by Yossi Achimeir – journalist, former MK, translated & adapted by Hillel Fendel
Every Friday, Arab gangs from the Galilee demonstrate and protest with signs and angry chants, demanding that Israel "return the fields of Megiddo to their original owners." Will this be allowed to continue?
The Land of Israel between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is populated, as is well-known, by three different Arab minorities:
Within Israel itself, there is an Arab minority of full-fledged citizens of the state. In Judea and Samaria, the Arab majority is under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority (Areas A and B), and in Gaza, they are a political entity unto themselves. Thus, Gaza is totally Arab; Yesha has an Arab majority and a Jewish minority of over a half-million Jews; and Israel has a 20-21% minority of Arabs.
The Arab minority in Israel is very different than minorities in other countries around the world. Most minorities are homogeneous groups, basically unrelated to other communities outside the borders of their home countries. The Jews in America are an exception to this rule, as they are full-fledged US citizens but with a clear attachment, sentimentally and in other ways, to the Jewish State, which is of course thousands of miles distant from them.
In Israel, the two-million strong Arab population, some 9% of which are Christian Arabs, is a minority in Israel – but a part of the overwhelming Arab majority that surrounds Israel. They see themselves as "Palestinian citizens of Israel," yet an intrinsic part of Jewish-Israeli society, which itself is a minority in the Middle East.
An Israeli-Arab generally doesn't have to get on a plane to visit an Arab country or entity. He can rather take his car to go shopping in Jenin or one of the Arab villages in what he calls the West Bank, and can even easily cross the border into the Jordanian Kingdom, and feel at home there. As an Israeli-Arab, he enjoys the benefits of both worlds: He lives in the most advanced country in the region, with a standard of living higher than his fellow Arabs in other countries (except for the United Arab Emirates, of course), and is able to hop over with ease to an Arab-run society. When he visits in Egypt or Jordan, he does not hide his Israeli identity, and is even proud of it.
The Arab minority society is an important part of Israeli life. Its members are among the builders of the land, having paved roads, built intersections, skyscrapers, and even private homes, both Jewish and Arab. They are also pharmacists, nurses, doctors, lawyers, soccer players, and more. Ask an Arab Israeli if he would like to be a citizen of the "Palestinian state," and he will either laugh at you or become horrified at the mere idea of it.
During Israel's 75 years of existence, there were not many cases of Arab insurrection and riots interfering with the co-existence. Of course, the riots of May 2021 [chiefly in Jerusalem, Lod and Acre] and October 2000 were among the exceptions. Fanatic religious clerics in Um el-Fahm and elsewhere did not hide their hatred for the Jewish Nation, and incited and called for strong-arm protests and road-blockings, until they were arrested.
In truth, Islamic fanaticism was always a thorn in the side of co-existence in Israel, and this trend continues to intensify. Arab memories of 1948 are very much alive of their former homes and villages that they abandoned, never to return. Less remembered is that their Arab leaders called on them to leave their homes, so that the fledgling State of Israel could be more easily overrun and wiped out. What they call the Nakba [the "catastrophe" of their defeat in Israel's War of Independence] is constantly brought up, and is taking up more and more of the young generation's awareness and consciousness. Israeli-Arabs increasingly wave PLO flags, in solidarity with their brothers in the "West Bank" and as a signal of defiance and insolence against their home country. Not a few terrorist murderers have sprung up from their midst, using their status in Israel to their full benefit.
And in fact, the Islamist incitement in Israel has begun to bear more fruit of late. Incidents of challenges to Israeli sovereignty and its rule of law are increasing in Israeli-Arab society. No longer a matter just of frustrated individuals, entire groups now seek to instigate and provoke, taking full advantage of Israeli democracy.
And here's the most alarming phenomenon to occur, and it bodes ill, or worse, for future Jewish–Arab relations in Israel: Every Friday over the past few months, dozens of Arabs of the lower Galilee essentially besiege the southern exit to Kibbutz Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley, demanding that the kibbutz "return" them some of the Kibbutz lands. They are acting partially at the behest of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, which was outlawed by Israel because of its ties with Hamas and the Islamic Brotherhood. They overrun and damage kibbutz fields, hold prayer services there, chant slogans, wave PLO flags, and threaten the residents with their presence. "If you want us to stop, return the lands," they say.
At first glance, they seem to have a point. Megiddo is in fact situated, at least partially, on the site of the abandoned Arab village Lajun. The fact that the residents of pre-1948 left voluntarily when riled up by their own leaders and told that their choice was either to be "massacred" by Jewish forces, or to help, at least in spirit, five Arab nations destroy Israel so that they could then return victoriously to their homes – all this does not, in their eyes, mar their case.
The case of Megiddo cannot be allowed to turn back history. The boundaries of Israel were recognized by the United Nations and by the nations that attacked Israel and lost. The Arabs of the Galilee have no right to besiege a Kibbutz with Mafia-style demands to "give us lands or else." What will be next? Will Arabs arrive en-masse in northern Tel Aviv and issue an ultimatum that the land on which is built Tel Aviv University – with its reputation for pro-Palestinian positions – be evacuated so that the village of Sheikh Munis can be rebuilt there? And what about Jaffa, where abandoned villas now house bleeding-heart liberal Israelis who call for "justice for Palestinians"?
Not Paying Attention
The weekly events around the socialist Kibbutz Megiddo are not being accorded sufficient public attention. Many of those who should be taking note are too busy with judicial reform and the Netanyahu trial. But in truth, we can simply not afford to view what is happening with Megiddo as anything less than a loud warning signal as to what could happen in the future elsewhere in the country.
If the Arabs of Israel wish to continue to co-exist with us in a mutually beneficial manner, they must lay down once and for all the idea of their supposed "right of return," which basically stems from hostile Ramallah and the Palestinian Authority. If they wish to help the Palestinians establish another Arab state and also to facilitate the end of the State of Israel, they must be put in their place – and quickly.
Megiddo is an example for the entire State of Israel. If the Arab nationalist current is not halted in Megiddo, the Arab majority that surrounds us as a minority country in the Middle East will become emboldened – endangering both Jews and Arabs.