Israel and its minorities: Playing with fire

[Harold Schiffman]

Playing with fire

By Moshe Arens

tags: Druze, Peki'in, minorities

Last week's violent clashes between the police and the Druze
inhabitants of Peki'in should be a wake-up call for Israel that we are
facing a problem which is too hot to be handled by local police
officers. The dimensions of the problem, the underlying anger and rage
of the villagers and the support for them in much of the Druze
community in Israel, go far beyond the unruly, and possibly criminal,
behavior of some of the inhabitants of this Druze village. The real
problem here was not their acts of vandalism but rather that the
decision on how to attempt to control these acts was made by the local
police and not at the highest level of the government, in full
recognition of all the ramifications of this local problem if it spun
out of control. The resulting violence which engulfed the whole
village and led to many injuries threatens to endanger the
long-standing relations between the State of Israel and the Druze
community.

The Druze community, as well as the Circassians in Israel, for the
past 50 years have been the living proof that you don't have to be
Jewish to be a loyal citizen of Israel or to share with Israel's
Jewish citizens the burden of defending the country against its
enemies. The Druze, whose language and culture are Arab, have
demonstrated that in itself that is no obstacle to being an integral
part of Israeli society. They might be the tipping point of Israel's
minority population, whose example would be followed in time by the
other segments of Israel's Arab minorities.

But for this to happen the Israeli government must have a policy
toward Israel's minorities. A policy whose aim is the establishment of
equality of rights and obligations among all segments of the
population. A fundamental part of such a policy must obviously be
affirmative action toward the Druze community, demonstrating the
advantages that are attained by those who serve in the IDF.
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It may come as a surprise to many Israelis that this has not been the
policy of Israeli governments. For many years, it was quite the
contrary. Until relatively recently, Druze soldiers in the IDF did not
enjoy equality of opportunity with Jewish soldiers. Many branches of
the service and the highest ranks were closed to them. It was only
during my first two tenures in the Ministry of Defense that this
discriminatory policy was changed, and that turned out to be a long
and laborious process.

When I entered the Foreign Ministry in 1988, not a single Druze was a
member of the foreign service. A policy instituted by me, that Druze
who had served in the IDF be recruited into the foreign service, in
time gave Israel its first Druze consuls and ambassadors. Other
government ministries, and government offices, to this day do not
pursue such a policy. Nor does the Supreme Court have a single Druze
judge. It is hard to understand why the ministers who preceded me in
the Ministry of Defense and in the Foreign Ministry did not adopt such
a policy, and why the government now does not insist that such a
policy be pursued in all ministries and government offices.

The recurrent talk of the need to give Israel's minority population
representation on the boards of government offices, without regard of
whether they have served in the IDF, the elevation of Arab MKs to
membership in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and membership
in the Cabinet, may at first sight seem like the most progressive of
measures, but it is actually counterproductive. To the Druze, it
demonstrates that serving in the army is nothing special, and to the
rest of the minority population, it demonstrates that equality of
obligations is not one of the norms of Israeli society.

When complaints are heard from members of the Druze community that
Arab Israelis who do not serve in the IDF are passing them in
advancement economically and professionally, there is an element of
truth in these complaints, since those not serving in the IDF have a
three-year head start on those who fulfill their obligations as
citizens of Israel.

Now along comes the present government and it announces a policy of
national service for those who do not serve in the IDF. What does this
say to the Druze community? That there is nothing special in putting
your life on the line for the defense of Israel. So why should they
continue to do so? Rather than the rest of the minority population
following the example of the Druze population and accepting the full
obligations of citizenship, we may next find the Druze following the
others and ceasing to serve in defense of their country.

The Druze community is a tipping point for relations between the State
of Israel and its minorities. What happened in Peki'in was far too
important to have been left to the decision of the local police.


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/921141.html

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