45
about Israel as a state – its society, history and politics.
19
In
addition, the institute is constantly developing new research
programs, as well as support for Arab doctoral students
who participate in a workshop run by the Institute. Another
example is the Center for Modern Research affiliated with the
Islamic Movement, which has published dozens of opinion
articles and detailed reports about the Arab Spring and what
Arabs and Muslims in Israel can learn from it. One article
written by Dr. Ibrahim Abu Jaber, entitled “The unity project
as a product of the Arab Spring,” describes a process of
anticipated unifications of Islamic movements in the Arab
world. He does not rule out Iran joining the project and calls
for the founding and establishment of a large Islamic project
or global Islamic body. Another opinion piece published by the
same center is called, “Isn’t it time to develop the struggle.”
Isn’t it time, writes Ibrahim al-Khatib, to learn from the Arab
Spring about the strategies and tools used by the citizens of
the Arab world in their revolutions against their government.
He notes that the way to a protracted struggle for rights in
the state is by means of a structured program, not through
violence or reactive operations, as was the case until now.
20
Three key messages emerge from the publications of the
think tanks: The first is a secular approach that is open to
the general Arab public; the second and the third relate to
future coalitions between Islamicmovements and the potential
adoption of new non-violent strategies (peaceful revolution),
in whose realization the masses actively participate.
Regional and global perspectives have become an integral
part of the discourse in Arab society in Israel in the wake of
the Arab Spring, including regional and global issues such
as the involvement or intervention of the world powers (the
West) in the events happening in the Arab world (the East);
the limits of the Arab world’s power vis-à-vis world powers;
the inferior situation of the residents of the Arab world. Issues
of religion, culture, social economics and politics have
become the focus of the discussion, and a great deal can
be learned about the attitudes and perceptions in regard
to the issues discussed, such as the position towards the
Shi’ites, Kurds, Houthis and the radical Islamic organizations
that have appeared on the scene, all in terms of how they
relate to the policy of the Israeli establishment towards Arab-
Palestinian citizens of the Israel.
Ghaida Rinawie-Zoabi, the director-general of the Injaz Center
for Professional Arab Local Governance, has written, “The
effect of the Arab Spring – and the changes it brought about
in the regimes of the Arab countries – has not left Palestinians
in Israel unaffected. The discourse about the Arab Spring
among the Palestinians in Israel is extremely lively, and entails
a number of major moral, political and social dilemmas.
Until the Arab Spring erupted, the pride of the Palestinians
in Israel centered on their ability to lead a public campaign
against racism and prejudice in Israel, while the rest of the
Arab world remained depressed and passive. Now, they
have lost this advantage. Nevertheless, the Arab Spring
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20
has proven that a non-violent struggle to change reality and
the regimes is possible.”
21
It is clear that Rinawie-Zoabi is
pointing to the long-awaited democratic change of Israel
towards its Arab-Palestinian citizens. The Arab-Palestinian
public discourse in Israel can give an indication of the vast
scope of the interaction within Arab society that has been
affected by global Arab discourse. The social networks, which
have constituted a key mechanism for organizing within the
Arab world, have become a key tool for the discourse within
Israeli Arab society too. Beyond the discourse being held
on the open Facebook pages of individual people, pages
have been opened to call for regional or global change under
the name of the Arab Spring. Hundreds, even thousands
of Arab- Palestinians in Israel belong to groups of this kind.
In addition, there are people who are active on Facebook
and write daily posts about events in the Arab world – in
Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and in the Arab countries in general.
Quite a few of the statuses or positions of Arab-Palestinian
Israeli citizens relate daily to what is happening in the Arab
world and serve as a focus for clashes between those who
support and those with reservations or who reject much of
what is happening in the Arab world or the region. The recent
attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016 became a source
of disagreement and violent discourse among the Arab-
Palestinian citizens of Israel, between the supporters and
opponents of the Turkish attempt to effect regime change.
Some even participated in victory celebrations after the failed
coup because they considered it to be anti-democratic. “It’s
good that the uprising failed,” wrote Hassan Shaalan in an
article on Ynet about Arab Israelis in Turkey.
22
It should be noted that my article has thus far reviewed the
democratic effects of the Arab Spring on Arab society in
Israel. But undoubtedly, there may also be non-democratic
influences, such as cases of Israeli Arabs joining radical
movements such as ISIS. However, these are minor effects
and do not represent the general mood in Arab society. In
any case, the impact of the Arab Spring has filtered into
Arab society in Israel, which will continue to be influenced
by events in Israel, the region and the world.
The Arab Spring has revealed new opportunities for Israeli
Arabs to connect and identify with the Arab region. There
are three primary explanations for this identification:
1. The negative and discriminatory attitude of the Jewish
majority towards Arabs in Israel has not changed in
the past two decades, and as a result, the social and
economic situation of Arab.Palestinian Israeli citizens has
worsened and led to internal crises, which has shaken
their confidence in the Israeli establishment. That is why
the Arab Spring represented a new hope for them that
21 Ghaida Rinawie-Zoabi, “The Arab Spring and Palestinians in the
State of Israel,” In Israel and the Arab Spring: Opportunities in
Change, Nimrod Goren and Jenia Yudkecvich., (eds.), Ramat Gan:
Mitvim, 2013.
22 Hassan Shaalan, “Israeli Arabs in Turkey: ‘It’s good that the
uprising failed,” Ynet, July 16, 2016
articles/0,7340,L-4829051,00.html
