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| Flag of Israel with Flag of Palestine |
Not all Israeli Jews and
Israeli Arabs hate each other, nor does one group wish to expel the other out
of Israel entirely. Israeli Arabs are different than Palestinians living in the
West Bank or Gaza Strip, because they are diversified by levels
of religious observance and ideologies. According to the book, The Israelis, some Arab Israelis “dress
no differently from their secular Jewish friends. In fact, they know more about
the Jewish religion and customs than some secular Jews” (Rosenthal, 261).
Israel's population is a predominantly Jewish, and the residents who are not Jewish are
learning the customs and culture of the majority population. Through
this acceptance of culture, it is evident that Israeli Arabs are indifferent
and adjustable towards the customs and clothing of state of Israel.
One viewpoint from the author is
that Israeli settlers living near the West Bank permit violence on their
Palestinian neighbors, however, “The Israeli government outlawed the Kach Party
for preaching anti-Arab violence. Some settler leaders privately said the ban was long overdue” (Rosenthal, 220). The government appropriately advocated forpolicies that do not promote violence towards Arabs, and the hearsay evidence
from the author suggests that Israelis agree that a policy is finally in place
to protect Palestinians. Her viewpoint towards the settlers near the West Bank
is negative, because she writes about the violence they initiate towards
Palestinians. In her chapter, “The Muslims”, she views Arab Israelis as a
strong nationalist community that is positive towards peaceful cooperation
between Jews and Arabs. She mentions a Palestinian lawyer living in Israel that
fights for equality between Arabs and Jews in a Jewish state. Rosenthal does not provide very
reliable information; however, she does incorporate individual stories from citizens
that convey their experiences of living in Israel. The author’s information is
based on hearsay evidence, and an interpretation of facts due to the abundance
of quotes from the people she interviews. She does have a strong sample size of
citizens that she interviewed, however they are relative to regions and
religious observance.
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| Author: Donna Rosenthal |
According to the “Poll:Jews/Arabs much less divided than Israeli politics lets on,” the Arab Israelis
and Israeli Jews convey cooperation and collaboration rather than hatred and expulsion. The sample includes feedback from about 400 Arabs and 400
Jewish Israelis. One statistic from the poll explains that “Jewish respondents (53 percent) said that
in their day-to-day lives, relations between Jews and Arabs are generally
positive” (Dhalia Scheindlin). Aside from proximity factors, this data explains
the overall message that Jews are accepting of Arabs as their neighbors. The
poll continues to explain that “across the entire sample, between 55 and 58
percent said that cooperation would help advance issues” that are brought
on by the Israel-Palestine conflict (Scheindlin). Nevertheless, polls regarding
the recognition of existence for Palestinians and Jews in the region are
positive (more than 50%).
It is apparent that the author is in favor of the positive statistics
in this poll, stating that “one cannot factually say that Israeli Jews have no
partner among Arab citizens. On a social and civic level, Jews too believe in
cooperation and the inclusion of Jews and Arabs alike. Perhaps the day is not
far off when that sentiment extends to political power as well” (Scheindlin). The author is hopeful for the future, and
notices that Israeli Jews do not overall hate their Palestinian and/or Arab
Israeli neighbors. The poll is very reliable, because it is based on a large
sample size (more than 800 respondents) and well-articulated and presented statistics.
The author includes disclaimers between statistical evidence so that readers to
not stray from the facts that are given.
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| Statistics from +972 Magazine |
The PEW Research Center “Israel’sReligiously Divided Society” portrays evidence that religious groups interviewed for this dataset prove a majority of Israeli Jews and Arab Israelis do not hate each other. In fact, “among the 8% of Jews who say
they lean left, an overwhelming majority either
disagree (25%) or strongly disagree (61 %) that Arabs should be expelled” (pg.
8). It is important to note that the religious Israeli Jewish groups, “Haredim [and]
Datiim take right-leaning positions” in political ideologies that are more for
Palestinian expulsion. Religious groups in Israel take up a small proportion of
the entire Israeli population, so it is safe to conclude that the majority of
Israeli Jews don’t wish to expel Palestinians from Israel.
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| Logo for the PEW Research Center |
