| Israeli Arabs: Fathers and Sons (and Daughters) |
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bnineteen years the Arabs of Israel were able to meet and talk
bwith other Arabs who were not Israelis, who called themselves
b“Palestinians,” and who openly spoke of the day when the hated
bJews would leave. The Israeli Arab suddenly realized that he
bwas neither meat nor milk, fish nor fowl. He was not an Israeli,
bbut now he was struck by the awesome realization that he had
bnot been a “Palestinian” all those years either! He was looked
bupon by the West Bank “Palestinians” as a traitor who cooper-
bated with, and accepted, Israeli citizenship from the Jews who
bhad stolen the land from his people. In one fell swoop, all the
bfactors that went into creating the new radical Israeli Arab came
btogether. Things would never be the same again.
bNot only were there new contacts with the West Bank
b“Palestinians,” but this was also the beginning of joint coopera-
btion. Thus, Israeli Arabs participated in a “Palestine Week”
bheld in 1978 at the Universities of Bethlehem and Bir Zeit. They
bhelped organize it, and they printed and distributed a leaflet
bcalling for support of the PLO. In defiance of the law several
bIsraeli Arab students have begun studying in schools in the lib-
berated territories. Indeed, Hanna Nasir, the PLO-backing
bformer president of Bir Zeit College (near Ramallah) who was
bdeported by Israel in 1974 for incitement, told a Kuwaiti news-
bpaper in January 1979: “Despite all Israeli efforts to prevent
byoung Arabs from within the Green Line [Israel] from both
bstudying and teaching at the college, we have three lecturers
bthere today from the region occupied in 1948 [Israel] plus sev-
beral students.
b“One of the beautiful things is the renewal of ties between
ball members of the Palestinian people living in the land of
bPalestine, and this makes it easier to fight against the con-
bquerors.”
bThis is quite true. The opening of the borders between the
bState of Israel and the liberated areas was seen by the incredibly
bobtuse Israelis as allowing the better-fed Israeli Arabs to dem-
bonstrate the benefits of Israeli occupation. Of course, a child
bcould have known that exactly the opposite would occur. The
bIsraeli Arabs were suddenly given the opportunity to meet, regu-
blarly, with their own people who were struggling for what the Is-
braeli Arab understood to be a common goal: freedom.
bThe mayor of Hebron, Fahd Kawasma, said (January 22,
b1979): “The Israeli Arabs have remained foreigners and their
b