ISRAEL: A brief guide to Israel's ethnic groups.

 

By: YOSEF TASTASSA  
Published: April 7th 2011 in News » Israel

Complex identity

Shalom Life recently published an article about Juliano Mer-Khamis, an Israeli-Arab actor recently shot dead in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the northern part of the West Bank.

Be honest. Before reading the article, how many of you knew the true definition of the "Israeli-Arab" identity? Is it a Jew born in an Arab country; is it a Muslim Arab living in Israel; is it an Arab with an Israeli citizenship; is it someone who was born to an Arab father and a Jewish Israeli mother?

If that person is half Christian is he an Israeli-Christian, an Arab-Christian or a Palestinian-Christian? Is there any connection with one’s religion to one’s nationality according to the Israeli terms?

Confused? Suprised? - read the followings.

Jews

UN resolution 181, dated November 29,1947 approved the establishment of two states in "Palestine Eretz-Israel," then under British mandate. According to the UN resolution, one of the states was to be Jewish the other, Arab.

From the resolution until the end of the Independence War in 1949, Israelis and Jews were the same.

A massive aliyah in the 1950s made new olim automatic Israeli citizens with full rights including the right to vote. Today, approximately 75 pecent of Israeli residents are Jewish.

Arabs

By the end of the independence war the Arab population found itself in a chaotic situation. The Arab state that UN 181 resolution approved was never established. Many Arabs left their homes and became refugees. They and their descendants live in the West Bank (Annexed by Jordan), Gaza Strip (Annexed by Egypt), Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Not all the Arabs left their homes, and those who stayed suddenly found themselves living in a new state named Israel where they lived under Martial Law for 17 years.

Israel decided to give the Arabs living in its territories Israeli citizenship. The Israeli-Arab was born, and over 90 per cent of the Israeli-Arab population participated in the 1949 elections. Approximately 20 percent of Israeli citizens today are Israeli-Arabs.

Until 2003, every citizen of Israel had his/her nationality (ethnic group) be it Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Druze, written in their ID card.

Druze

Druze people are obliged to serve in the IDF. Their language is Arabic; historically they emerged from Islam but most of them reject being called Arabs, preferring Druze or Israelis or Israeli-Druze. Some of them are against their Israeli identity and insist to be called Palestinians.

Druzes also live in the Golan Heights. The area was occupied by Israel in 1967. They were given Israeli ID'S and citizenships but they see themselves as Syrians and most of them reject the Israeli identity and Israeli law.

Christians

Most of the Christians living in Israel are Arabs, comprising about 2 percent of the Israeli population. The majority of Christians live in the northern part of the country, and there is a cultural difference between them and the Muslims.

We must all remember that Israel is also the land of Christ and 2000 years of Christian influence is seen all over. There are Scottish, Russian, French, Greek, Franciscan and Armenian churches and abbeys all over the country. The residents are priests and nuns; most of them came from abroad and have no Israeli citizenship.

The Jewish society is much more tolerant to Christians than to the Muslims. Therefore in some cases the Christian-Arabs emphasize the Christian element in their identity rather than the Arab one.

The status of East Jerusalem Arabs

Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. It annexed the old city of Jerusalem and as a result the Arab residents of East-Jerusalem have the right to carry an Israeli ID card. Voting to the Knesset is the only right they don't have.

Adyghe People (Cherkes)

There are about 4,000 Cherkes that live in Northern Israel. Their origin is the Kavkaz and they arrived to various parts of the Middle East during the times the Ottoman Empire ruled the region. They had Christian History, nowadays most of them are Muslims, and the Alpha-Bet is Cyril (Russian). They are obliged to serve the IDF.