Disparities in land ownership and education

by Majed Abbadi

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, education . . . ." (United Nations Declaration of Human Rights)

There are some 1.3 million Arab citizens of Israel, 20% of its 6.7 million population. According to its independence declaration, Israel defines itself as a democracy and the state of the Jewish people but promises to ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all of its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex.

From its inception, Israel has faced the dilemma of how to be both democratic and Jewish. The issue is one of implementation more than definition. The inequality between Jews and Arabs in most aspects of life in Israel, such as land possession and education, belies the promise of equality.

For the Arab citizens of Israel, the unequal aspects of land policy are the most serious material concern and frequent source of friction with the state. Some 93% of land is state "owned," but the majority of it was expropriated from Arabs. As a result, today Arabs own only 3.5% of the land in Israel, while their numbers have increased many times since 1948.

The Israeli government has several means of differentiating between Jews and Arabs in land and planning matters. It can categorize certain areas or towns as national priority zones. The majority of these zones are Jewish communities, and lands within Arab Israeli municipal boundaries are often expropriated to the local Jewish authorities.

In the education field, statistics show wide disparities between Arab and Jewish Israelis. In general the Arab school system suffers from a lack of resources, since only 7% of the Ministry of Education budget is allocated to it. The average numbers of Arab and Jewish students per classroom are 32 and 26, respectively. The graduation rate of Arab Israelis is 31% compared to 45% for Jewish Israelis.

Since municipalities are responsible for establishing and maintaining educational facilities, Arab schools also suffer from unequal allocations given by the central government to Arab versus Jewish municipalities. Insufficient budgets allocated to Arab municipalities by the Ministry of Education must often be diverted to fund other critical community needs.

The Arab population of Israel is expected to reach 23% in 2020 and 31% in 2050. The poor educational resources and lack of land and housing for them will only increase their embitterment. Israel will face the prospect of a growing community in its midst that will be increasingly fed up and confrontational.

According to a recently published survey by the National Security Research Center of Israel, 45% of Israelis want Arab citizens to be barred from voting and being elected to public office. Moreover, 63% said that the government should encourage Arab citizens to emigrate. What this means is that it is not only the policy of the government to create inequality in land possession and the educational system. Such discrimination is deeply rooted in Jewish Israelis' attitudes toward their Arab co-citizens. This can only lead to deepening alienation between the two groups.

-Published 24/6/2004