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The Desire of Eastern Jerusalem Arabs to Integrate in Israeli Society

(Israel Hayom-Hebrew-28July2018-Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies) Nadav Shragai - Dr. David Koren, Advisor to the Mayor of Jerusalem for Arab and eastern Jerusalem affairs, says nationalism among the 400,000 Jerusalem Arabs "is in full retreat. It is giving way to two main contradictory alternative allegiances that are gaining strength in eastern Jerusalem and competing with each other: Israelization, on the one hand, and Islamization, on the other." Koren, 41, a former head of the Middle East branch in the National Security Council, bases his assessments on thousands of hours of talks with the residents and their leadership. "Go to Damascus Gate and see the ocean of signs there inviting the Arab public to learn Hebrew. These aren't the municipality's signs; they belong to private institutes....See what's happening in the education system: only a few years ago, only hundreds were studying for an Israeli matriculation exam, and now - 7,000....Besides this, we're also seeing thousands of requests from residents who want to become Israeli citizens....15,000 Arabs from northern Israel have moved to eastern Jerusalem. In effect, they are agents of change." At the same time, in the upcoming municipal elections in October, Koren believes that "More Arabs from eastern Jerusalem will vote than in the past, but not many." He says there will be islands of voting in Wadi Al-Joz, Beit Safafa, and Sur Baher, but "I don't think it will be enough to put someone on the city council. They are still threatened and intimidated by terrorism and ultra-nationalism. The PA's ability to label them as Zionist agents and collaborators still exists."
2018-09-21 00:00:00
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