Word: arabism
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Complementing Jiryis' scholarly study is the eloquent personal testimony of another Israeli Arab, Fouzi el-Asmar. In To Be an Arab in Israel, this young Palestinian poet, journalist and publisher describes his own experiences, and those of his family and friends, within the state of Israel. El-Asmar's reflections are especially valuable because, as a member of what would be considered the Israeli Arab elite if such an entity were allowed to exist, he has more contact--at least more positive contact--with Israeli Jews than most other Arabs in Israel. But el-Asmar's outspokenness on the condition...
SEVERAL MAJOR THEMES--some surprising, some not--emerge from both accounts. One recurrent note is the widespread opposition in Israel, by Jews and Arabs alike, to government policy vis a vis the Arab minority. The military apparatus organized in 1950 to deal with every aspect of Arab life, a system which lasted formally until 1966 and continued to exert a major influence over administrative practices thereafter, was criticized repeatedly by established Jewish groups, notably the Mapam Party...
...Asmar, who wrote for Mapam's Arabic-language newspaper early in his career, describes warmly the many Jewish acquaintances and personal friends who helped him deflect political persecution, participated in common protests against official actions, and were eager to open channels of communication with Arabs in order to begin integrating them into Israeli life. But even Mapam was willing to go only so far, and that far principally in search of the Arab vote: eventually el-Asmar found himself barred from effective free expression and finally he was removed from his job. But el-Asmar's narrative in itself offers...
Another motif which runs throughout both books is the shocking and unnecessary heavy-handedness with which Israelis have dealt with the Arabs. The fates of two villages, as reported in both books, Deir Yasin and Kfar Kassim, demonstrate the extremes to which this policy could be carried. Deir Yasin has become the well-known rallying cry of the Palestinian resistance; on April 9, 1948, the terrorist bands Lehi and Irgun Zvai Leumi--the latter under Menahim Begin's leadership--massacred some 250 Arabs. But Deir Yasin is merely the most remembered of several massacres that summer which were intended...
...that time was to be shot. The curfew was announced at 4:30, leaving little time to warn the populace. In particular, many villagers worked outside the village, and there was no way to inform them of the new security measures. During the first hour of the curfew, 47 Arab residents of Kfar Kassem were shot as they returned to the village on bicycles and in lorries after work. The number included seven children and nine women. The killing continued until after a group of fourteen women, one boy and four men, was shot, when the unit commander finally ordered...