US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV6221

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 006221 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, IS, ISRAELI SOCIETY 
SUBJECT: ISRAELI-ARAB LEADERS CALL ISRAEL HOME, BUT WANT 
GREATER EQUALITY 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Israeli-Arab speakers at an October 20 
roundtable with the diplomatic community underscored their 
solidarity with West Bank and Gazan Palestinians, but 
stressed that most Israeli Arabs would prefer to remain in 
Israel -- but with equal rights -- rather than join any 
future Palestinian state.  Referring to Israeli Arabs as 
"Palestinian citizens of Israel," the speakers discussed 
socio-economic and legal inequities between the Israeli-Arab 
and the Israeli-Jewish populations and criticized a 
right-wing Jewish proposal for the eventual transfer of 
Israeli-Arab towns bordering the West Bank to a future 
Palestinian entity.  Although they represented various 
political parties, all the speakers similarly called on the 
diplomatic community to raise the problem of discrimination 
against Israeli Arabs with GOI officials as well as to call 
for more equitable resource allocations to that sector.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Mossawa Paints a Grim Picture of Discrimination 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
2.  (SBU) Representatives of the NGO Mossawa provided the 
backdrop to a roundtable discussion October 20 between 
members of the diplomatic corps and leaders of the 
Israeli-Arab community by presenting examples and data on the 
various forms of discrimination against Israeli Arabs, 
including laws and resource allocations that favor the Jewish 
community.  According to an October 2005 Mossawa publication 
distributed at the roundtable, the GOI discriminates against 
Israeli Arabs in the areas of education, land and housing 
allocation, access to health care, level of income, and 
hostile treatment by Israel's security forces.  Mossawa gave 
the following examples of social and economic gaps between 
Israeli Arabs and Jews: 
 
-- Only five percent of the national development budget has 
gone to the Arab sector, which comprises 20 percent of the 
population. 
 
-- In 2003, 48 percent of Arab families lived below the 
poverty line, as compared to 15 percent of Jewish families. 
 
-- The average monthly income in 2004 for Israeli Arabs was 
63 percent of the average income for Jewish citizens. 
 
-- Arab women and the Bedouin populations are the most 
vulnerable sectors of the Arab population, with some 76,000 
Bedouin living in so-called "unrecognized" villages without 
infrastructure and services.  Arab women, Mossawa underlined, 
also face violence within their community, and are more 
likely than Arab men and Jewish women not to attend school. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
We Are the "Authentic Minority" of Israel 
----------------------------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) After the Mossawa presentation, four MKs 
representing the Israeli-Arab parties Hadash (Communist 
Party), Balad (National Democratic Assembly), and United Arab 
list (Arab Democratic Party and Islamic Southern Movement), 
and Sheikh Kamal Khatib, Deputy Director of the Northern 
Islamic Movement (more radical of the two Islamic Movements), 
made similar comments as follows: 
 
-- Israeli Arabs are the "authentic" or indigenous minority 
of Israel and should be recognized as such rather than 
compared to other minorities such as various immigrant 
groups.  Sheikh Kamel Khatib stressed that the Israeli Arabs 
are not "guests" in Israel, but rather the "original owners" 
of the land. 
 
-- Israeli Arabs prefer to be referred to as "Palestinians 
with Israeli citizenship," reflecting their common roots and 
solidarity with the Palestinians of the West Bank and the 
Gaza Strip. 
 
-- The majority of Israeli Arabs want to remain within 
Israel, which they perceive as their historical homeland, 
rather than move to any future Palestinian state.  As 
Nazareth Mayor Ramez Jaraisy stressed, "...even after any 
creation of a Palestinian state," Israeli Arabs "will 
continue being citizens of Israel... and continue struggling 
for national equality." 
 
-- Israeli Arabs feel alienated from the definition of Israel 
as a Jewish state and from the national symbols of Israel, 
which they believe refer to the Jewish nature of the state 
and the overall dominant status of Israeli Jews. 
 
-- A dangerous trend has occurred in the last few years, 
where right-wing politicians have become more brazen in 
advocating that Israeli Arabs be encouraged to emigrate to 
any new Palestinian entity. 
 
-- Israeli Arabs want to and can play a special role in the 
peace process between Israel and Palestinians in the West 
Bank and the Gaza Strip. 
 
-- Any constitution for Israel, on which a Knesset 
subcommittee is currently working, must include provisions 
ensuring the protection of minority rights, with special 
focus on the rights of the "indigenous minority." 
 
------------------------------ 
Appeal to Diplomatic Community 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (SBU) The speakers asked that the European Union and the 
USG press the GOI to address institutional and societal 
discrimination against the Israeli-Arab community, including 
what they referred to as "racist" incitement against Israeli 
Arabs in society as a whole and by Israeli-Jewish 
politicians.  MK Ahmed Tibi underscored that support from the 
international community for Israeli Arabs "is crucial," 
asserting that the international community should be 
supporting all Israelis, "not just its Jewish citizens."  He 
called on the EU and the USG to raise concerns over 
discrimination against Israeli-Arabs with GOI officials and 
to support the establishment of a university in Nazareth and 
a hospital in an Israeli-Arab city. 
 
5.  (SBU) Various speakers also appealed to the USG and EU to 
pressure the GOI to provide more equitable resource 
allocation to the Arab community.  MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) 
asked that the EU "put conditions" on cultural and economic 
agreements with Israel to require that the GOI increase 
resource allocation to the Israeli-Arab sector.   He also 
asked that the EU and USG provide more scholarship 
opportunities for Israeli-Arab students to study in their 
universities. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website. 
********************************************* ******************** 
JONES