Israel

Issue of Rights

To the knowledge of this contributor, and of his brother, a former US government official now retired in Israel, and of his son-in-law, a native Israeli working as a professional engineer in the south of Israel, there are no citizenship "rights" that are denied to Arabs as compared to Jews.

Particular Issues that Israeli Arabs Face

-- There are some benefits that people receive following military service that are not extended to Arabs because they're excused from military service. In order to make up for this discrepancy there is a voluntary "National Service" program for Arabs. Most of the jobs are in their own communities. After completing this service, they get many benefits similar to veterans of military service.

-- There are allegations that permits to build houses take longer for Arabs, especially in Jerusalem.

-- It's also difficult for Arab towns to get permission to expand beyond their present borders, resulting in overcrowding. (Note: Overcrowding in Arab towns is the result of Israeli-Arab families choosing to grow and/or more Arabs moving into Arab towns in Israel.)

-- Expenditures on public schools in Arab towns may be lower than majority-Jewish public schools elsewhere ... which may be justified since tax revenues from Arab towns are much lower.

These may be examples of prejudice within the bureaucracy, since there are no formal limitations under the law.

Benefits that Arabs have in Israel

Having now directly responded to the negative fishing expedition in the question, it's appropriate to take the opportunity to mention a few additional facts that point up the allegedly sad lot of the Arabs in Israel:

-- The percentage of Arab students in Israeli institutions of higher education is now roughly the same as the percentage of Arabs in the general population.

-- There are large numbers of Arab doctors and nurses who treat both Arab and Jewish patients throughout the Israeli hospital system.

-- The court that found former President Moshe Katzav guilty of wrongdoing and handed down a prison sentence was headed by a Christian Arab from Jaffa. The other two members of the court were women. Readers are invited to log in and list other countries in the region where criminal charges might be brought against a former president without a revolution, or where a court might include women, and Jews, and be headed by a Christian Arab, or by a Christian, or by an ethnic minority not in control of the government.

Answer 1

Arabs may have an great powerful army of men, but the Israeli soldiers are the must evil thing you could ever saw, they train them over there to make them powerful even on 6 men, also they were trained to fight in "Krav maga" its an Israeli technique using for attacking a person with everything that you could, also the Israeli soldiers are trained by the chain of command which is telling them what to do and they does without any questions, Arabs may think over the time and does things by themselves while the Israeli soldiers are working in a eique way of team work, which is better then anything else.

Commentary on Answer 1

So there you have it, folks. A plaintive screed to inform the world and reveal the secret tactics behind the evil, 'disproportionate forces' of military training and discipline.

It may answer the question better than anything that a lifelong friend of Israel could have written here.

Answer 2

Israel has managed to survive based on strategic military action, comprehensive diplomatic action, a myth of its own invincibility (among Arab States), and foreign support. There is also a patriotism in Israel that is hard to match.

Answer 1

Israel from the beginning did not seek the land that was not part of the territory formed by two Hebrew Kingdoms of the past: Northern Kingdom of Israel and Southern Kingdom of Judah. Gaza was the land where the "sea people" from Greece called by Ancient Jews "Plishtim"- invaders in Hebrew - founded their five confederate cities. Later the word "Plishtim" was transformed in "Philistines" in Greek and "Palaestinians" in Latin. Although these invaders -Palestinians- were finally defeated by Israelis/Jews, they did not look at Gaza as at their land.

Answer 2

If you are referring to the Modern State of Israel, the Gaza Strip was never really a part of the Jewish State. According to UN Resolution 181, the whole of the Gaza Strip and a much larger piece of land would belong to an Arab State. During the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9, Egyptian troops were still in the Gaza Strip when Egypt agreed to a ceasefire, giving Egypt control of Gaza. In 1993, the Oslo Accords set up the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip that would be a functionally separate state. Gaza has never bee under Israeli Civilian Control and most Israelis are quite happy with that.