Israel's One Million Arab Citizens Caught Between Country and Cause
The Washington Post, April 2, 2002
washingtonpost.com
Israel's One Million Arab Citizens Caught Between Country and Cause
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 2, 2002; Page A8
HAIFA, Israel, April 1 – Hundreds mourned the demise of Suheil Adawi
at his funeral today, one day after the 32-year-old Israeli man was slain
in a restaurant here by a suicide bomber intent on stoking war between
Arabs and Jews.
The blast – which killed 15 people, including the
bomber, and wounded 40 – was different from previous suicide bombings in
one respect. Adawi was an Israeli Arab, a citizen of Israel who lived in
this port city; his killer was also an Arab citizen of Israel who lived
in the West Bank.
Their deaths point to yet another dimension of the
intensifying war between Israel and the Palestinians. Often forgotten in
the conflict are the 1 million Arabs who are citizens of Israel and make
up one-sixth of its population.
Although many are sympathetic to the Palestinian
side, most have retained their allegiance to Israel, and have not actively
participated in the violence. Israelis have long worried about the radicalization
of their Arab citizens, and the Haifa bombing brought passions to the surface.
Two Palestinian flags flanked Adawi's remains during the funeral, indicating
his family's support for the cause that inspired the bombing. Indeed, many
people present at the ceremony did not blame the assailant for Adawi's
death so much as the Israeli government for its treatment of Palestinians.
When Israel was founded in 1948, many Arabs remained
in the new Jewish state. Others fled, and are now among the 3 million Palestinians
who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. There are family and cultural
ties between the two groups.
The suicide bomber was identified on Sunday as Shadi
Abu Tubasi, 22, of the West Bank town of Jenin. Israeli media reported
that he was the son of a Palestinian father and an Israeli Arab mother,
and that his family said he carried an identity card as an Israeli citizen.
He was the fifth suicide bomber to attack Israel in five days. Many such
bombers have come from towns and villages in the West Bank.
"Most of the people who were there do not agree
with the actions of suicide bombers," said Azmi Bishara, an Arab who attended
the funeral and is a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. "Nobody
likes the fact that civilians are killed. But they realize these are desperate,
desperate actions by people with their backs to the wall.
"People did not look at [Adawi] as a victim of the
Palestinians. They saw him as a victim of the Israeli occupation."
"I'm worried about the future," said Hassan Jabareen,
an Israeli Arab leader from Nazareth and the leader of a civil-rights group
called Adalah. "I'm afraid the situation will lead to more tragedies for
everybody."
Jabareen helped organize a peace vigil in Haifa
today that was attended by about 200 people. The demonstrators, about three-quarters
of them Arabs, directed their protests against the Israeli government.
While Jabareen was careful to say that he and his followers do not condone
attacks on civilians, he explained that he could understand the frustrations
felt by those who carry them out.
At the same time, he acknowledged that Israeli Arabs
worry as much as Jews that they could fall victim to a suicide bomber.
Immediately after the restaurant explosion in Haifa, he said he called
his mother to reassure her that he was safe, an emergency routine well
rehearsed by all Israelis these days.
"Of course we have the same fear," Jabareen said.
"I also have to be careful about which [public] places I visit."
Relations between Israeli Arabs and their Jewish
neighbors have been a constant source of tension. For years, the Arabs
have complained that they are treated as second-class citizens; they are
poorer and are much more likely to be unemployed or to hold menial jobs
than are Israeli Jews.
Tensions have mounted since Palestinians began their
current uprising in the occupied territories 18 months ago. A month after
the revolt began, in September 2000, thousands of Israeli Arabs in the
northern part of the country took to the streets on the Palestinians' behalf.
During the riots and demonstrations, police opened
fire on the protesters on several occasions, killing 13 Israeli Arabs.
A government commission later determined that the police had overreacted,
but resentments linger.
Even so, several Israeli Arabs in Haifa and towns
around the city said in interviews today that their allegiance to Israel
had not weakened.
"I live in this state. I pay my taxes. I obey all
the laws of this state," said Ashraf Diab, 28, a member of an Arab family
that has lived for generations in Shefaram, a town 12 miles east of Haifa.
"The bottom line is, if you're a citizen here, then that's where your loyalty
is."
The Diabs own the Tamra Gardens, a landmark roadside
restaurant that caters to both Jews and Arabs but has suffered a steep
decline in business recently because of fears that it could become a terrorist
target. Diab said the fact that Arabs own the place is no guarantee of
anyone's safety.
"Look at this place," he said, pointing to tables
with a total seating capacity of 750 diners. "It could be filled with Jews.
A bomber wouldn't care if an Arab owned it, or if a few Arabs got killed."
Awad Haj, 45, an Israeli Arab who manages a restaurant
and wedding hall called the Galil Gardens, said an angry Jewish man stormed
into the place a few hours after the attack in Haifa, cursing Arabs and
overturning tables.
Haj shook his head sadly in retelling the story.
He said he relies heavily on Jewish customers and is just as upset as they
are at the violence that is erupting across the country.
"We're afraid like everybody else to go to open
places," he said. "My kids want to go to the mall in Haifa, but I say,
'No way.' I don't trust anybody. I trust only myself these days."
© 2002 The Washington Post Company