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Yet, these communities have modern homes, water and electricity lines, sewage facilities, playgrounds and other recreational facilities, and paved streets. Governmental support for these tiny settlements belies the assertion that providing services to small communi- ties is not feasible. What is clear, especially to Israel's Arab citizens, is that the government considers invest- ment in Jewish communities essential, no matter what the cost, while Arab communi- ties, even those that never have exhibited any hostility towards the state, can be denied equal treatment. While the establishment of Kamoun and Mekhmanim on either side of Arab al-Kamana - deepened the Soueid's bitter- ness towards the government, it was the new paved road traversing the mountain to access the new settlements that actually re-enforced the determination of these Israeli Arabs to stay put. The paved road necessarily passed by the unrecognized village and thus made the trip down the mountain and back easier to obtain water and provisions, and to get to work. It also strengthened the villagers' resolve to demand that the Ministry of Education pro- vide for a school bus to trans- port their children to Nahaf, a request that had been de- nied, reportedly because of the poor quality of the road to the village. That request fi- nally was fulfilled in 1985. That same year, on their own initiative, the villagers opened a kindergarten that is attended by 25 of their chil- dren. The Ministry of Ed- ucation, asserting that no educational institution in an unrecognized village can be supported by the govern- ment, has taken a dual view of the kindergarten. It refuses to pay the salaries of the two teachers, but allows it to op- erate as a privately run insti- FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1990 tution on a year-to-year basis. Mr. Hassan raised funds among the villagers to- send two young women to school for training and to pay their salaries. Several kibbutzim associated with the Kibbutz Artzi movement have do- nated tables, chairs, toys and books. Kindergartens were opened in Kamoun and Mekhmanim, along with other facilities and services long denied to the people of Arab al-Kamana. Even though the water and electric lines run less than 200 yards from Arab al-Kamana the Arabs are denied access to these basic services. Still, relations with their Jewish neighbors are good, says Mr. Hassan, but even if they were to offer a hook up to their water supplies, Mekhorot (the national water authority) would prohibit it. "The basic problem with Arab al-Kamana is that it is a spontaneous settlement," says Dr. Alexander Bligh, deputy advisor on Israeli Arab affairs to Prime Min- ister Shamir. Dr. Bligh, a Middle East historian on leave from He- brew University's Truman In- stitute, does not dispute the Soueid's assertion that they own the land on top of Mt. Kamon. He points out, though, that the land has been zoned by the Israeli government for agricultural development, not housing construction. Dr. Bligh asserts that the land is needed for the future expan- sion of Kamoun and Mekh- manim. Notwithstanding the small number of families in those settlements and the difficulty in attracting others to live there and elsewhere in the Galilee, settling Jewish citi- zens in this region remains a priority of the government. Officials apparently believe that the pressures of growth within the community will in- evitably press the Soueid to reconsider their defiant posi- tion. Until now, however, the residents of Arab al-Kamana have demonstrated resilience to withstand pressure's. Their self-confidence undoubtedly has been strengthened by the formation of a broader coali- tion of unrecognized Israeli Arab villages. Ironically, the impetus for setting up the Association of Forty was the comprehensive study of illegal housing in the Arab sector carried out by the Interior Ministry's Direc- tor General, Dov Markowitz, in 1986. The Markowitz Re- port recommended that the majority of homes that had been built without permits be granted approval and that some be subjected to demoli- tion. The status of "illegal" homes in the unrecognized villages was left open, in- cluding the possibility of future demolition. For Muhammed al-Haje, a young Israeli Arab who had founded a local committee to seek recognition of his own village of Ein Chod, the Mar- kowitz report was the first indication that many other communities faced problems similar to his own. "We visited every place where a house had been de- stroyed or demolition orders were pending, and discovered other villages that had not been recognized," Mr. al-Haje said. The Association of Forty was established in early 1988, with Mr. al-Haje as its direc- tor. At a time when tensions have increased in Israel be- tween the country's Arab and Jewish citizens, the Associa- tion has become a vivid example of Jewish-Arab coop- eration on a civil rights issue, and one in which American Jews are playing a critical role as well. "It was a shock for me to learn that something like this exists in my country," says Michal Fox, an Israeli Jewish lawyer who joined the staff of the Association of Forty a year and a half ago. Her awareness of the problem first developed while working at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, a network of attorneys that also provides legal assistance to the unrec- ognized villages. Most of the funding for the Association of Forty comes from the New Israel Fund, an American Jewish philanthropy dedi- cated to advancing civil rights and democratic values in Israel. Such an active Jewish in- volvement has been critical to the Association's small achievements, says Mr. al- Haj e. As a result of intensive lobbying among government officials no homes have been demolished in any of these communities since 1988. Poli- tical interest was furthered when a Knesset delegation visited several of the villages on a tour organized by the Association to assess their situation first-hand. The legislators reportedly wer shocked by the conditions of the villages they visited, but until now no concrete action has been initiated to resolve the problem. From a planning point of view, says Ms. Fox, it is possi- ble to amicably resolve each case without forcing people to move. A recently completed survey of the villages, com missioned by the Association of Forty, sets forth a range o options, including recogni- tion, linking a village to an already recognized commun- ity that has basic services, and merging several unrecog- nized villages that are in close proximity of one another. The government considers investment in Jewish communities essential, no matter what the cost. Dr. Bligh maintains tha the government already has been examining each of the unrecognized villages on its individual merits to dete mine whether recognition will be granted or pressures t o relocate the inhabitants will be maintained. Many villages, such as E • Chod, where Mr. al-Haje liv are highly unlikely to be ac cepted by the governmen The original village of E • Chod, on the outskirts o Haifa, was evacuated durin the 1948 war of independenc and today is an artists 'colon inhabited mainly by Jews Some of the original inhab tants set up a new commun ity nearby, but successiv governments have long main tained that the 130 resident should find someplace else Israel to live. "We are not going to build the villages that we evacuated by the Palestinian in 1948. It's as simple a • that," says Dr. Bligh, wh notes Ein Chod as a example. Regarding Arab Kamana, however, the peopl never fled. They surrendere immediately in 1948, and tra ditionally have been passiv e "There is a struggle betwee us and the Ministry of Inte ior," says Mr. Hassan, "ove] who has greater patience."