Expelling Israeli Arabs to another country is an idea getting ever more popular. Emad Gad looks at mainstream racism The Israeli media has not stopped debating an opinion poll that found that 64 per cent of Israeli Jews support the transfer of Arab citizens of Israel. The poll clearly reveals a frightening increase in racism and anti-Arab sentiment in Israel. Some thought that such sentiment was limited to the most extreme elements of the Israeli right, such as banned movements like Kach, branded as both a racist and terrorist organisation. But the fact that 64 per cent of Israeli Jews supported expelling Israeli Arabs to another country clearly shows that the idea has gone beyond the extreme right and is now current in Israeli society in general. Kach activists and partisans were quick to celebrate the findings of the poll, triumphantly announcing that ideas for which the movement was banned are now supported by a majority of Israeli Jews. But more rational Jewish voices were heard warning of the danger of these ideas and calling for a response in order to preserve Israel as a democratic country that respects human rights. The media interest in the issue has increased in tandem with the debate over Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza and evacuate Jewish settlements. The extreme right is engaging in a fierce confrontation with the prime minister: there have been death threats against Sharon and rabbis have issued edicts declaring it illegal to dismantle settlements and calling on the army and the security forces to refuse to obey orders to evacuate settlements. Many politicians and writers are discussing the unprecedented polarisation of Jews in Israel, with some predicting that it might even lead to civil war. One the most prominent articles discussing the poll appeared on Channel 7's website ( www.a7.org ). Written by Emunah Elon, the article was entitled "They Don't Want Arabs." Elon wrote, "Many civilised Israelis were shocked when they heard that an opinion poll conducted by the Centre for National Security Studies at Haifa University found that 64 per cent of the Jewish public in Israel believes that the state should encourage Israeli Arabs to emigrate. This means that 48 per cent of Israeli citizens actually support the transfer of 20 per cent of Israeli citizens. "While the basic platforms of most right-wing parties in the Knesset discuss transfer only in the sense of finding a permanent home for Palestinians who have lived in refugee camps in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip since 1948, it appears that the Jewish public is not satisfied with this. The public doesn't want Arabs here at all. "The leftists are content to express their shock at these findings, describing them as 'cruel' or 'embarrassing'. They complain about the rise in the 'racism index' and find solace in another finding of the same poll: 60 per cent of the Jewish public in Israel supports a withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Of course, the 'civilised' would prefer to be among that 60 per cent, not among the other 64 per cent. "But what do those 60 per cent who support a withdrawal want if not the same thing the 64 per cent who support transfer want? True, some leftists like to link their support for withdrawal with a higher moral code and their opposition to the 'occupation', but ultimately they too are only looking for a way to make the Arabs disappear from around them. "What they describe as their opposition to a bi-national state is, in fact, a stubborn attempt to deny Israel's geography and transform it into a Western nation. That is, a nation totally cut off from the surrounding Arab environment in which it lives. "This is what they think a withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and Gaza will produce. This is the real motive behind their obsession with dismantling the settlements, and the same thing goes for the separation wall. With all due respect to the controversial security advantages of the wall, for them, the wall largely seeks to hide the people who live in Zion from another people who also live in Zion. "It seems that many Israelis who do not support the actual transfer of Israeli Arabs have not yet lost hope in the Israeli attempt to culturally transfer them, which has been going on for several years. This is an attempt to make them more cultured, more Western- leaning, less Arab, and more suited to life in Israel as a subservient minority that accepts lifestyles adopted by the Jewish majority and can peacefully assimilate. "The events of the last decade have slowed the adoption by Palestinian Israeli citizens of an Israeli identity and turned the expression 'Israeli Arabs' into a joke, reminding us that we are not talking about an ethnic minority of the type found in other countries. "The natural sense of belonging felt by many Palestinian citizens of Israel to the national struggle waged by their people against us reminds us that they are not a minority but an inseparable part of the great Arab Muslim majority in the Middle East, where we Jews are a small minority threatened with extermination. In fact, 55 per cent of the Jewish public believes that Arab citizens are a threat to the security of the state, but there are still many Jews who think that if we worked to raise the standard of living a little in Umm Al-Fahm, its residents would be willing to renounce their Palestinian identity. "The idea of transferring Israeli citizens, even by 'encouraging emigration' is unacceptable and impractical. Nevertheless, the Haifa University poll shows that the Jewish public in Israel increasingly feels an urgent need for a secure, democratic Jewish state. It also shows that the public has desponded of the solutions offered by its governments thus far." The site editors of Channel 7 published another article, "The Israeli Arab Problem Is Graver," discussing the plan of former minister and head of the Nationalist Union Party Avigdor Lieberman. "Head of the Nationalist Union Party, Avigdor Lieberman, is asking for the help of members of the Likud Central Committee in pushing his political plan involving an exchange of population and territory between Arabs and Jews," the article said. The article continued, "These days working groups are busy planning how to evacuate settlers in Judea, Samaria and Gaza from their homes in light of the government's decision to turn over the territories, unilaterally, to Palestinian terrorism, thus exposing the southern part of the country to terrorism... "Lieberman wrote to Likud members, 'A unilateral evacuation of settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is essentially collective transfer. There is no doubt that it represents a serious act that conflicts with the principles of the nationalist camp and totally contravenes all the promises made to voters during the last electoral battle.' "The head of the Likud himself waged a fierce battle against the former head of the Labour Party, Amram Mitzna, over unilateral evacuation and explained very well the dangers involved in such an evacuation. "In his letter, Lieberman writes, 'A uni-national Palestinian state next to a bi-national state -- Israel -- means one and a half states for the Arabs and half a state for the Jews. Israel's existence as a bi-national state with a hostile minority that exceeds 20 per cent of the population and considers itself a Palestinian minority that is directly linked to the Palestinian state that Sharon promises to establish will put Israel in an unbearable situation, and we will face internal and external pressure.' "Lieberman warns Likud members that 'if Sharon's plan is implemented -- God forbid -- this development will mean the end of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist nation within a short period of time.'" Even as the debate continues over Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza, it has produced another, equally sharp debate about the status of Arab citizens of Israel, whether there is a political settlement or not. The crux of the issue is that increasingly, more Jewish Israelis do not see Arabs as having any place in Israel. To follow the debate in the Israeli press, visit the website of Arabs Against Discrimination ( www.aad-online.org ).
