study there, most with generous scholarships. But they are Ar- br

abs—Israeli Arabs, and the vast majority are citizens of the br

state. They are studying to be attorneys and physicians and en- br

gineers and professors. But mostly they are studying to be the br

future leaders of the PLO and the “revolution.” And, of course, br

they owe their education to the generosity and liberality of the br

Jews of Israel and the world.

On June 20, 1976, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stood be- br

fore his colleagues, members of the Labor Party, and spoke con- br

cerning the problems and future of the Arabs of Israel. In his br

hands he held papers—statistics—detailing the immense br

“progress” made by the Arabs of Israel since 1948. Among the br

figures that Rabin threw out to prove his contention of Arab br

advancement were those that dealt with education: In 1948, br

only 32.5 percent of Israeli Arab children were attending br

schools. Now the figure was 92 percent, compared with 60 per- br

cent in Jordan; 40 percent in Egypt, Iraq, and Libya; 20 percent br

in Algeria; and 15 percent in Yemen. Whereas the number of br

Jewish students had risen sixfold since 1948, the number of Ar- br

abs now studying in state schools had jumped twelvefold. More br

than 1,500 were now studying in Israeli universities (and several br

hundred were studying outside the country). In 1948 there were br

only 300 Arab teachers; in 1976, said Rabin, there were more br

than 5,000. Thanks to Israeli generosity, there were 241 kin- br

dergartens, 295 primary schools, 28 intermediate schools, and br

80 high schools for Arab children.

In Premier Rabin’s self-satisfaction one sees the bitter reali- br

ty of Israeli self-delusion. Was Rabin seriously telling Jews that br

educational advancement would satisfy the Arabs and make br

them more sympathetic to the Jewish state? More to the point: br

Did the prime minister of Israel not understand that it was precisely the br

educated Arabs of Israel who would be the most extreme, the most danger- br

ous, the future leaders of the nationalistic revolution? Did he not com- br

prehend the tragic irony in the fact that the Israeli government br

and Jewish money were creating the Arab intellectual who br

would lead the revolt against Israel? The self-evident truth is br

that the figures that show the growth of Arab education are far br

greater cause for Jewish mourning than joy.

The Jerusalem Post (February 26, 1979) interviewed an Arab br

university graduate, a member of the PLO-supporting Abna-el- br