Perceiving the 'Other' in Israel: Exploring Arab and Jewish educators' willingness to coexist

Abstract

Relations between Israeli Arab and Jewish citizens have experienced several vicissitudes since the establishment of Israel in 1948. Negative trends were influenced by political events such as the First Intifada, which began in 1987;1 demonstrations in 2000, when 13 Israeli Arabs were killed by police forces after Prime Minister Sharon entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque; and suicide attacks at the end of the last century. Conversely, events such as the Oslo Accords and other peace negotiations improved relations between Arab and Jewish citizens. Using a combination of quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (focus groups) methods, the goal of this research is to examine the relationship between Arab and Jewish Israeli citizens as perceived by teachers in the Israeli education system. The sample included 300 teachers – 150 from the Jewish education system and 150 from the Arab education system. The focus group included 24 teachers, 12 from each subgroup. The quantitative findings revealed significant differences between teachers’ perceptions on Arab citizen-state relations, identity, attitude, coexistence, mutual emotions, collective self-efficacy, and toward each other. No significant differences between teachers have found perceived Arab citizen-state relations. The qualitative findings, meanwhile, found that Arab teachers generally agree that Arab schools receive significantly lower budgets than Jewish schools. Both groups held that the state has worked to prevent discrimination of Arab schools, but that Jewish school budgets remain higher than Arab schools. Further, Arab teachers shared the view that Arab students’ achievements are significantly lower than those of Jewish students. Other key findings: Arab and Jewish teachers agree on the level of family involvement in the education system; disagree regarding the involvement of Arab professionals in decision-making in public state institutions; and share the view that Israeli authorities have failed to protect Arab citizens’ civil liberties. Finally, Arab and Jewish teachers agree that it is possible to be “Palestinian” and simultaneously be loyal to the State of Israel. These findings support the creation of intervention programs at the national and local levels. For instance, a national multicultural initiative could integrate the country’s Arab population as equal citizens and provide them with adequate budgets for social and political inclusion. Local programs to strengthen discourse and dialogue, and promote cultural encounters between Arabs and Jews, are also recommended.