Echoing what is a growing anti-semitism in Europe, extremist orthodox Jews are offering some of the same hatred in their own homeland to their Arab counterparts.
Signs of discrimination in Israel are starting to appear everywhere.
Since the beginning of the year, all out attacks targeting Arabs are spilling over onto Jewish citizens who are sometimes caught in between or simply accompanying someone of Arab ethnicity.
In one incident, an Arab woman was beaten and spat on just because she was standing at a bus stop wearing a head scarf. An officer nearby stood by without doing anything about it.
Another Arab citizen, a waiter in Tel Aviv, was beaten by men in the bar simply because he was an Arab.
This kind of violence is spreading all over Israel. Where the sentiment comes from or why suddenly hate crimes are becoming so commonplace is another matter.
Even though 1.8 million Arabs live in Israel and hold Israeli passports, they are not truly considered as being part of the same society. And in truth, they do not cross paths, except at their place of employment or on their way to work.
What is happening now, however, is that violence that was usually seen in skirmishes between soldiers and palestinians is now becoming and internecine flashpoint inside the country.
Jews are increasingly viewing the Arab citizens of Israel as minions for those Arabs outside of Israel who in their minds are plotting their destruction.
Unfortunately, the last few Israeli administrations have been by conservative politicians, elected in part because they cater specifically to the fringe of ultra orthodox Jews, so that these politicians thrive on this kind of sentiment instead of trying to quell it.
These politicians in fact have enacted laws that bar any talk of the 1948 appropriation of the Palestinian lands, the Al Nakba. If an Arab school even speak about the 'catastrophe', that school is immediately de-funded.
Even Haaretz, the most conservative publication in Israel has declared "we have a racism problem". In 2008 there were only 16 incidents of unwarranted violence against Arabs, while this year has already seen 63.
Although Israelis are right in feeling paranoid, considering the constant talk of destruction of the state of Israel on the part of Muslim clerics and politicians in other countries, this kind of violence has become endemic, and is targeting those Arabs who are peacefully co-existing in Israel.
What the newer generations lack, is the telling of history as it should be, with all its darkness and light. Without it, and without understanding the white wash that has been imposed on the re-telling of the creation of the state of Israel, this kind of violence will only increase. It is too bad that people are no longer told of the times before World War I, when all three main religions, Muslim, Christian and Jewish and some other minorities lived peacefully side by side, in Palestine.
What Israeli are doing, in effect, is to try to exclude Arabs from Israeli land, either by refusing to let them live in certain areas or by directly calling for their emigration.
But it is interesting to note that such exclusion and de-nationalization only fuels those very same sentiments against Jews that the latter always cite when they try to justify violent action against their neighbors.
In some cases, local politicians are in the mix, completing what citizens have already started. The mayor of Nazareth has called for exclusion of Arabs from the community asserting that citizens should "fight against the right of everyone in Israel to live where he or she pleases" and even to go so far as to use "methods we would rather not discuss."
The problem though, stems from education. Almost all Israeli citizens when they are called for their Army service are indoctrinated in the fabled "Jewish superiority" mythology. With that, almost anyone is seen as second class citizen. But in truth, if anyone who is not Jewish is not allowed the same rights, then that person is denied his citizenship rights.
And the problem is that this 'superiority' tale is spilling over not only on Arabs, but on people of other races, especially dark skinned Africans. Some gangs have attacked Africans in Tel Aviv.
And while the politicians do their bit to acquiesce to ultra right sentiment, the police does worse by often refusing to prosecute the attackers.
Op-ED
Partial Source : Spiegel Online 6.5.13
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