Arab Rights

Prior to last week I'd never heard of Ras al-Amud.  That's not surprising.  As an American Jew, I was not meant to.  I was not meant to know that Ras al-Amud even existed, because to know that it exists, that it is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem that is located just south of the old city and overlooks Silwan and Abu Dis, and that in 2003 it had a population of 11,922, is to admit that Palestinians have a legitimate claim and right to Jerusalem. 

As an American Jew I'm not "supposed" to know that.  It's another part of the Occupation;

The Meretz party this week condemned the actions of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet l'Yisrael) at the unrecognized Bedouin village of al-Arakib, north of Beersheva, branding them a "racist policy, arising from a viewpoint that regards the Bedouin in the Negev as a nuisance, rather than as citizens with equal rights." 

Meretz called for the recognition of al-Arakib and for the provision of basic infrastructure there, and demanded that the JNF immediately suspend its plans to plant a forest at al-Arakib that would deny the villagers any chance of return.

      On Friday, December 3, 2010 Meretz USA hosted an event in Los Angeles for The Hagar School, a bilingual and multicultural school for Jewish and Arab children in Beer Sheva.  Those in attendance had the pleasure of hearing about a unique school in the heart of the Negev desert that embraces the shared goals of providing the highest quality education while creating an egalitarian community.  The Hagar School, a part of the Hand in Hand education network, fully adopts and attains its bilingual and multicultural goals by having two teachers, one Jewish and one Arab, co-teach in every classroom.  Hagar’s pedagogical model employs the acquisition of two languages not just as an end goal but also the means for enhancing cognitive development and integrating multiculturalism into all aspects of education.

    Hagar is still in the early stages of its long-term development plan to be a K – 12 school.  This year Hagar added both 2nd and 3rd grades to their preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade classes.  The goal is to continue to add a new grade each school year, making this year’s 3rd grade cohort ultimately becoming the first high school graduating class.   The addition of two grades this school year was driven by local community’s demand for the school to grow faster.

    The municipality and the ministry of education, parent tuition fees, and donations fund Hagar.  The latter two sources of funding are critical for the operation of the school.  Because Hagar has two teachers per 28 students, instead of just one, they have twice the staffing budget of other schools but still only receive government funding for the first teacher and have to raise the money for the second teacher’s salary.   As the school continues to grow this budgetary challenge will remain.

    Here in the US we learned the hard way that separate is not, and can never be, truly equal.  We learned this famous lesson in the arena of our own education system.  For a long time the Israeli education system has functioned on separate educational tracks for Jews and Arabs.  Hagar is just one school and many in Israel do not want to do away with separate educational tracks, but Hagar’s approach is a powerful reminder to all that full equality may only be possible through integration, and not segregation.  Notwithstanding the significant differences between the US and Israel, those of us who strive for an Israel that embraces equality for all of her inhabitants should keep the example of The Hagar School in our minds as a possible model of equality for a country we love.

As any fan of suspense film will tell you, the real fear generated by the cinematic experience comes not from what’s happening on screen at the moment, but from the thought of what dreadful occurrence might be coming next.

A similar fear possessed me this week as I was sifting through the reams of coverage regarding Israel’s proposed new “Loyalty Oath”. 

Meretz USA invites you to join us and many Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, in support of equal rights, sustainability, and a development plan for Israel's Negev that does not dispossess Israel's Bedouin citizens.

We encourage you to add your name to an open letter to the leaders of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), calling upon them to no longer aid and abet the discriminatory policy of the Government of Israel and the Israel Land Administration (ILA).

Join Meretz USA in helping end the destruction of Bedouin villages in Israel

Meretz USA is co-sponsoring a petition to end the destruction of Bedouin Villages in Israel with the Jewish Alliance for Change, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, and the Shalom Center.