Middle East Minorities

Israeli-Arabs overwhelmingly identify first as Arabs, Muslims, or Palestinians, and only last as Israelis. Regardless of their identification, they are the largest minority in Israel, constituting about 20 percent of the population. Lately, Israel has achieved notoriety as an “apartheid, racist state” in the United Nations and throughout the world. As an example, former president Jimmy Carter ’s book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” soared to the top of the New York Times bestseller list when it was published in 2006.

Among anti-Zionists, the term “apartheid” usually describes Israel’s treatment of Palestinians while “racist’ is the term used to describe Israel’s treatment of Israeli- Arabs. I believe that the first instance is totally false and diminishes the horrors of the former South Africa apartheid regime; I won’t even address it. The subject of this article is the second instance: whether Israel’s government treats its Israeli- Arab minority in a racist manner.

Historically, the Middle East has been home to many minorities, who still reside there today: Kurds, Druze, Copts, Assyrians, etc. The majority, Arabs, are composed of many peoples of varying skin color, united primarily by language and culture. Jews have been a minority among the Arabs for centuries, from at least 586 BCE, when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and Jews were dispersed in all directions. Before the time of Mohammed, Jewish nomads roamed the eastern section of the Middle East, a monotheistic minority among the pagan Arab and Aryan tribes. Until the rise of Mohammed in 622 CE, the Jewish tribes held their own. The province of Khaibar, for example, located north of Medina, was inhabited by various Jewish tribes who built seven fortresses there.

After Mohammed began his war to convert all the nomadic tribes to his new religion, the Banu Nadir tribe deserted the prophet’s camp and sought refuge in Khaibar, where they led the other Jewish tribes to resist Mohammad’s invasion in 628. The Jews retreated to their fortresses and bravely defended themselves before eventually surrendering. Mohammad allowed them to remain in Khaibar only after paying a monetary tribute to their conqueror. (www.jewishencyclopedia.com)

In his book “Arabs in History,” Bernard Lewis, dean of Middle Eastern

scholars, wrote: “The city of Medina, some 280 miles north of Mecca, had originally been settled by Jewish tribes from the north, especially the Banu Nadir and Banu Quraiza. The

comparative richness of the town attracted an infiltration of pagan Arabs who came at first as clients of the Jews and ultimately succeeded in dominating them. The Jews, engaged mainly in agriculture and handicrafts, were economically and culturally superior to the Arabs, and were consequently disliked .... as soon as the Arabs had attained unity through the agency of Muhammad they attacked and ultimately eliminated the Jews.

(www.eretzyisroel.org )

But the Jews didn’t disappear from Arabia, Iran and N. Africa after the Muslim conquest. They (and any Christians) lived as dhimmis – infidels with inferior status - among the Arabs. As dhimmis, the Jews were forced to live apart from the Muslims, to wear special garments, to pay extraordinary taxes, and above all, to remain in an inferior position to their Muslim overlords. In addition, they suffered from periodic pogroms. Even in the “Golden Age” of Jewish life under Muslim sovereignty (8th-12th centuries in Spain and Portugal), the strictures of dhimmitude remained in effect.

The Jews continued to live among the Muslims in the eastern Middle East and North Africa until the 20th century. There had always been a trickle of “Arab” Jews immigrating to Jerusalem, but after Israel’s independence in 1948, and the Six Day War of 1967, the Jews were driven from Muslim lands, fleeing their homes and livelihoods with only what they could carry. This nearly-forgotten exodus of about 800,000 Jews was absorbed primarily by the young State of Israel, whose population doubled soon after independence.

The Jews from Muslim lands lived in tent cities in Israel’s desert until they were able to move to better accommodations. Starting from a (generally) more backward condition than the European Jewish refugees, some Sephardic Jews (from N. Africa) and Mizrahi Jews (from Arabia and Iran) even today consider themselves second-class Israeli citizens. Nevertheless, because of better education and increasing “intermarriage” with lighter-skinned Jews, whatever prejudice they face is fast evaporating.

I’ve established that the Middle East has its share of minorities, including Jews. In Israel, there are Jews who believe they are second-class citizens and victims of racism. This group comes primarily from those who emigrated from Muslim lands. Many Israeli- Arabs, especially the overwhelming majority who are Muslim, feel the same.

Israeli-Arabs have the largest families of all ethnicities in Israel, far less post-secondary education, few working wives, and towns suffering from a lack of local investment in infrastructure due to the high rate of tax delinquency. In addition, there is a booming black market economy, which necessitates hiding income and assets. However, none of these social and economic factors stop Israeli-Arabs from voting, from attending colleges or universities, or from becoming wealthy. It does, however, differentiate them from Jewish Israelis. (Ultra-Orthodox Jews share some of the same traits of Israeli-Arabs, notably huge families, and join them at the bottom rung of Israel’s economic ladder.)

Christian Israeli-Arabs, about 9 percent of the Arab population, are proof that being an Arab doesn’t automatically bring racist or second-class status. Christian Arabs have prospered in Israel. This is probably because they have the least number of children in their families, the highest levels of education, and are solidly middle-class.

Israel, which originally had a socialist economy and whose kibbutzim (rural, communal settlements) were a pure form of communism, today mimics the United States with a huge gap between haves and havenots. As in America, it’s easy, but simplistic, to point to race as the cause of social disparity. There’s little doubt that Israel’s Arab citizens have some handicaps compared to the average Jewish Israeli, but their status as citizens includes the same rights as all other Israelis. Israeli- Arabs do feel marginalized in Israel, but that’s primarily because Israel defines itself as the State of the Jews. Nevertheless, Israel is one of the most vibrant democracies in the world and the only democracy in the Middle East.

When Israeli-Arabs claim to be second-class or victims of racism, I say, “Compared to what?” Where is the exodus of desperate Israeli-Arabs to Muslim countries? Fahggedaboutit! If Israeli-Arabs do suffer from some racism in Israel, it’s no different than they would find in any other Western country and – evidently – better than they would expect to find in any Muslim country in the Middle East.

Stephen Kramer resided and worked in the Atlantic City area until 1991, when he moved to Israel with his wife, Michal Langweiler, and two sons. He can be reached at Sjk1@jhu.edu.