Public discourse about Arabic diglossia has been on the rise as of late, especially as a vindication of colonial praxis when it comes to Palestinian communities in Israel. What this discourse often ignores is the context of Arabic learners, and the need to decolonize Eurocentric frameworks in linguistic research.
Palestinian students are forced to leave the mixed Israeli city of Nof Hagalil to attend school in nearby Nazareth. Why? Because local schools refuse to accommodate Arab students, which reflects the vision of local leaders — a town devoid of an Arab population whatsoever.
As Israel prepares for its fourth Knesset election in four years, Dr. Reem Khamis-Dakwar discusses how Zionist parties on the so-called “left” and right are attempting to attract Palestinian voters, who she says says have the status of pets within Israel’s political system, “domesticated in the service of Zionist parties in the Knesset.”
Dr Reem Khamis-Dakwar reflects as a Palestinian from Israel currently living in the United States, that it is startling to realize the many commonalities between our two systems of oppression: limited access to health care for marginalized communities, the stereotyping of people of color as disease-spreaders, and the increased impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these populations.
The Pope has been called upon by members of the oldest churches at the roots of Christianity in the Middle East to intervene to end the financial crisis of nearly 50 schools serving the Palestinian community inside Israel. These schools provide education to over 33,000 Palestinian students in Israel; Christians, Muslims and Druze, and have been on strike since September 1st in protest of the Israeli government’s decision to further cut governmental funding of elementary church-run schools in Israel.
For many liberal Zionists, the next Israeli election is about saving Israel from the right wing government that has made it more difficult to defend Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state. Dr. Reem Khamis-Dakwar wonders: are these calls by liberal Zionists to “rekindle the spirit of 1993” solely calls for a presentable “liberal” Israeli government, no matter what its policies really are?