PLO Bids for Statehood Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid Politicians support the plan, but members of Israel's Arab community wonder how it will affect their future. Gregg Carlstrom Last Modified: 20 Sep 2011 13:44 inShare Email Article Email Print Article Print Share article Share Send Feedback Feedback Zahalka said he supports the bid but has 'many questions' about the PLO's diplomatic strategy [EPA] Umm al-Fahm, Israel - The Palestine Liberation Organisation's bid for full membership at the United Nations has strong support from Arab political parties in Israel, but many in Israel's Arab community worry about how the PLO's plan will affect their future. Members of the United Arab List met earlier this month with representatives of African countries and urged them to support the bid. Ahmad Tibi, a member of Knesset from Ta'al, is in New York this week to deliver a speech endorsing the plan. Jamal Zahalka, a Knesset member and a leader of the Balad party, cautioned that the bid must be part of a "new diplomatic strategy." But he described the upcoming vote as a "positive step" for Palestinians. "I think it's important because it will stop the charade of negotiations," Zahalka said in an interview. "Israel has used the excuse of negotiations to build settlements, to build the wall." But in this town of 45,000 people - an hour's drive from Tel Aviv, and one of the largest Arab communities in Israel - it is hard to find much popular support for the PLO's bid. "Abu Mazen … he thinks this is a big initiative," said Abdullah Yahya, the owner of a sweetshop. "The people, they don't. In reality, the people here, they do not support the sulta [the (Palestinian) Authority]". 'Israel won't allow it' No official polls of Israel's Arab community about the PLO's statehood bid have been made public, so it is difficult to make any broad conclusions about public opinion. And of course not everyone has an opinion: Quite a few people waved off questions about the bid, describing themselves as apolitical, or saying the UN vote would not matter. But in roughly two dozen interviews - in predominantly Arab towns and villages in northern Israel, and in Arab neighbourhoods of Jerusalem - most people were ambivalent about the PLO's plan, if not outright opposed. "It's not going to create a Palestinian state. Israel won't allow it," said Mohammed Muhajja, a cashier in Umm al-Fahm. "My family has been here since before 1948. We don't want a Palestinian state that is only a tiny bit of this land." Arabs make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel's population, and the PLO's bid highlights the conflicted reality in which many of them live. In theory, they are equal citizens who enjoy the same rights as other Israelis. In reality, they face widespread discrimination when applying for jobs; they receive harsher prison sentences than Israeli Jews; and their villages and towns generally receive lower levels of government funding than Jewish areas. Yet few would trade the Israeli government, however prejudiced, for the Palestinian Authority. "Here, there is discrimination, but at least we can complain," said Mansour Abbas, a taxi driver from Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood. "Here, there is corruption, but at least you can take the prime minister to court! In Ramallah you could not even speak about it." 'We don't want two states' So most Israeli Arabs seem to reject a "two-state solution," which they fear would either leave them facing discrimination in Israel or unwillingly "transferred" to Palestine. Polls consistently show a strong majority supports a one-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even some Arab members of the Knesset, like Hanan Zoabi, have described a two-state solution as "impossible". And many in Israel's Arab community worry that the PLO's bid for recognition makes that outcome less likely. "The Americans, the British, the Israelis, they've been working for 50 years to create two states," said Riad Arda, drawing a line on a napkin for emphasis. "But we, the Arabs here, we don't want two states, we want one state called Palestine." Arda would understand the implications better than most: He lives in Baqa al-Gharbiyya, an Arab village near the Green Line which is split in two by Israel's separation barrier. The western half is in Israel, while the eastern side, called Baqa al-Sharqiyya, is controlled by the Palestinian Authority. For residents of this and other divided villages, the creation of a Palestinian state would mean one of two outcomes. Israel has proposed annexing some of these villages to a potential "Palestine", perhaps "in return" for Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The idea has long been popular with right-wing Israeli politicians; The Palestine Papers revealed that former foreign minister Tzipi Livni has also endorsed the idea. The other option is to remain part of Israel, in which case an international border would permanently separate what were once cohesive communities. "This is bad, it's a bad situation," Arda said. "And it will only get worse after the United Nations." Not everyone in Israel's Arab population opposes the bid, of course. Most of those who support it said that UN recognition of a Palestinian state would make it harder for Israel to commit human rights abuses in the occupied territories. "Maybe it will help. We want a country of Palestine that is free of killing, Israeli tanks, Israeli rockets," said Mutassim Mohammed, the owner of a small restaurant in Umm al-Fahm. And Zahalka, the Balad party leader, said there was little reason to worry about how the PLO's bid would affect the chances of a one-state outcome. "What we think might not matter. What's going on now is that Israel is killing the two-state solution," Zahalka said. "It's only a matter of time, maybe a year or two, before that question will be irrelevant." Follow Gregg Carlstrom on Twitter: @glcarlstrom Source: Al Jazeera Email Article Email Print Article Print Share article Share Send Feedback Send Feedback Topics in this article People Jamal Zahalka Riad Arda Ahmad Tibi Mutassim Mohammed Hanan Zoabi Mansour Abbas Abdullah Yahya Mohammed Muhajja Tzipi Livni Country Israel Palestine Palestinian Authority City Umm al-Fahm Jerusalem Baqa al-Gharbiyya Ramallah Tel Aviv New York Organisation Palestine Liberation Organization United Nations Knesset Balad party Palestine Liberation Organisation Israeli government United Arab List Environmental Protection Agency Featured on Al Jazeera Fear incorporated We examine the phenomenon of Islamophobia in the US media and the people behind it. Sick Gulf residents continue to blame BP Many people living near the site of the BP oil spill have reported a long list of similar health problems. State of recognition Whether the UN grants the PA status as a state or refuses to do so, either outcome will be in Israel's interest. China buys gold, challenges US dollar WikiLeaks cables allege that China is buying gold to weaken the US dollar's supremacy as the world's reserve currency. Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct or indirect liability. You hereby provide us with an irrevocable, unlimited, and global license for no consideration to use, reuse, delete or publish comments, in accordance with Community Rules & Guidelines and Terms and Conditions. Like Dislike Add New Comment Required: Please login below to comment. Image Showing 5 comments Sort by Subscribe by email Subscribe by RSS Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause) 1 new comment was just posted. Show Lawerence Freedman 8 hours ago Well, whats "Fair is Fair"...Since the PM of the so-called Palestinian State, will not allow Jews to live in it, what is known as "Judenfrie", as the Dictonary defines: Judenfrie ("Free of Jews") was a Nazi term to designate an area free of Jewish presence during the Holocaust. I suggest that ALL Muslim Israeli's are free to move to their new Nation.... Matter of fact, we will help them..... 7 people liked this. eylonp 9 hours ago "Here, there is discrimination, but at least we can complain," said Mansour Abbas, a taxi driver from Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood. "Here, there is corruption, but at least you can take the prime minister to court! In Ramallah you could not even speak about it." The discrimination: "In theory, they are equal citizens who enjoy the same rights as other Israelis. In reality, they face widespread discrimination when applying for jobs" - Israelis afraid to recruit Arabs - they don't want to die or get robbed. Arabs who have business do not recruit Jewish population. "their villages and towns generally receive lower levels of government funding than Jewish areas" - the funding of each village in Israel is from taxes of its residents plus government taxes which divided equally. The Arab population do not pay taxes, and build their homes without permit from authorities. 6 people liked this. Tubig Gannon 9 hours ago "Politicians support the plan, but members of Israel's Arab community wonder how it will affect their future", as they should, because it has not been clear how their leaders have looked after their collective interests in the past. The US shares the concerns of the Israeli Arabs, as well as the rest of the Palestinians. DEZ and 2 more liked this DEZ 11 minutes ago Don't lose sight of the fact HAMAS do not support this move - Ozito 1 hour ago "Yet few would trade the Israeli government, however prejudiced, for the Palestinian Authority." How true. And even fewer would want to live under Hamas in Gaza. The Abbas UNGA bid is pure grandstanding, without any palestinian arab leader having thought about the consequences of a unilateral move. The palestinian street does not trust its leadership. And why should it? It has never shown the slightest regard for consensus and nation building in the past 60 years........ 1 new comment was just posted. Show Reactions Samar Dahmash Jarrah 3 minutes ago From twitter Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - PLO Bids for Statehood - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/4bKukV2Z via @ajenglish Eva Bue Bitsch 28 minutes ago From twitter RT @glcarlstrom: Posted earlier: My piece on Israeli Arab concerns about the PLO's "statehood" bid. http://j.mp/oimmO5 Moonbootica 3 hours ago From twitter Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - PLO Bids for Statehood - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/KgjNCjQG via @ajenglish r7y6 3 hours ago From twitter Polls consistently show a strong majority supports a one-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. http://t.co/uATIuJGg arenaofspeculation 3 hours ago From twitter RT @benabyad: Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/45FG4wGK via @ajenglish <<< by @glcarlstrom Arie Amaya-Akkermans 3 hours ago From twitter "But we, the Arabs here, we don't want two states, we want one state called Palestine." -Riad Arda http://t.co/QaiUJ2kt Not happening. A ḥummuṣ-sexual 4 hours ago From twitter Israeli Arabs worry about PLO's statehood bid - PLO Bids for Statehood - Al Jazeera English http://t.co/sqdJcpC9 via @ajenglish gershonbaskin 4 hours ago From twitter RT @PalestineNote: Israeli Arab politicians support #stateofpalestine plan, but voice concerns on how it might affect their future http://ow.ly/6zEKp #israel mayasdreams 5 hours ago From twitter RT @shunradan: Otherwise a good article about the skepticism of the 48 Palestinians. Few #fakestatehood cheerleaders there. http://t.co/VYCftanT Daniel Shunra 5 hours ago From twitter Otherwise a good article about the skepticism of the 48 Palestinians. Few #fakestatehood cheerleaders there. http://t.co/VYCftanT Related Palestinians insist on terms for Israel talks Foregin minister says Israel must accept terms of reference before negotiations can resume, as suggested by Netanyahu. 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