Arab Built Heritage Preservation in Israel - שימור מורשת ערבית בנויה בישראל

A View of Haifa
"I am the first to say that I am Israeli, Jewish, Zionist; but there must be a separation between one's personal identity and important public topics, such as site preservation" (Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi). These were the closing remarks by the opening speaker of yesterday's lecture series at Haifa University on the importance of preserving old buildings around Israel, focusing on those in Arab neighborhoods. The lecture series was sponsored by The Israel National Commission for UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Prior to these remarks, Prof. Ben-Artzi, who is the University Rector and a lecturer in the Israel Studies department, stated several challenges facing the efforts to preserve buildings, especially among Arab communities. Some challenges that he mentioned included: the individuals in said communities; the political and narrative society; the local authority, which deals with what is urgent and not with what is important. Ben-Artzi's
remarks proved very true as the following lectures were heard.

While combining many elements to it, including many relating to architecture and building style, this six hour lecture series held political nuances throughout all of the lectures. In fact, this point was reiterated with many oppositions to one speaker's remarks that "there is a need to remove political sentiments when talking about preservation" (Prof. Sa'adya Mendel). The lectures and attendees included Jews and Arabs; Professors, Architects, other academicians; and people working the the public sector. This variety really helped in having a wide range a viewpoints introduced and in creating a balance in opinion.

I found this lecture series especially interesting because it took an issue confronted in Israeli society that may not seem as political at first glance, but clearly is, and brought it to the forefront. It was clear that this was indeed a political topic not just because several speakers mentioned this, but also because as many of the speakers spoke, their personal and political views manifested themselves quite clearly.

Besides learning a lot about the topic of Arab-Palestinian building preservation in Israel, I was also reminded of how loud and opinionated Israelis can be; for not a moment went by during the day when someone from the audience wasn't talking or expressing an opinion while a lecturer was speaking on stage; especially the older man that was sitting right in back of me!

"גם אני ישראלי אמיתי"

While walking on one of the streets in Nazareth, I came across a car that had a sticker on it which stated: "גם אני ישראלי אמיתי"- "I too am a real Israeli".


Besides the interest I found in this specifically because the car was in Nazareth (whether it was owned by a Jewish or Arab Israeli, I do not know, although I could probably make a wild guess), I once again, as in other written and spoken references I have alluded to in my entries here, found it interesting, for I saw it as testament to the strong Israeli pride that can be found among some Israelis, manifesting itself the most in times when Israel as a state and Israeli citizens as individuals may feel threatened by international narratives and perceptions.
Comments and thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Shabbat Shalom.

Nazareth (Natzeret)

Yesterday I spent the day in Nazareth (in Hebrew- Natzeret). Nazareth is the home to the Church of the Annunciation and the most vibrant Arab city in Israel. Being such, Dirasat, the Arab center for Law and Policy, which Dr. Jabareen is head of, is located there.


I spent the day with Dr. Jabareen in the Dirasat office, reading interesting articles and talking, and then at 4pm we proceeded to attend a gathering to celebrate the beginning of a Dirasat research project on Arab teacher training in Israel. The gathering had a majority of Arab participants who are educators in different capacities at the various colleges around the country, as well as a few Jewish educators. After a nice introduction by Dr. Jabareen and Dr. Ayman Agbaria, who is in charge of this specific project at Dirasat, each participant presented his, her, or their research (some were doing joint research) proposals, whose findings will later be combined in a book which will be published by Dirasat on the topic.


Some of the topics included:

• Positive and negative experiences of Arab students- Conclusions for teacher training
  
• Arab teacher training policy in Israel for dealing with students in distress and crisis
  
• How the pedagogical counselor perceives his/her position
• The limited number of Arab women candidates to teacher training colleges
• And many more...
  

We ended the evening with a nice dinner at a local restaurant. To be honest, I think the things that were discussed at the dinner are the ones that stuck with me most. We found ourselves sitting Jews with Jews and Arabs with Arabs; Coincidence? Most at my side of the table (let's see if you can guess on which side I sat) didn't think so; Ironic? I would say so!

To a question I posed as to why none of the research topics discussed the dealing from "above", that is, from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and other such bodies, with the problems Arab-Israelis face in the teacher training process, I was answered that "there is nothing to research; the MOE doesn't deal with anything". This I found to be a very pessimistic and unfortunate answer.

I left the restaurant with a good feeling of optimism of what people such as the ones who attended this gathering want and can do, but also with an acknowledgement that there is indeed still much to be done, especially from "above".

View of Nazareth

College educators meeting

West Bank Story

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I stepped on the soil of an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Even more than this, yesterday, for the first time in my life, I stepped on the soil of a Palestinian village- a village located in the West Bank which is ruled by the Palestinian authority. The experience was one that I still have not fully grasped. What I saw and heard is almost hard to put in words, thus in this entry you will find several pictures, which I think can tell of my experience better than I can in my own words. I will nevertheless try to present an outline of the highlights of my day in the disputed territories, which are (unbelievably) located 15 minutes from central Tel-Aviv, from where the bus left.

The single Palestinian house

We began our visit in the settlement [Hitnachlut] of Elkanah, located as I mentioned, 15 minutes west of central Tel-Aviv. There we received an explanation about the history of this settlement in particular and settlements in general, and had the first of many discussions regarding the separation fence and wall. The thing that struck me most in Elkanah was the image of a single Palestinian house fenced in between the houses in Elkanah on one side, and a part of the wall on the other.

From Elkanah we continued towards one of the biggest and most developed settlements in the West Bank, which even houses a college aspiring to be a university, and a big industrial center; Ariel. On the way to Ariel our guide pointed out a few other settlements and Palestinian villages, among them: She'arey Tikvah (Gates of Hope), Oranit (Small Pine) and Azun Atmah. I will leave it to you to guess which were Jewish settlements and which were Palestinian villages. If I did not know that Ariel was a settlement, and if it did not have a gate at its entrance to give that fact away, I would have never guessed that it was one. Ariel was as developed as any Israeli town/small city I'd ever encountered. We were also told that the university aspiring college was thriving (however, despite being right next to many Palestinian villages, it did not have one Palestinian student attending it). The images I saw and the things we were told made me a bit frustrated. I couldn't help but ask myself once again why the Israeli government and Israeli tax payers, whether they support it or not, continue investing in territories that are under such great dispute.

Our tour ended with a visit to a Palestinian village called Ein-Abus, located by the village Chawara and the settlement (which is in fact a stronghold [Ma'achaz] and not a recognized settlement) Itzhar. There we met with the head of the village council; a Palestinian member of "Combatants for Peace", the group which the trip was organized by; and other local Palestinian residents. They spoke to us about the realities of living in Ein-Abus and the hardships they face due to conflicts with settlers from Itzhar. They were all very nice and hospitable. They fed us lunch and in general were very friendly. I spoke to two local residents, both of whom attended the meeting. We spoke about our common goal of creating and sustaining peace and the problems created by extremists on both side. They outwardly acknowledged the detriment of having Hammas rule and the need for leaders on both sides who truly want peace.

The meeting in Ein-Abus and the trip in general left me with a bitter-sweet feeling. Bitter- for obvious reasons. Sweet- because of my finding of people on both sides who want to change the status quo.

I have only provided highlights of what I saw and experienced yesterday; for one, because if I were to write it all I could turn it into a book, and a blog entry is not the place to do this. Secondly, because I myself have not yet processed it all. I have a feeling, though, that throughout the summer, I will return to mention events from this day in future entries, for it has impacted me so greatly. Any specific questions will be more than welcomed, and I will do my best to answer them.

I ended my day on a very different note- going to see a concert of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with my Dad. A much needed relaxing activity after a day such as this.

Checkpoint outside of Ein-Abus

An Academic Day

The Promenade in Tel-Aviv
Yesterday was what I would call an "academic day". I started off by finding an article in the "Ha'Aretz" newspaper, one of Israel's leading newspapers, closely relating to the topic of my research, titled: "The Foolish March of Arab-Israeli Repression"; and later when I came home in the evening, two more articles from the same paper were waiting for me, them too relating to my research topic, titled: " The Opportunity for Young Arabs : National Services"; and "The State is Creating Ticking Poverty Bombs". On the previous day I also found an article in that day's "Ha'Aretz" relating to the topic. Based on all of this, it seemed as though I landed on the right summer to conduct research on this topic.

I then left for Haifa University, where I spent some hours roaming the library in search of books I was after for my research. I was only semi-successful, partly because some of the books I was after simply did not exist in this library, and partly because I was unsuccessful in finding books that were supposedly there. I nevertheless was able to extract some good material and sit down to review them.

A big question that has been lingering in my head for a while and had popped up as I was reading a statistical report was: How do we appease the Arab-Palestinian population of Israel while Israel continues to hold its identity as a Jewish state at its core? Should the state see itself in this way at all? and: Are psychological effects dating back to WW2 remaining at the core of Israel's defense of itself as a state for the Jewish people? Neither of these are easy questions to answer and to be honest I will probably not be able to come to solid conclusions on any of them, but they are nevertheless very important questions to address, even if an answer to them cannot be found.

I ended my day in Haifa with a visit with my friend Ari to the Haifa Educational Zoo- small zoo, but we had a very nice visit.

Tomorrow I am going on an organized trip to Nablus and its surrounding towns. I have never been to the West Bank so I am pretty excited, but also anxious, for obvious reasons. Reports from this experience will be reported in my next entry.

On another note, on Wednesday I went to Tel-Aviv to visit the city and a friend. As my friend, Amit, and I were walking down Dizengof Street, one of the main streets in Tel-Aviv, we came across a number of young people trying to "sell" their faith; they were Jews for Jesus. This fact is not really related to anything. I however, found it quite interesting to see. After inquiring with Amit, I was confirmed that this is in fact a new phenomenon in Israel-
Why? this question neither of us knew to answer.

"The Arab's Whinging Era is Over"

Kashrut Certificate at a
Local restaurant
My day begins with two lectures by Dr. Jabareen for students from American University, Washington DC, at the Colony Hotel in Haifa, about the Legal, Political, Social, and Economic Status of Arab-Palestinian citizens within the State of Israel. Being American students not very familiar with the topic, they (and their accompanying professors) asked all kinds of questions, some of which seemed to have pretty obvious answers. Nevertheless, both lectures were very interesting, and despite having read about a lot of what Dr. Jabareen talked about already, I did learn a lot. Two things that Dr. Jabareen mentioned especially caught my attention. The first was his pointing out that Giving rights to one group (i.e. the Arab-Palestinians) does not necessarily exclude another (i.e. the Jews)- or at least it shouldn't (Lecture, Dr. Jabareen- June 14, 2010). The second was that Palestinians in Israel are not struggling for an independent state, but for equal rights within the state of Israel (Lecture, Dr. Jabareen- June 14, 2010). In a sense, I feel as though these two points can sum up a lot of doubts for people who are skeptical about the place Arab-Palestinians hold in Israeli society, or the place that they should hold in Israeli society.

From Ben-Gurion street, where the hotel is located, I headed on a 24 Egged bus towards Haifa University, where I was going to meet my friend Ari Winograd, also a student at Clark, who is finishing a semester of study abroad in Israel. The bus ride took just around a full hour- the streets in Haifa are very congested and the bus makes many stops. On the way I saw a car with a sticker on it that said "חגרת? תפילת הדרך, אמרת?" ("Did you Buckle? Prayer for the road, you said?"), and once again was reminded of the uniqueness of Israel as a Jewish state. After having lunch at one of the University eating venues, Ari and I headed to his residence on campus. There I met his roommates, all native Israelis, and we began a long discussion (just around five hours, in fact) about political issues in Israel- from benefits to the Orthodox citizens of the country, to issues regarding the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict". It was very interesting to hear what Israeli university students, one of them studying Law, have to say about the political obstacles of their own country. We spent much of the time discussing Israeli perceptions of the different issues versus perception from abroad (mainly from the US). My overall perception was that young Israelis have adopted much more moderate views on controversial issues than their predecessors. A very interesting perception of the question of a solution to the "conflict" was made by one of the students I was talking with. So interesting, in fact, that I even asked his permission to record his statement (which he consented to). Perhaps I will use it later on in my research.

As I was heading back on the 202 Egged bus from one of the main bus stations in Haifa, Merkazit Chof Ha'Karmel, to my hometown of Zichron-Ya'akov, I was addressed by a young woman on the bus (maybe 20 years old), who noticed I was reading a book in English. She had noticed me because she works for a company called "Wall Street", which manages programs for teaching Israelis English at all levels. We briefly discussed the name of the company, whereby I mentioned that perhaps that name is not as appealing today as it may have been a couple of years ago. She also told me that, quote "these programs don't cost in the hundreds [of Shekels], they cost thousands". My interaction with her made me think of two things; for one, it made me think of how English in general and the United States in particular are still very valued in Israeli society, despite how they may not be as much any more in many other parts of the world. Second, it reminded me of a unique trait which the Israeli people have, of being very open and interested in the surroundings, for good and for bad.

I got home, sat down and read summaries of court cases regarding equal rights of the Arab-Palestinians in Israel, sent to me by Dr. Jabareen.

That was my day.

As I promised, I will continue to post, in edition to my entries, some pictures that I think capture the essence of the State of Israel in its different aspects. Enjoy.

Upside-down street sign

A First Glimpse from the Holy Land

It's now been almost two days since my arrival to Israel. My first reaction upon arrival was a sense of surrealism- a sort of disbelief that finally, I am actually here . My time here so far has been spent seeing my parents and some friends and reacquainting myself with daily life in Israel.

One of the first things I began to be reminded of was the type of personalities and attitudes which the Israeli people hold. Very open, very loud, and always saying what's on their minds. Yesterday, for instance, as I was taking a walk with my friend Tamir through the streets of Zichron-Ya'akov, we came across (another) house being built in the little bit of space still left in Israel to build. As we were walking past it, a man walked towards us; as he past the house that is being built he shouted at the construction workers (in Hebrew- loosely translated): "Why all this building?! we're gonna be breaking into war tomorrow anyway and everything will be ruined!" Despite this man's pessimism, I found his remarks quite intriguing, and perhaps a testament to Israeli sentiments towards the current situation in particular and the overall situation in general. At that moment, I really wished I had my digital recorder with me so that I could have recorded and shared his exact remarks with all of you.

Today is Friday (Yom Shishi), a day when the entire country operates on a half day schedule in anticipation for the Sabbath (Shabbat), whether for religious reasons or simply because its a day during which you don't go to work- one of the remaining ways in which Israel differ itself from most of the rest of the world because of her Jewish character. This factor has many good aspects to it, bringing the Jewish citizens of Israel together under a common cause. How this translates to the implications towards the other citizens of Israel (i.e. the Arab-Palestinian) can be debated. I hope to get better insight to this as I move ahead with my work this summer.

I will be spending the weekend with family and friends, and anticipating my first meeting with Dr. Jabareen on Monday at Haifa University.

They say a picture is worth more than a thousand words, so I will attempt to add some interesting photos I take with captions beneath them to each blog entry to give you a sense of what catches my attention as I go about my daily life in Israel.

Shabbat Shalom and have a good weekend.
















(Bottom) Sign on a fence at the side of a main street,

stating: "Stoping the disaster:

Moving the Gas Factories to the Ocean"

(Top) Artillery Tank at the Artillery
Display in Zichron Ya'akov

פוליטיקה של הרחקה או פוליטיקה של הסדרה? ישראל ואזרחיה הערבים
אליעזר דון-יחיא
"טיפול דחוף בשאלות הקשורות במצבם ובמעמדם של הערבים אזרחי ישראל במגמה להביא לשינויים מבניים על בסיס מוסכם בתחום זה חשוב אפוא גם לשם שמירת השלום הפנימי והיציבות הפוליטית של מדינת ישראל" (2003 עמ' 9).

A Politics of Distancing or a Politics of Resolution? Israel and its Arab Citizens/ Eliezer Don-Yehya
"Urgent attention to questions relating to the situation and status of the Arab citizens of Israel in the process of establishing agreed upon changes in this area are important also for the maintenance of internal peace and political stability of the state of Israel" [Loosely translated from Hebrew] (Don-Yehya 2003: 9).

Recent statistical research indicates that the Arab-Palestinian population of Israel currently stands at about 20% (1.2 million) of the total population. In contrast to this, the same research indicates that only around 6% (3,577) of people working in the different government offices identify themselves as Arab-Palestinian (Lis 2010). It does not take a mathematics student (which I definitely am not!) to figure out that the percentages don't match up.

Ever since beginning my studies at Clark University of International Development & Social Change (IDSC) and Political Science, my interests in both fields have grown tremendously. I have discovered the beauty but also the many faults in both of them. My specialization in Political Economy has brought me to focus in even more depth on issues relating to politics. Combined with this, as a native of Israel, ever since beginning to study these topics one of my natural inclinations has been towards looking at Israel and its politics through these lenses.

The process that led me to conducting the research I will be doing this summer began last April (2009) when I went for an advising session with my faculty adviser, Prof. David Bell in IDSC. I brought up the idea for the topic of the political representation of Arab Israelis in decision making bodies as a possible topic for my Honors Thesis, which I will be writing in the upcoming academic year. Prof. Bell then suggested that I might want to think of combining this idea with conducting field research on the topic, as part of my IDSC requirements. This idea appealed to me a lot and I immediately began in a process towards making this happen. With a suggestion by my dad, who is a professor at Haifa University, I got in touch with Dr. Yousef Jabareen, who is also a lecturer at Haifa University of Law and the Arab Minority, as well as the director of the Dirasat Arab center for Law and policy, centered in Nazareth. To my delight, Dr. Jabareen was happy to assist me with my research and thus my journey began.

It has been over a year since this idea came about. After spending the past year reading as much as I can on the topic and topics relating to it, and getting in contact with different scholars and political figures, I am now four days away from arriving in Israel, and eight days away from finally meeting Dr. Jabareen in person and beginning my field research on the status of the Arab citizens of Israel in relation to their position in the decision making process and all that it entails.

Recent unfortunate events in Israel (the Flotilla incident on May 31, 2010) have caused for renewed tension among the people of Israel and between Israel and several members of the international community. How this will effect my work this summer is something I will just have to wait and see.

Some (especially avid Jewish Zionists, in Israel and abroad- and don't get me wrong, I would be considered one too) may ask- why are you, a Jew, born and raised in Israel, who has been one of many recipients of all the rights and privileges given to Israeli citizens, looking at the issue of fair representation of Israeli Arab citizens in decision-making bodies? can't I just be happy to be a proud Jewish Israeli citizens with said rights and privileges? To all those who may ask this and other similar questions, I reply: read the quote I put at the top of this entry. It may begin to give you an idea of where I am coming from. If things are still not clear, feel free to ask; I am ready, willing and happy to answer any such questions.

At this point, I would like to thank a few people who helped make this long process reach where it has. First, I would like to thank Prof. Bell for coming up with the idea to combine my Honors Thesis topic with doing field research, and supporting me throughout the process. Second, I would like to thank Prof. Sharon Krefetz for agreeing to be my Honors Thesis adviser and helping me so much through this process. Third, I would like to thank Dr. Yousef Jabareen for agreeing to work with me through e-mails throughout this entire year, and mostly for agreeing to take me on this summer as I conduct my research in Israel. I would also like to thank all the other scholars and people involved in the Israeli political system who gave me advice, shared ideas, invited me to attend a conference in Jerusalem in July, and sent me important reading materials throughout this past year, namely- Dr. Fred Lazin, Dr. Eran Razin, and Ms. Anna Hazan. I would also like to thank my dad, Prof. Abraham Melamed, for getting me in touch with Dr. Jabareen and supporting me throughout this process; my mom, Paula Silberstein-Melamed, for continuously sending articles and correspondences that she thought would be of interest to me, and the rest of my family for their on-going support. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank the Steinbrecher family and selection committee for believing in this project and financially assisting me in making its execution possible.

To all who have been mentioned above- THANK YOU! I hope you enjoy following my research this summer as much as I plan to enjoy conducting it.

Works Cited
Don-Yehya, Eliezer. "Politics of Distancing or Politics of Resolution? Israel and Its Arab Citizens." The Israel Democracy Institute (2003): 1-9. [Published in Hebrew]

Lis, Jonathan. "Knesset Panel Criticizes Lack of Arab Employees in Government Agencies." Ha'aretz 5 May 2010. [Published in Hebrew and English]