Is a new plan for economic development in Arab towns a shift from politics to pragmatism?
By DANIEL EASTERMANKafr Kassim(photo credit: Daniel Easterman)
The complex reality facing the country’s 1.5 million Arab citizens today is often obscured by the constant political controversy revolving around the current crop of Arab politicians. As the rhetoric becomes more fierce and incendiary, the divisions and mutual distrust between Jews and Arabs has also tended to widen, contributing to an overall sense that the Arab population will never truly become part of Israel, nor have any desire to do so.But is this picture really accurate? While the political grandstanding and Knesset dramatics grab all the headlines, a quiet economic revolution, spurred on from the heart of the government, is also taking place.Back in February 2007, to little fanfare, the Prime Minister’s Office established a governmental Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab, Druse and Circassian Sector to operate within the Prime Minister’s Office’s departmental framework. The authority’s objective was to “maximize the economic potential” of the three minority communities by stimulating employment opportunities, enhancing their business and commercial sectors, upgrading transportation and communication infrastructure, and building new housing facilities specifically for Arab citizens. By March 2010, the government approved “Decision 1539,” committing NIS 778 million over five years for the economic development of 13 Arab towns and villages throughout the country.One concrete example of where these funds have been spent so far is the brandnew “one-stop employment center” in Tira, a “village” of 22,000 people situated in the middle of the Sharon region close to Kfar Saba. The Tira pilot center is the first of 22 to be implemented nationwide, providing a variety of courses in vocational Hebrew, computer skills, English, and assistance in creating and refining CVs. The courses are particularly valuable for Arab women, says the center’s director, Nibras Taha.“In the last two or three decades, Arab society as a whole has undergone a series of changes,” he explains. “It is no longer taboo for women from traditional families to work. The economic reality in Israel today means that it is imperative for both spouses to be employed.”NEVERTHELESS, SERIOUS challenges remain. Efforts to create greater economic opportunity may be a step in the right direction, but it is clear that emotional issues still present a major barrier to progress and better integration.When Tira Mayor Mamoun Abd Alhai was asked in a recent press conference, which the Government Press Office organized, whether he would support making two-year national community service (rather than military service) compulsory for Arab youth, the mayor expressed some misgivings. Although he said the purpose behind the idea was well-intentioned, he stressed that he would be more comfortable if the organization of national service programs took place through the Education or Welfare and Social Services ministries. As such programs are connected to the IDF and the Defense Ministry, according to Abd Alhai, there will always be a “dilemma” among Arab youth on whether to take part, especially as long as the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict goes unresolved.However, there are others who believe that the softly-softly, strictly economic approach coming from the Prime Minister’s Office is the right way to go, even if the big political issues stay unresolved.Ibrahim Habib, director of regional development at the Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab Sector, says that ensuring proper government investment in Arab communities should not be left to the politicians, but to economic professionals who can use the clout of the Prime Minister’s Office to influence decisions.“The Arab sector doesn’t receive enough financial assistance from the government at the moment,” says Habib, “but it’s better to accept one shekel now and request another later than to reject everything out of hand, which is what politicians from the main Arab parties have done in the past.”Habib, a Christian Arab, says he sees growing disillusionment among the ordinary people on the country’s “Arab street” toward the established Arab parties in the Knesset.“When the delegation of six Israeli-Arab MKs met with Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in April 2010, for example,” this was a really big turning point, he recalls.“People began to ask, how can they associate with such a leader and adequately represent our real-life needs and problems? Are they living in the real world?” He adds that the Muslim segment of the Arab population in particular is beginning to drift toward support for the mainstream Zionist parties – even the Likud, although at present they are unwilling to admit the fact publicly, he says.Professional officials such as Habib are not sentimental about their involvement in the government, nor about the very real achievements they are providing for their communities, but appear simply to want to put politics to one side while the real work gets done. At the local level, at least, even the politicians of the Arab sector seem keen to steer clear of partisan political squabbling.When this reporter asked Abd Alhai to which party he belonged, the answer was none, independent – “atzma’i,” he replied in Hebrew.
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