviewer) traitors. They find it dif- will hardly be able to enter ficult to maintain such a our village." Once again, standing, because the state the bridge of peace was offers them little compensa- nowhere in sight. tion. As a general rule, the The situation reveals a wider-than-ever gap be- government has failed to tween the Jewish expecta- cope with the Arab issue as tions and the Arab reality, a_ such. Despite the concern gap that emerged following often voiced by government the Six-Day War. Until that officials — and ministers — point, Israel's Arabs hardly the Ministerial Committee constituted a problem. The on Arab Affairs which population had no intellec- existed during the Labor tual elite per se, as most of Alignment government its intelligentsia had fled ceased to function during during the War or Indepen- the present government. dence. The rural population The only body directly in- far outnumbered the urban volved with that population populace. And traditional is the Arab adviser on Arab values and mores were do- affairs at the Premier's office. But that body has no minant. This society, only mini- executive powers and is mally interested in its na- headed by an "acting ad- tional political 'advance- viser." ment, stressed its economic The previous adviser res- progress to a far greater ex- igned earlier this year be- cause he was rarely re- tent. Together with the rest _ cieved by Premier of Israel, this society Menahem Begin. No per- enjoyed the economic manent replacement has boom catalyzed by the been found. provision of German re- Three years ago, Yis- parations in the mid- rael Koenig, northern 1950s. Its geographic sec- commissioner in the lusion from the rest of the Ministry of Interior, Arab world made it even suggested a detailed plan easier for its residents to of benefits and 'penalties integrate into Israeli for Arabs: benefits for society. those Arabs who ex- Indeed, the climax of that pressed unreserved loy- integration came during the alty, penalties for any- war, when Arabs volun- body who worked teered to work in the service against the state. Koenig of the state in place of Jews even went so far as to who were then enlisted. The recommend that Arabs cooperation which the Arab should be "encouraged" population displayed dur- to leave the country. ing the difficult period of The so-called Koenig May-June, 1967, was an document was denounced example of the success of by Interior Minister Yosef that integration. Burg, but many said quietly But it was that war which that there were some good created the gap. Arabs were ideas in that document. gradually exposed to the Koenig is still in office. Recently, in a workshop "Palestinian world," the West Bank. The young Is- organized by the Samuel raeli Arabs, those who were Neaman Institute for Ad- l vanced Studies in Science and Technology at the Haifa Technion, a well-known Mideast expert, Prof. Yehoshua Porat, suggested a proposal diametrically opposed to that of Koenig. He suggested finding a new modus vivendi for Israel's Arabs by fully integrating them into the state, includ- ing their possible absorp- tion into the Israel Defense Force. Porat went so far as say: "It follows that we z nearing the -end of the Zionist era in the history of the Jewish people. The majority of the Jewish people gradually choose to live outside of Israel. The Jewish residents of Israel must wake up from their il- lusions and act according to this new reality. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves for the day when the rate of Israel's Arabs threatens the existence of a Jewish democracy as such. "The only way to do so is to gradually advance toward a reality in which two groups of popula- tions with different cul- tures and ethnic identifi- cations can share a com- mon Israeli citizenship and loyalty within the same state." The workshop finally recommended the middle of the road proposal which ac- tually endorsed the existing policy: "Israel's Arabs should live in peace with the state and be loyal and law abiding citizens, but one cannot expect the Arab minority to identify them- selves with the aims of Zionism," said the majority of the experts who _partici- pated in the workshop. Some Israelis say there is really no solution — that even if Israel were disap- pear, there would still be a Palestinian problem; even if a Palestinian state would be established the Arabs would then demand a re- turn to the 1947 borders. But even if one adopts a more hopeful approach, that the solution of the Palesti- nian problem might also eradicate nationalist feel- ing among Israel's Arabs, the demographic statistics still present a problem: Is- rael's Arabs, presently number close to 600,000, some 16 percent of the popu- lation. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics' f- - -- cast, by 1995 there wil more than one million Arabs in Israel, approx- imately 20 percent of the population. Energy Report NEW YORK — The Synagogue Council of America recently released a report on energy conserva- tion and simultaneously urged Congress to speed implementation of an effec- tive energy program. Better off is the poor man who follows the straight path than the depraved man , who is rich. — Proverbs 28