we are all trying to sort out how we got here? the atrocities on oct 7th were hard to take in, followed by more blood and death on the other side, which is also hard to accept. let us try and understand how we got here. why cant these 2 people (palestinians and israelis) live together in peace like they did until they didn’t some 75 years ago?

let us clarify that there are two categories of arabs living there – and they are often referred to “interchangeably”.  they are those 1- the arab-citizens of israel who live in israel proper and those 2- the palestinians living in westbank and gaza who are facing much harsher set of realities such as settlements in west bank and check points across their territory. this article from “council on foreign relations” ( cfr.org ) refers to the ones living in israel proper as “citizens of israel”.

“council on foreign relations” was established in 1921 and is currently run by michael froman (president) and david rubenstein (chirman).

unedited excerpts :”israel’s declaration of independence recognizes the equality of all the country’s residents, arabs included, but equality is not explicitly enshrined in israel’s basic laws, the closest thing it has to a constitution. some rights groups argue that dozens of laws indirectly or directly discriminate against arabs.

israel’s establishment as an explicitly jewish state is a primary point of contention, with many of the state’s critics arguing that this by nature casts non-jews as second-class citizens with fewer rights. the 1950 law of return, for example, grants all jews, as well as their children, grandchildren, and spouses, the right to move to israel and automatically gain citizenship. non-jews do not have these rights. palestinians and their descendants have no legal right to return to the lands their families held before being displaced in 1948 or 1967.

another major difference is that, unlike the vast majority of jewish israelis, arab citizens do not have to serve in the israel defense forces (IDF), the country’s military. they can still enlist, and some do, especially druze and circassians, but some are stigmatized in their communities as a result. yet, not enlisting can significantly disadvantage them both socially and economically. for instance, many israelis make important and lasting personal connections with their fellow citizens through the idf, and they also receive many financial benefits, such as education assistance and discounted permits for building homes and owning land.”

“statistics from IDI show that arab citizens of israel continue to face structural disadvantages. for example, poorly funded schools in their localities contribute to their attaining lower levels of education and their reduced employment prospects and earning power compared to israeli jews. more than half of the country’s arab families were considered poor in 2020, compared to 40 percent of jewish families. socioeconomic disparities between israel’s jewish and arab citizens are less pronounced in mixed cities, though a government audit in july 2022 found arabs had less access to municipal services in those cities.

a good historic context in the recent history of the conflict and the rise of netanyahu, america & the road to war in gaza (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

gideon levy is an ex IDF soldier and an israeli journalist for the israeli daily haaretz

arab citizens’ concerns about inequality mounted after israel passed its nation-state law in 2018. among other provisions, the law removed arabic as an official language but gave it a “special status,” declared israel the nation-state of the jewish people, and said the jewish people have a unique “right to exercise national self-determination in the state of israel.” the language left many arabs feeling that their rights as citizens were being undermined.

to address disparities in the so-called arab sector, in 2021, the government approved a $9 billion, five-year plan to boost employment, improve health-care services and housing, and develop infrastructure, among other goals. it followed a similar initiative by the previous prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, who designated more funding for the sector than any of his predecessors, even as he frequently incited anger toward the arab community.” and then there is the west bank and gaza which is another story – the full article currently available here. by xy