A majority of Israeli high schoolers are openly anti-Arab
A Tel Aviv University survey of Israeli teens has proved that racism is a way of life in Israel, even for the young.
Sixty-four percent of Israeli teens aged 15 to 18 who were questioned said that Arab Israelis do not enjoy full equal rights in Israel and 59 percent believed that Arabs should not, in fact, have full equal rights. The survey was conducted by Professor Camil Fuchs from the Statistics Department of Tel Aviv University.
The survey also revealed that 96 percent of the respondents want Israel to be officially recognized as "a Jewish and democratic state", meaning that they do not want Israel to be considered "a state of all its citizens". This is especially troubling since 20 percent of Israeli citizens are, in fact, Palestinian Arabs. Defining Israel as "Jewish and democratic" effectively penalizes and marginalizes all non-Jewish citizens in their own country.
Some 27 percent of teens questioned believe that anyone objecting to this definition of Israel as "Jewish and democratic" should be tried in court, while 41 percent wanted objectors stripped of their citizenship. To realize how shocking this is, try to imagine America being officially declared a "Christian and democratic state". Now imagine that Jewish and Muslim Americans who opposed this definition could be tried and stripped of their citizenship.
The students’ racism was also reflected in their educational preferences. When asked if they would be willing to learn in a classroom with Arab students, 50 percent of respondents said "no".
Ever since Israel was founded, Arab Israelis have been treated as second class citizens and discriminated against in matters such as marriage law, land ownership, employment opportunities and education and health funding. This survey reveals that Israel’s deep anti-Arab racism is permitted and even encouraged by the state-run education system. This is the true face of this self-styled "only democracy in the Middle East".
Adapted from the article "Poll: Half of Israeli teens don't want Arab students in their class", written by Israeli journalist Or Kashti and published by Israel’s leading newspaper Ha’aretz on Sept. 6, 2010. Article available on line at: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/poll-half-of-israeli-teens-don-t-wa...
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