Meet Saleh, an Israeli-Palestinian from Ramleh

One of my best friends in Israel is Saleh, who lives in the Bedouin neighborhood of Ramleh, a mixed city between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. We talked yesterday, and I asked him a few questions about Acre and the general mood. As it happens, I've not been to Israel in nearly 7 years, so it was interesting for him to have to think about what has changed.

Saleh is an attorney/construction worker. That's right, he finished law school in Italy, finally passed the Israeli Bar, and years later got his mandatory internship completed so he could actually practice. During all the time and lasting up to the present moment, his primary source of income has been from skilled construction labor. Expect a more formal interview with him in the future. For now - some select Saleh quotes:

When the Jews in Akko rioted against the Arabs they claimed that the Arabs were "grabbing ass" as we say in Hebrew. There is a real sense among some Jews that the Arabs are stepping out of their proper role as a subservient population, and this manifests in all sorts of ways.  This isn't a change in the level of racism among Jews, this is a change in the actual behavior of Arabs in Israel.

For example, it is more common for Arabs in Jewish cities like Tel Aviv to speak openly in Arabic, instead of staying quiet, speaking Hebrew, or talking in more hushed tones. [I remember an old lady standing up on the #25 bus in Tel-Aviv, point at another passenger and start screaming "he's an Arab!" CL.] This isn't quite the same thing, but the other day I tool my wife, my brother and his wife to a fancy resteraunt in Tel-Aviv. My sister on law is religious [meaning that she wears a hijab and is recognizable as Arab from a distance. CL.] We spoke Arabic at the table of course, and the food and service were fine - as it should be. What struck me was that elsewhere in the room was another couple with a woman wearing a hijab! This reality that Arabs are going into "Jewish" areas as part of thier lives is normal, and has been for a long time. But at the same time, it's a reality that has been expanding into new areas, in greater numbers, and with more visibility.

This current generation (the one behind me) is called the 'upright generation' to embody this new sense of pride. Or rather, this new sense of 'we are not taking any more shit.'

I see this as a legacy of the Oct. 2000 Arab demonstrations in Israel that left more than a dozen unarmed civilians dead at the hands of Israeli police. The (Arab) public struggle to hold the police and government officials accountable, and the relative lack of success at that project, seemed to break something. it's no longer possible to treat the official, state sanctioned version of coexistence as viable.

I asked Saleh if his community still holds on to the two state solution as the preferred one.

Our leaders and the vast majority of the public see it as the only viable political option. At the same time, we see the whole peace process as a sham, a game that doesn't go anywhere useful. It's the only game in town, so we play it. There isn't some other vision that will replace two states any time soon, although the intellectual discussion of one state vs. two states is becoming more prominent.

How long will Arab Israelis be content to strive for basic equality within a formally Jewish state, as opposed to demanding a different kind of state at the fundamental level?

Well we don't have equality yet, and anything beyond that feels a bit academic.

As a footnote, let me remind Saleh and my readers of a promise we made to each other nearly ten years ago. "Our struggle will end when our children, Jewish and Arab, look up from the same land, to the same flag waving in the same sky and feel connected and entitled to all of it - as partners and equals."

For a fascinating look at these very issues from a thoughtful Israeli-Zionist perspective, check out Calev Ben Dor's Reut Institute blog. It links to a great little report from the Reut Institute here. They ask: "Are the Israeli-Arabs a national minority with collective rights? - This is a basic question that must be addressed." In the past, the Zionist voice would not have asked - or noticed - this the issue is on the table.