Another brightly-lit sign that Israeli Arabs aren’t living under anything like apartheid is their wall-to-wall opposition to becoming citizens of a Palestinian state – even, as Israel Beiteinu proposes, after a change of borders that would allow them to remain on their land. Israeli Arabs aren’t Zionists, and they have altogether legitimate complaints aboutdiscrimination , but the overwhelming majority are not out to dismantle the Jewish state, only to make it more fair and equitable. (As much as I wish foreign anti-Zionists knew this, I wish even more that Israeli Jews did.)
When I read the words Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews, I feel that there is a sense of division--that these two groups of peoples do not belong in the same universe. Arab Israelis live in Israel; they don't seem to belong in Israel. When I envision Israeli Arabs, I see them being compared to Egyptian Arabs, Syrian Arabs, and Algerian Arabs. I envision Israeli Jews being compared to Russian Jews, French Jews, and Canadian Jews. In my opinion, there is no commonality between Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews unless they are redefined as Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis. The difference in using Israeli as an adjective instead of a noun may not seem like much. The semantics are very different.
I do find in interesting when I read Larry Derfner, who I assume is Jewish Israeli, state that the Israeli Arabs are in opposition to bcoming citizens of a Palestinian state. That may be true. I just wish I could read or hear Arab Israelis tell their own stories about living in Israel rather than just getting the information from Jewish Israelis and their overseas Jewish kin.
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