What is the message that is being sent to Israel’s Arab citizens? That the civil service wants them, but their loyalty is suspect; that the high-tech industry is open to them, but they are a security threat (we demonstrate this to them well at Ben-Gurion airport); that it’s important that they attend university, but they should play down their identity there; that they may be “colleagues” of Jews, but they will never be just “friends”; that their money is welcome in the malls, but they shouldn’t even dream of living in the adjacent neighborhoods; that they can establish businesses in an industrial zone, but will never be accepted as members of the neighboring village; that they may be leaders in their professions, but their language and culture are alien and repulsive. An Arab citizen can be the top surgeon in a hospital, but if he needs to pray, he should excuse himself and go outside to do it.
Read the article by Amnon Be’eri Sulitzeanu
