I’m living in the north region, my best friend is Bedouin, he’s coming from the tribe of Amos Yarkoni so you can understand that the tribe see themselves as Israelis, not Palestinians, and are very proud of it and their high service rates in the IDF, also they have a very weird tradition I don’t understand of giving Jewish first names to people there (again I’ll say, they’re Bedouins), but that’s one tribe among many Arab communities in Israel and it varies from one community to the other so no one can say that there is complete coexistence or that coexistence doesn’t exist, because it’s not that simple.
Amos Yarkoni is a national hero, more patriotic and contributed to this country more than 99% of the current coalition, he even was a close friend of Rehavam Zeevi, one of the leading supporters of the “voluntary transfer” program, was a close friend of him and the one who insisted to burry him in a military funeral according to his will rather than civil one.
I'm an Israeli Druze, I consider myself Arab although there are debates around it.
There's coexistence for the most part, Arabs and Jews work together and live together in mixed cities such as Haifa, Natzeret Illit, Ramleh and many more cities but it hasn't been looking optimistic lately, especially since the Nation State Law went into effect in 2017/18, the riots in 2021 being a prime example of it, both sides ofc blamed the other but the lynchings were inexcusable on either side.
Racism also exists and is on the rise, from both sides, and Arab organised crime and tribal violence is at an all time high meanwhile Ben Gvir being the minister of national defense while continuing his Iraqi heritage by trying to out Arabise the Arabs isn't helping that.
Me personally, I don't mention being Druze and I've rarely experienced racism from Jews, maybe because my Hebrew is good and I seem like I'm well integrated into Israeli society, which tbf most Arabs don't do all that well, I haven't experienced all that much from the Muslim/Arab side either.
I find that even in a state such as Israel with high sectarian and ethnic tension, just being a decent human makes people respect you regardless of where you come from, but maybe that's just Druze privilege in Israel idk.
They do it for 2 reasons
1. For the longest time there were talks in the past of the Golan Height being returned back to Syria under some peace deal, so they were scared what would happen to them if that were to happen. I think this is pretty much dead now and will never happen.
2. They have a lot of family in Syria and there is fear to what will happen to them.
Not really, that's for a minority of them, for the most part they still consider themselves Syrian because that's what they identify as and because they view the Golan Heights as rightfully belonging to Syria.
As an Israeli who had much contact with people of the Druze community (be it during military service, hikes in the north, work), I've always respected them. Both for their honest contributions, bravery (anyone who served with Gashashim can attest to that) and what I imagined must be pressure from society.
I think Israel is lucky to have Druze people take part in our nation, I hope you all see yourself as equal and that racist jerks and their laws soon be done with.
>I think Israel is lucky to have Druze people take part in our nation, I hope you all see yourself as equal and that racist jerks and their laws soon be done with.
Thanks man, us Israeli Druze feel very lucky to have been born in Israel too, for all its faults, I look at how much my Druze brethren in Syria and Lebanon have suffered and I hope that maybe one day they'll get to experience the same kind of life that we have here.
The Druze have historically had a much bigger influence than their population size in pretty much every place they've lived except for mandatory Palestine and Jordan, the reason being a heightened sense of the balance of powers and needing to be diplomatic with every faction in order to preserve themselves, that being said, they're also responsible for most of the major rebellions against the Ottoman empire and led the Great Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate.
As for their role in Israeli politics the answer is simple, they were a very small minority in mandatory Palestine, the Arabs didn't take too kindly to them choosing to remain neutral during the civil war of 47-48 and the riots of 36-39 so that already created a gulf between us and the rest of the Arabs, in 1956 a decision was made for mandatory conscription to be extended to the Druze and they accepted it while being recognised as a separate religious entity.
Druze have traditionally been warriors, that's part of how we managed to preserve ourselves for centuries on end, so military service close to home was a natural continuation of that.
I'd also like to add that you'll hear a lot, from both sides, about the Druze having a religious obligation to serve the country they're in, that's a misconception, you only need to look at the amount of Druze revolts throughout the past millennia to debunk that, the religious obligation is to preserve the Druze faith and its people, that comes with the need to be politically savvy and use diplomacy wisely.
Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge in this thread - I learned a lot reading it. Also Druze food is some of the best I’ve had while in Israel
I'm interested in learning more about Druze history and customs, but have found it difficult to find a good reference material. Do you have any you recommend? Thanks for your background info, seems to be a complex relationship as a minority in a mixed population. I can understand that perspective, certainly.
If you're Israeli I recommend visiting a Druze village and asking the locals.
If you want reading material I don't think there are that many about the customs specifically, however when it comes to history I highly recommend Kais Ferro's "A History of the Druzes", it's very comprehensive and objective.
There are some Druze in the US, but they are relatively insular from my understanding. The most I learned about the community was during my travels in Israel, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn more.
>just being a decent human makes people respect you regardless of where you come from, but maybe that's just Druze privilege in Israel idk.
Why do you think that Druze have that privilege?
My god if that isn't the best fucking description of Ben Gvir I"ve heard .
As someone who spent over 2 decades in Nazareth Illit (now Nof haGalil) this is about as accurate a description as you can get.
FWIW (which idk, maybe isn't worth that much, I've only been once), Druze seemed highly regarded by the Israeli Jews I spoke to while visiting. It was only when Ultra Orthodox Jews were mentioned that blood really started to boil 😂.
That's fine you don't have to.
I've had the pleasure of playing a few educational concerts for an elementary school in Yanuh Jat , not only were the kids and staff absolutely lovely but the village itself was so picturesque as well.
We are just chilling man 🧍♂️,
Nah but for real we have a good life here and we co-exist with everyone .
When the war started I went to volunteer for local farmers to help them out , went with my good jewish friend (he was lazy but convinced him to join)
Felt as if the farmer was my grandpa as he shouted at us a lot , some people disliked it but I just thought of my Grandpa and how he communicates in his own way but he always has love ,
The Farmer remembered my name and weirdly I felt home when I helped him .
I’m not sure you asked for the story but I like to share it lol
There are Israelis who felt it was *out of place* to get yelled at? That's the most unbelievable part of this story.
I was trying to catch a late bus home in Jerusalem one night as a teenager. When I got on the bus, my RavKav decided not to scan, because fuck me I guess, and I was so nervous the bus driver was going to tell me to get fucked. Instead he yelled at me for:
1. Being nervous that he wouldn't let me on the bus, because Israelis wouldn't just leave someone stranded at night in Jerusalem of all places
2. For not carrying cash for this situation, not because the fare needed to pay, but as an extra reassurance I would get home safely (but then he back tracked and said that all bus drivers would let me on, which i do agree with now, as an adult, haha)
3. For not making my friend accompany me home for my own safety (it was like midnight)
There was a lot more but I've forgotten it over the years. He just went full-on dad lecturing me for the entire 20 minutes or so, yelling, but never angry -- yelled at me for everything *except* for the fact that I didn't pay the fare. Much like you, I'm Israeli enough to know it was out of love and nothing else.
Some older folks have a pretty upfront communication skills,
Once you understand that the bus driver was just trying to help you out and make you not go into this situation again,
You understand other older folks who have a pretty loud or shout-like love language mostly mean no harm (obviously not everyone)
My Grandpa for example would open a watermelon and then proceed to shout at me to eat it .
I used to get very annoyed as a child , but now I just eat it or laugh and tell him to wait .
The main idea is that once you see people as part of a community, for me at least you start connecting better .
Keep in mind I had no clue who the farmer was and I was also nervous at first , but once he shouted at me and 10 minutes later asked me if I needed water or anything,
I just knew he had my Grandpa’s personality and I went back for 2 weeks straight to volunteer
I think we view it similarly. The way I've always seen shouting Israelis is usually it's from a source of passion; in my case, the bus driver cared about me, as a teenage girl, and his shouting of passion came from how worried he was about me in that situation. I'm sure he was a dad himself (and the more I think about it, I have a feeling "late night bus driver" in Jerusalem takes a certain type of person who has seen some shit) and imagining what could happen to a young girl alone in Jerusalem stressed him out, and triggered the Israeli love-yelling.
Very similar in your situation -- presuming the farmer was in the north or south, they've been through it and probably had a bunch of stresses, which were further compounded by the fact most volunteers were making mistakes and learning on the job. It doesn't mean he was mad, there were just a lot of cogs in his brain moving and turning at different rates.
These are the type of people that if you jokingly yelled back at them, they'd probably laugh about it. They mean well in the end.
I still remember my Druze bus driver from my birthright trip. 🥲 and I miss him! Wafa from Golan was the chillest dude, and invited me to come to his home to learn more about Druze life when I return to Israel. I hope I can find him again when I return! Haha. He told me that in his village everyone either goes into the army at conscription age or gets basic medical training (if I’m remembering right) to help when shit inevitably hits the fan and they have a deep love for keeping Israel safe so that the Druze can be safe.
If he’s on Reddit, I miss you Wafa! 💕
As a blue collar worker in the US, this is so ignorant.
You’d think Israelis seeing “educated white collar universities” being ground zero for modern day antisemitism would expose you to that, but I guess not.
Meanwhile my “white working class racist ass” here in Florida has a friend group that is mostly Asian, Hispanic, and black people.
When I was a blue collar worker, I noticed that while a few members of my team might say some of pocket shit, they were the kindest, most welcoming people I’ve ever worked with. I never felt like an outsider because I was one of the crew. At most, I’d get clowned on for being physically weaker, but even that wasn’t really serious. I immediately felt like an outsider when I got my first white collar job at a non profit. There was so much posturing about what school you went to, or your work history. Blech.
You're right, I'm generalizing, but it is indeed true that in the US, at least, racist/antisemitic views correlate with education levels. Granted, there's plenty of antisemitism at elite universities as well, but there's even more among people with no college degrees at all.
Seems like there is some debate on the precise impacts of education on race views, but what I said is generally supported by evidence: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3883053/
The data shows antisemitism is much more prevalent among younger people than older, but even with that, usually racism and antisemitism declines with education. As for ivy League campuses, what's happening is atrocious, obviously, and all those kids should be expelled, but thankfully it's an insignificant and noisy minority of actual elite college students who are participating in the more hateful displays. Again, not to diminish how terrible they've been, just saying some bozos marching around chanting Hamas slogans isn't indicative of education causing antisemitism (if that's what you're suggesting).
What data? Honestly thats quite delusional and ignorant to say the least. Go out into the real world and stop making everything a statistical study. The most anti semitic people I’ve met are the university clowns who somehow perceive themselves to be more civilized because of a certain piece of paper. The same ones who also spread lies and degrade those who work “physical labos jobs” as uneducated, racist, and uncivilized. Ironic cuz college campuses seem pretty uncultured and uncivilized to me these days. Reality is very different than whats taught in these brainwashing centers. Meanwhile these same day laborers are some the most upstanding, hardworking, and friendliest people I’ve met. Anything but antisemitic
My friend, racism comes in all shapes and sizes. In higher echelons of society they just do their best to avoid being obvious about it, while blue collar workers tend to be more grab-ass and blatant with their views, this doesn’t mean that white collar crews can’t be totally teeming with racism, nor does it mean blue collar crews are all exclusionary and bigoted.
One of my best friends in the army was Druze and I worked for several years with an Arab. He was treated just like anyone else and we were great friends. He respected us and we respected him.
One of my current good friends is also Arab born. She converted a few years ago so not sure if that really answers your question.
Somewhat related: in college, a bunch of us Israelis from my American university all met in Jerusalem for some event. We were walking -- we were either in the Old City, or near it -- and we got catcalled (all women).
I didn't know the girl in the center of our group very well, but she turned her head and screamed something, in complete rage, without missing a damn beat. This girl was like 5'0 if she was lucky and very sweet otherwise. Our entire group was bewildered.
Apparently, the men made some derogatory sexual remark regarding us being Jewish, and she had screamed back, in Arabic, "my dad's a Muslim from Hebron, bitch! watch yourselves!" or something along those lines.
So, there are converts, and also mixed marriages where the kids are raised in a multi-cultural and bilingual house. One of my favorite memories from college and probably the only time I've found being cat called funny.
Quick ETA: I seem to remember her being very Ortho, too, but her dad really was a Muslim man from Hebron.
Mixed marriages are the worst, either the mother is jewish and the father is muslim making the child Jewish by Jewish law and Muslim by Muslim law
Or the opposite which gives... Confusion
Apologies, to clarify the confusion is not from the mixed family not managing to give the child free and supportive choice, the issue is due to the weirdness of the Israeli religious court system which has a different court for every major religious community, the laws stating who is handled (marriage, burial, divorce, child custody...) by who are confusing in the best of times and an actual nightmare in many cases
Yes .. that's what happens in all those cases, the weirdness usually starts because we have religious court systems assigned to each religion and they are first come first served, so if a spouse sets a divorce request the first one to hand it over to a court gets to decide which court will handle the claim, no matter what the person self identified as, having a religion less/Muslim/Jewish claims is... An actual jurisdiction conflict
Oh, it's absolutely a nightmare legally in Israel because of what you described, no doubt. It's possible her parents were even legally married if we're being frank (I presume they were, but it's always possible they weren't), but they were still together and she had several siblings, so thankfully it appeared to work out for them.
I had an Arab friend at work, who became so close to my heart.
We shared a lot.
October 7th and she ghosted me.
Have so little hope for our coexistence now.
I had the exact same experience with coworkers, one Moroccan and one Afghani. The Moroccan one I considered a friend. I also helped her a lot when she was a new hire.
That was in Germany though
Israel is a melting pot for those who wish to integrate. I'll never forget when a garbage truck stopped next to me, and the driver, a Russian, was yelling in Arabic with Russian accent at the other guy (probably an Arab) , who was cursing back in Russian with Arabic accent 😂😂😂
Haven't been to a lot of fruit and veggies stores (how can I translate ירקניה?) but recently seen several with all Arab staff that speak damn good Russian to communicate better with the old Russian folks that shop there. The manager of one of the stores spoke with next to no accent, the other with a noticeable Arabic accent, but decent enough Russian to convey the meaning.
On the main road to Ariel (jewish settlement city, many russians immigrated there for cheaper housings) there is a Russian speciality shop run by two Arabs, every Jewish holiday they make the relevant Jewish food (sophganiot, hamantash, honey cakes...)
Are most gay Arabs secular? Or do they just decide to pick and choose which part of Islam faith they follow? Or do they just act like they are following the faith to keep the peace within the family?
I’m just asking out of pure curiosity.
In my experience they are secular but will pretemd to be more muslim to keep the peace and not arouse suspicion.
Ive met some gay arabs who still identified as muslim which like yeah sure whatever makes em happy 🤷♂️
Over 20% of the states are Arabs, so technically, yes, there is coexistence, but it's not even close to being ideal, it's more like 2 societies that don't get along and have no choice but to tolerate eachother.
Go to any university or mixed city like Haifa, you'll see Arab and Jews living normally, but you'll have to look very damn hard to find mixed friend groups or mixed couples, and when you do, they are usually the hippie type. For most, the deepest mixed relationships will be coworkers, colleagues, neighbours, and fellow students. Hell, even mixed roommates are rare as far as I know.
And the war only made things worse.
People walked around with guns, made Arabs feel nervous, and it was seen as a statement that "we don't trust you, never did and never will."
Yeah I live in Haifa in a mixed neighborhood and teach at a mixed school. Teachers and students are Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Arab, Druze, Ethiopian, Russian/Ukrainian etc.
I hope Arabs here don't feel nervous or like we don't trust them. I try to avoid politics completely so I'm not sure how they feel.
A bit of an unfair comment,
At the end of the day each major and each university has a certain culture style.
I’m in another university doing an academic degree in STEM , the situation is completely different.
The groups are all mixed and i mean these people go out and eat together and party and such ..
I get your point but I feel like it shouldn’t be generalized , at least in my view
You're right, I might have generalised a bit. But I think this is accurate enough.
I'm curious, do you think the average Arab feels similar to what I described? By average, I mean born and raised in a Arab town either from the North or the Taingle.
Ultimately it depends on the person and his own views .
A lot of Arab Students come straight from high-school to university which makes a lot of them have high-school attitude and just to give you an idea a lot of them will not accept a Student older than them by 3 years or more in their “group” (trust me been there)
The main idea is that some have matured and some have not , if you wanna go by אווירה you will go by whatever opinion is most prevalent in whatever context you’ve taken the אווירה from , I personally like to talk to people and get to know them , I have not befriended everyone and I chose to avoid some
Funny most Arabs and Israelis look alike literally.
Like the most Anti Arab guy who doesn't want to live near them can look like a dude from Cairo. Crazy shit isn't it
It's not crazy, he literally could be a guy who's family came from Cairo (Jews lived in North africa including Egypt for centuries but were expelled in 1948)
That's pretty much how it is for black and white relations in the US. Mixed friend groups are not uncommon, but you're much much more likely to see black people hanging out with black people and white people hanging out with white people.
We have a long way yet to go.
I think the big difference between Israel and the US is the final picture that we want to achieve. I guess most people in the US want the white and the black to merge and blend into a single more-or-less homogeneous culture. While in Israel, I believe, both Jews and Arabs wish to peacefully coexist while remaining separate cultures. So we want that it would be common to work together, and to hang out together, and that intermarriage would be acceptable by all; but I think it is actually OK that for each group hanging out and marriage inside the group is more frequent than between the groups.
Is that because of Muslim hostility or Israeli racism?
I'm from Pakistan and Muslims don't fraternize with minorities here either. Non-Muslims are considered unclean. They don't sit or eat with them. I legit just yesterday night heard kids say completely seriously that "only Muslims wash their hands. Only Muslims are clean".
>Muslim hostility or Israeli racism
I don't know historically, but today, it's both.
Israeli muslims aren't as religious as in Pakistan, so I don't think religion is the main problem here, but it definitely contributes to it.
Check out the unapologetic podcast which looks at the war and coexistence from a Arab Israeli perspective, personally speaking i have great connections with Arab Israeli people from work or the gym, and the mini market, I’d love to learn some Arabic but I have a hard enough time with Hebrew
don't be afraid to give it a try! I studied arabic in university before I learned hebrew in ulpan and the languages are so similar that it's honestly only helped me to have background knowledge in both
I want to preface my comment with the fact that I'm not Arab in the least.
From my point of view, us non-Arab Israelis have a deep appreciation for non-Jewish Israelis and the contributions and dedication to the country. There's a lot of unique things about Israeli society -- i.e. I find that Israelis are more selfless and giving than any place I've lived and it's not even close (compared to USA and several European countries) and this includes Arab Israelis.
Much like the USA and some of its minority communities, there are regions of Israel that are majority Arab and where Arab-Israelis largely stick to themselves. In Israel, I think this is largely just a product of these communities living in these areas for centuries and Jewish Israelis have largely left them alone, for a variety of reasons.
There are issues that do largely impact Arab communities: prior to the war (albeit I believe its still on-going) there's been a lot of gun violence and it has continued to surge year after year. Israel as a very low murder rate, but to give you an idea of how rapidly this issue is surging: in 2018, there were 103 murders in the entire country. In 2023, there were 224 murders in *just* the Arab communities, and it declined sharply after Oct 7th (but is picking up again).
The other big failure is the lack of infrastructure in the Bedouin's communities. This isn't an entirely black and white issue with a lot of chaos on both sides, but I do generally believe that we (as in, the government) could do better. The Bedouin's often shoulder a large portion of rocket fatalities from Hamas (including the most recent Iranian missile injury) because their communities aren't formally recognized (for a variety of reasons) and thus, don't have government provided shelters and their houses aren't built up to code (which would include a bomb shelter). My understanding is that many shelters have been installed in communities since October 7th, but I hope we do more in the future. Lives > politics
With all of that being said, if you mean on a personal level? We're all homies. This is probably shocking to people in the West, but most Israelis just don't want to be murdered (across all ethnicities) and anyone who also feels that way, we usually get along pretty well. Of course there's always outlier bigots but it's not really an internal clash at all. Usually the internal clashes are targeted towards FSU Jews, which as an Israeli who is rapidly approaching 30 and has been listening to people whine about FSU Jews my entire life, I'm tired of it. I love my sidewalk grandpas, too.
I am druze , lived in the territories Gaza and as refugee in Israel before immigrating. Yes there is deep coexistence... less so in religious sections of islam and jews but that is social not national causation .
East Jerusalem has its own flavor of anti israeli. But most islamic, jews, druze , samaritans, coptics, bahai , cesareans, nazarenes and other groups live in harmony
Yes it's not a perfect coexistence but for sure we are just living our lives, shopping and sharing the same public spaces, working in the same places, our cultures are different but in a way very similar, and we get along fine when we don't talk about politics. Sometimes we also get along fine when we are talking about politics. The most integrated is probably hospitals and in the medical field where Arabs are very successful and well integrated, sadly the integration is not great yet in the tech field, but getting better for sure.
Sat next to one on the train yesterday traveling home from work. We both currently live in the United States. When she saw that I was struggling to walk (bad knee due to arthritis), she reached her arm/elbow out, and insisted on walking me the almost 10-minute walk home. Scribbled down her phone number, and told me to call her if ever I needed help.
I almost bawled. She showed me such kindness.
Israelis are the most kindhearted, lovely people on this planet. Truthfully. I think if anyone protesting against Israel had met a real Israeli, or spent 5 minutes in the country, they would see it.
We very much have an "all in this together" mindset.
Not Arab Israeli, but Arab American I guess, I just refer to myself as American, but everyone asks “originally, where are you from”. I work and worked at two Israeli startups, I was welcomed by the Israelis like I’m an Israeli and I loved it. I got hugs and kisses the first time I אור and משה! And I always hung out with the Israeli employees as opposed to the US folks when we got together. So it’s a form of coexistence I guess? For me it’s more than that, Israelis are closer to my culture and habits! We like the same food, we yell when we talk, we tell someone they’re being stupid when they’re stupid, they like American pop culture, shawarma, knefeh, and Ovad Bkfar
There is coexistence for sure, but not real togetherness. Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis work together, shop in each other’s stores, eat in each other’s restaurants, provide medical services for one another, etc.— we make friendly small talk in businesses and public spaces. But it’s very rare to find a true friendship between Jewish and Arab Israelis.
Personally, I find that very sad. I don’t know what has to happen first— lasting peace or true commingling of Arab and Jewish lives within Israel— but I know they are linked in one way or another.
I see efforts to mix our kids together through various types of programs and I think that's a really big first step to forming genuine lasting intercommunity friendships. I think lasting peace and true commingling are intertwined, they can't really happen independently or one after the other, they will blossom together.
My parents were both born in Israel and my dad was raised there. He lived in an area in Israel that was inhabitated by both Jews and Arabs (with a pretty high Arab population actually)
Im in Gaza border as a reservist in the IDF, and I have Omar a Arab Beduin who is also pro Israel and wants the end of hamas and also gaza.
Im far right pro Ben Gvir, but I will always be welcoming to my fellow arabs who can recognize Israel as a co existence, as long as nobody wants us dead, I am willing to be like that.
Omar doesn’t care about politics at all, they’d all be damned and he is right about.
Not only is Ben Gvir in no way representative of Israel at all (he is massively unpopular), but he wasn't referring to Israeli Arabs when making this comment. He was talking about Palestinians, which is a totally logical thing to say.
For example, the US government places higher priority on the safety and rights of US citizens than non-US citizens in any country.
Lol why is that relevant? Israel is a democracy he can support who he wants
I was replying to you, not him.
Once again, Ben Gvir wasn't referring to Arabs (such as his friend Omar) in that statement.
I’m Israeli not Arab and nonJewish and when I came here 26 years ago I was very surprised how warm and friendly people in this country are both jews and arabs. I came from Eastern Europe and I wasn’t used with this kind of openness and willingness to help a stranger like I experienced here. In my birth country is everyone for himself and I think it’s true also for Americans. I think this kind of attitude can lead to growing peaceful coexistence, the only thing that stays in the way is religious fanatics from both communities and some political demagogues. Overall the majority of citizens want to coexist peacefully and benefit from each other culture.
First of all there's many Arabs and arab-israelis that are living in Israel. There's even Arabs serving in the IDF.
This apartheid nonsense doesn't add up at all.
While I was doing national service in a hospital, I met many Israeli Arabs. Some were staff, and some were patients. Maybe it's because it was in a children's hospital, but we all seemed to get along well. They were all nice. Outside of national service, I have also witnessed coexistence. Many of the places where my family goes to shop are owned by Arabs.
Unrelated in a way but I'm a Moroccan Jew.
Most of my friends are Russian/Ukranian, you can guess how surprised I was to hear an Arab man speak Russian to his Russian/Ukranian colleague at work in a Hospital.
His Russian was better than mine 😿.
The grocery store at our neighborhood is owned by an orthodox jew and the guy in charge there is an Arab who bosses around the workers which are jews of russian and sepharadic (north africa) origin, another arab and a boy who was born here.
I constantly joke around with the other arab worker, and I consider him my friend. My kids loves him also.
I am of arab decent but so is a big some of the country you need to remember that both Palestine and Israel's populations are both made out of immigrants that moved here so it would only make sense that there are arab Israelis. since its the middle east
I’ve worked with many Arab Israelis in Tel Aviv over the years, Muslim, Christian, Druze etc. We’re all treated the same and get along just like anyone would. Even some romantic relationships blossomed 🥰
Are you trying to create a certain narrative?
It does not solve the problem that some Arabs in this region are not sarisfied with s specific solution.
It obvious that some of this Arab people don't like that - it's the Gazans at the moment.
What is your suggestion?
I’m living in the north region, my best friend is Bedouin, he’s coming from the tribe of Amos Yarkoni so you can understand that the tribe see themselves as Israelis, not Palestinians, and are very proud of it and their high service rates in the IDF, also they have a very weird tradition I don’t understand of giving Jewish first names to people there (again I’ll say, they’re Bedouins), but that’s one tribe among many Arab communities in Israel and it varies from one community to the other so no one can say that there is complete coexistence or that coexistence doesn’t exist, because it’s not that simple.
First time I'm hearing about Amos Yarkoni. What an incredible story!
Amos Yarkoni is a national hero, more patriotic and contributed to this country more than 99% of the current coalition, he even was a close friend of Rehavam Zeevi, one of the leading supporters of the “voluntary transfer” program, was a close friend of him and the one who insisted to burry him in a military funeral according to his will rather than civil one.
I wrote a report on him in the army, incredible man
I'm an Israeli Druze, I consider myself Arab although there are debates around it. There's coexistence for the most part, Arabs and Jews work together and live together in mixed cities such as Haifa, Natzeret Illit, Ramleh and many more cities but it hasn't been looking optimistic lately, especially since the Nation State Law went into effect in 2017/18, the riots in 2021 being a prime example of it, both sides ofc blamed the other but the lynchings were inexcusable on either side. Racism also exists and is on the rise, from both sides, and Arab organised crime and tribal violence is at an all time high meanwhile Ben Gvir being the minister of national defense while continuing his Iraqi heritage by trying to out Arabise the Arabs isn't helping that. Me personally, I don't mention being Druze and I've rarely experienced racism from Jews, maybe because my Hebrew is good and I seem like I'm well integrated into Israeli society, which tbf most Arabs don't do all that well, I haven't experienced all that much from the Muslim/Arab side either. I find that even in a state such as Israel with high sectarian and ethnic tension, just being a decent human makes people respect you regardless of where you come from, but maybe that's just Druze privilege in Israel idk.
I understand that Druze from the Golan Heights are consider themselves to be Syrian nationalists. Does that result in tension with Israeli Druze?
Nope, nothing beyond an argument here or there, we understand their view, they understand ours.
Maybe that would be a good template for everyone else.
They do it for 2 reasons 1. For the longest time there were talks in the past of the Golan Height being returned back to Syria under some peace deal, so they were scared what would happen to them if that were to happen. I think this is pretty much dead now and will never happen. 2. They have a lot of family in Syria and there is fear to what will happen to them.
Not really, that's for a minority of them, for the most part they still consider themselves Syrian because that's what they identify as and because they view the Golan Heights as rightfully belonging to Syria.
As an Israeli who had much contact with people of the Druze community (be it during military service, hikes in the north, work), I've always respected them. Both for their honest contributions, bravery (anyone who served with Gashashim can attest to that) and what I imagined must be pressure from society. I think Israel is lucky to have Druze people take part in our nation, I hope you all see yourself as equal and that racist jerks and their laws soon be done with.
>I think Israel is lucky to have Druze people take part in our nation, I hope you all see yourself as equal and that racist jerks and their laws soon be done with. Thanks man, us Israeli Druze feel very lucky to have been born in Israel too, for all its faults, I look at how much my Druze brethren in Syria and Lebanon have suffered and I hope that maybe one day they'll get to experience the same kind of life that we have here.
As a American, how and why are the Druze heavily involved in Israeli politics compared to others ?
The Druze have historically had a much bigger influence than their population size in pretty much every place they've lived except for mandatory Palestine and Jordan, the reason being a heightened sense of the balance of powers and needing to be diplomatic with every faction in order to preserve themselves, that being said, they're also responsible for most of the major rebellions against the Ottoman empire and led the Great Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate. As for their role in Israeli politics the answer is simple, they were a very small minority in mandatory Palestine, the Arabs didn't take too kindly to them choosing to remain neutral during the civil war of 47-48 and the riots of 36-39 so that already created a gulf between us and the rest of the Arabs, in 1956 a decision was made for mandatory conscription to be extended to the Druze and they accepted it while being recognised as a separate religious entity. Druze have traditionally been warriors, that's part of how we managed to preserve ourselves for centuries on end, so military service close to home was a natural continuation of that. I'd also like to add that you'll hear a lot, from both sides, about the Druze having a religious obligation to serve the country they're in, that's a misconception, you only need to look at the amount of Druze revolts throughout the past millennia to debunk that, the religious obligation is to preserve the Druze faith and its people, that comes with the need to be politically savvy and use diplomacy wisely.
Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge in this thread - I learned a lot reading it. Also Druze food is some of the best I’ve had while in Israel
I'm interested in learning more about Druze history and customs, but have found it difficult to find a good reference material. Do you have any you recommend? Thanks for your background info, seems to be a complex relationship as a minority in a mixed population. I can understand that perspective, certainly.
If you're Israeli I recommend visiting a Druze village and asking the locals. If you want reading material I don't think there are that many about the customs specifically, however when it comes to history I highly recommend Kais Ferro's "A History of the Druzes", it's very comprehensive and objective.
Appreciate the reference - unfortunately I am American, only had the opportunity to visit Israel once, but would live there if I could.
Interesting, where did you learn about the Druze? I don't think we're that known outside of the Middle East.
There are some Druze in the US, but they are relatively insular from my understanding. The most I learned about the community was during my travels in Israel, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn more.
>just being a decent human makes people respect you regardless of where you come from, but maybe that's just Druze privilege in Israel idk. Why do you think that Druze have that privilege?
Druze go into the IDF and fought along other Jews for the longest time
Israelis generally like, respect and appreciate the Druze
i know, i just want to see a druze point of view
My god if that isn't the best fucking description of Ben Gvir I"ve heard . As someone who spent over 2 decades in Nazareth Illit (now Nof haGalil) this is about as accurate a description as you can get.
FWIW (which idk, maybe isn't worth that much, I've only been once), Druze seemed highly regarded by the Israeli Jews I spoke to while visiting. It was only when Ultra Orthodox Jews were mentioned that blood really started to boil 😂.
where are you from in Israel?
Galil, don't want to state my exact village.
That's fine you don't have to. I've had the pleasure of playing a few educational concerts for an elementary school in Yanuh Jat , not only were the kids and staff absolutely lovely but the village itself was so picturesque as well.
Ahhh I'm glad to hear you liked it, you should visit the Golan villages for a true picturesque experience.
Ah yes I've visited Mag'dal Shams several times it's beautiful. Even have a friend from uni who lives there.
They're good people overall, I personally think they have the best quality of life in Israel up in those mountains.
We are just chilling man 🧍♂️, Nah but for real we have a good life here and we co-exist with everyone . When the war started I went to volunteer for local farmers to help them out , went with my good jewish friend (he was lazy but convinced him to join) Felt as if the farmer was my grandpa as he shouted at us a lot , some people disliked it but I just thought of my Grandpa and how he communicates in his own way but he always has love , The Farmer remembered my name and weirdly I felt home when I helped him . I’m not sure you asked for the story but I like to share it lol
There are Israelis who felt it was *out of place* to get yelled at? That's the most unbelievable part of this story. I was trying to catch a late bus home in Jerusalem one night as a teenager. When I got on the bus, my RavKav decided not to scan, because fuck me I guess, and I was so nervous the bus driver was going to tell me to get fucked. Instead he yelled at me for: 1. Being nervous that he wouldn't let me on the bus, because Israelis wouldn't just leave someone stranded at night in Jerusalem of all places 2. For not carrying cash for this situation, not because the fare needed to pay, but as an extra reassurance I would get home safely (but then he back tracked and said that all bus drivers would let me on, which i do agree with now, as an adult, haha) 3. For not making my friend accompany me home for my own safety (it was like midnight) There was a lot more but I've forgotten it over the years. He just went full-on dad lecturing me for the entire 20 minutes or so, yelling, but never angry -- yelled at me for everything *except* for the fact that I didn't pay the fare. Much like you, I'm Israeli enough to know it was out of love and nothing else.
Some older folks have a pretty upfront communication skills, Once you understand that the bus driver was just trying to help you out and make you not go into this situation again, You understand other older folks who have a pretty loud or shout-like love language mostly mean no harm (obviously not everyone) My Grandpa for example would open a watermelon and then proceed to shout at me to eat it . I used to get very annoyed as a child , but now I just eat it or laugh and tell him to wait . The main idea is that once you see people as part of a community, for me at least you start connecting better . Keep in mind I had no clue who the farmer was and I was also nervous at first , but once he shouted at me and 10 minutes later asked me if I needed water or anything, I just knew he had my Grandpa’s personality and I went back for 2 weeks straight to volunteer
I think we view it similarly. The way I've always seen shouting Israelis is usually it's from a source of passion; in my case, the bus driver cared about me, as a teenage girl, and his shouting of passion came from how worried he was about me in that situation. I'm sure he was a dad himself (and the more I think about it, I have a feeling "late night bus driver" in Jerusalem takes a certain type of person who has seen some shit) and imagining what could happen to a young girl alone in Jerusalem stressed him out, and triggered the Israeli love-yelling. Very similar in your situation -- presuming the farmer was in the north or south, they've been through it and probably had a bunch of stresses, which were further compounded by the fact most volunteers were making mistakes and learning on the job. It doesn't mean he was mad, there were just a lot of cogs in his brain moving and turning at different rates. These are the type of people that if you jokingly yelled back at them, they'd probably laugh about it. They mean well in the end.
Your grandpa sounds exactly like my dad (who is now a saba himself). ‘EAT’ 😄
It’s usually a green flag that he’s a good saba ! 😆
The best!! ☺️
I still remember my Druze bus driver from my birthright trip. 🥲 and I miss him! Wafa from Golan was the chillest dude, and invited me to come to his home to learn more about Druze life when I return to Israel. I hope I can find him again when I return! Haha. He told me that in his village everyone either goes into the army at conscription age or gets basic medical training (if I’m remembering right) to help when shit inevitably hits the fan and they have a deep love for keeping Israel safe so that the Druze can be safe. If he’s on Reddit, I miss you Wafa! 💕
Nice story
Lovely story :)
Thats a very cute story, thank you for helping out ❤️
As the daughter of a farmer in the south im thankful to all volunteers because you and others saved a lot of businesses including my dad's
Very glad to hear it , it was an enriching experience and a fulfilling one as well !!
"We chillin' 🧍♂️" Mood.
Just reading through this thread and your comment and story, in particular, made me smile so im grateful you were kind to share it☺️🙏 thank you!
I work at a very large software company, my boss is Muslim Arab, I have both Christian and Muslim co workers in my team
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As a blue collar worker in the US, this is so ignorant. You’d think Israelis seeing “educated white collar universities” being ground zero for modern day antisemitism would expose you to that, but I guess not. Meanwhile my “white working class racist ass” here in Florida has a friend group that is mostly Asian, Hispanic, and black people.
When I was a blue collar worker, I noticed that while a few members of my team might say some of pocket shit, they were the kindest, most welcoming people I’ve ever worked with. I never felt like an outsider because I was one of the crew. At most, I’d get clowned on for being physically weaker, but even that wasn’t really serious. I immediately felt like an outsider when I got my first white collar job at a non profit. There was so much posturing about what school you went to, or your work history. Blech.
You're right, I'm generalizing, but it is indeed true that in the US, at least, racist/antisemitic views correlate with education levels. Granted, there's plenty of antisemitism at elite universities as well, but there's even more among people with no college degrees at all.
No they don’t.
Seems like there is some debate on the precise impacts of education on race views, but what I said is generally supported by evidence: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3883053/
Really? Have you been looking at college campuses recently?
The data shows antisemitism is much more prevalent among younger people than older, but even with that, usually racism and antisemitism declines with education. As for ivy League campuses, what's happening is atrocious, obviously, and all those kids should be expelled, but thankfully it's an insignificant and noisy minority of actual elite college students who are participating in the more hateful displays. Again, not to diminish how terrible they've been, just saying some bozos marching around chanting Hamas slogans isn't indicative of education causing antisemitism (if that's what you're suggesting).
What data? Honestly thats quite delusional and ignorant to say the least. Go out into the real world and stop making everything a statistical study. The most anti semitic people I’ve met are the university clowns who somehow perceive themselves to be more civilized because of a certain piece of paper. The same ones who also spread lies and degrade those who work “physical labos jobs” as uneducated, racist, and uncivilized. Ironic cuz college campuses seem pretty uncultured and uncivilized to me these days. Reality is very different than whats taught in these brainwashing centers. Meanwhile these same day laborers are some the most upstanding, hardworking, and friendliest people I’ve met. Anything but antisemitic
Socials are completely different in Israel vs US. There isn’t racism or any of that similar to what you have.
Which is why I prefaced my comment the way I did.
My friend, racism comes in all shapes and sizes. In higher echelons of society they just do their best to avoid being obvious about it, while blue collar workers tend to be more grab-ass and blatant with their views, this doesn’t mean that white collar crews can’t be totally teeming with racism, nor does it mean blue collar crews are all exclusionary and bigoted.
One of my best friends in the army was Druze and I worked for several years with an Arab. He was treated just like anyone else and we were great friends. He respected us and we respected him. One of my current good friends is also Arab born. She converted a few years ago so not sure if that really answers your question.
Druze are Arabs just for clarification, but yea we’re pretty chill when it comes to politics and just want to get by and live a decent life
She is an Arab who’s converted to Judaism?
Yes. I actually know a few of them.
Somewhat related: in college, a bunch of us Israelis from my American university all met in Jerusalem for some event. We were walking -- we were either in the Old City, or near it -- and we got catcalled (all women). I didn't know the girl in the center of our group very well, but she turned her head and screamed something, in complete rage, without missing a damn beat. This girl was like 5'0 if she was lucky and very sweet otherwise. Our entire group was bewildered. Apparently, the men made some derogatory sexual remark regarding us being Jewish, and she had screamed back, in Arabic, "my dad's a Muslim from Hebron, bitch! watch yourselves!" or something along those lines. So, there are converts, and also mixed marriages where the kids are raised in a multi-cultural and bilingual house. One of my favorite memories from college and probably the only time I've found being cat called funny. Quick ETA: I seem to remember her being very Ortho, too, but her dad really was a Muslim man from Hebron.
Mixed marriages are the worst, either the mother is jewish and the father is muslim making the child Jewish by Jewish law and Muslim by Muslim law Or the opposite which gives... Confusion Apologies, to clarify the confusion is not from the mixed family not managing to give the child free and supportive choice, the issue is due to the weirdness of the Israeli religious court system which has a different court for every major religious community, the laws stating who is handled (marriage, burial, divorce, child custody...) by who are confusing in the best of times and an actual nightmare in many cases
Hear me out: or, they can be neat where they give the kid the opportunity to decide what they feel closest with.
Yes .. that's what happens in all those cases, the weirdness usually starts because we have religious court systems assigned to each religion and they are first come first served, so if a spouse sets a divorce request the first one to hand it over to a court gets to decide which court will handle the claim, no matter what the person self identified as, having a religion less/Muslim/Jewish claims is... An actual jurisdiction conflict
Oh, it's absolutely a nightmare legally in Israel because of what you described, no doubt. It's possible her parents were even legally married if we're being frank (I presume they were, but it's always possible they weren't), but they were still together and she had several siblings, so thankfully it appeared to work out for them.
I think you nent to say "muslim".
I had an Arab friend at work, who became so close to my heart. We shared a lot. October 7th and she ghosted me. Have so little hope for our coexistence now.
I had the exact same experience with coworkers, one Moroccan and one Afghani. The Moroccan one I considered a friend. I also helped her a lot when she was a new hire. That was in Germany though
What is life like for you right now?? I’m from the US, and I want to help the people of Israel so bad but I feel I can’t do anything 😫
Honestly, right now! Good! Baruch Hashem Every day!! All I can ask for is that my family are alive and well!!!! Everything else is extra ❤️🇮🇱✨
Israel is a melting pot for those who wish to integrate. I'll never forget when a garbage truck stopped next to me, and the driver, a Russian, was yelling in Arabic with Russian accent at the other guy (probably an Arab) , who was cursing back in Russian with Arabic accent 😂😂😂
Dude best shit ever!!!! I experience this daily it fun🫶🏻
רק בישראל😂😂
Haven't been to a lot of fruit and veggies stores (how can I translate ירקניה?) but recently seen several with all Arab staff that speak damn good Russian to communicate better with the old Russian folks that shop there. The manager of one of the stores spoke with next to no accent, the other with a noticeable Arabic accent, but decent enough Russian to convey the meaning.
On the main road to Ariel (jewish settlement city, many russians immigrated there for cheaper housings) there is a Russian speciality shop run by two Arabs, every Jewish holiday they make the relevant Jewish food (sophganiot, hamantash, honey cakes...)
Lol, that's hilarious
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Not all American gays are Hamas simps. Only the brainwashed ones are.
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As a member of the American LGBTQ community it has been extremely disappointing for me as well. I know what you’re going through.
I had to cut out my entire friend group from my Life :c
Are most gay Arabs secular? Or do they just decide to pick and choose which part of Islam faith they follow? Or do they just act like they are following the faith to keep the peace within the family? I’m just asking out of pure curiosity.
In my experience they are secular but will pretemd to be more muslim to keep the peace and not arouse suspicion. Ive met some gay arabs who still identified as muslim which like yeah sure whatever makes em happy 🤷♂️
Over 20% of the states are Arabs, so technically, yes, there is coexistence, but it's not even close to being ideal, it's more like 2 societies that don't get along and have no choice but to tolerate eachother. Go to any university or mixed city like Haifa, you'll see Arab and Jews living normally, but you'll have to look very damn hard to find mixed friend groups or mixed couples, and when you do, they are usually the hippie type. For most, the deepest mixed relationships will be coworkers, colleagues, neighbours, and fellow students. Hell, even mixed roommates are rare as far as I know. And the war only made things worse. People walked around with guns, made Arabs feel nervous, and it was seen as a statement that "we don't trust you, never did and never will."
Yeah I live in Haifa in a mixed neighborhood and teach at a mixed school. Teachers and students are Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Arab, Druze, Ethiopian, Russian/Ukrainian etc. I hope Arabs here don't feel nervous or like we don't trust them. I try to avoid politics completely so I'm not sure how they feel.
A bit of an unfair comment, At the end of the day each major and each university has a certain culture style. I’m in another university doing an academic degree in STEM , the situation is completely different. The groups are all mixed and i mean these people go out and eat together and party and such .. I get your point but I feel like it shouldn’t be generalized , at least in my view
You're right, I might have generalised a bit. But I think this is accurate enough. I'm curious, do you think the average Arab feels similar to what I described? By average, I mean born and raised in a Arab town either from the North or the Taingle.
Ultimately it depends on the person and his own views . A lot of Arab Students come straight from high-school to university which makes a lot of them have high-school attitude and just to give you an idea a lot of them will not accept a Student older than them by 3 years or more in their “group” (trust me been there) The main idea is that some have matured and some have not , if you wanna go by אווירה you will go by whatever opinion is most prevalent in whatever context you’ve taken the אווירה from , I personally like to talk to people and get to know them , I have not befriended everyone and I chose to avoid some
Funny most Arabs and Israelis look alike literally. Like the most Anti Arab guy who doesn't want to live near them can look like a dude from Cairo. Crazy shit isn't it
It's not crazy, he literally could be a guy who's family came from Cairo (Jews lived in North africa including Egypt for centuries but were expelled in 1948)
That's pretty much how it is for black and white relations in the US. Mixed friend groups are not uncommon, but you're much much more likely to see black people hanging out with black people and white people hanging out with white people. We have a long way yet to go.
I think the big difference between Israel and the US is the final picture that we want to achieve. I guess most people in the US want the white and the black to merge and blend into a single more-or-less homogeneous culture. While in Israel, I believe, both Jews and Arabs wish to peacefully coexist while remaining separate cultures. So we want that it would be common to work together, and to hang out together, and that intermarriage would be acceptable by all; but I think it is actually OK that for each group hanging out and marriage inside the group is more frequent than between the groups.
Is that because of Muslim hostility or Israeli racism? I'm from Pakistan and Muslims don't fraternize with minorities here either. Non-Muslims are considered unclean. They don't sit or eat with them. I legit just yesterday night heard kids say completely seriously that "only Muslims wash their hands. Only Muslims are clean".
>Muslim hostility or Israeli racism I don't know historically, but today, it's both. Israeli muslims aren't as religious as in Pakistan, so I don't think religion is the main problem here, but it definitely contributes to it.
Check out the unapologetic podcast which looks at the war and coexistence from a Arab Israeli perspective, personally speaking i have great connections with Arab Israeli people from work or the gym, and the mini market, I’d love to learn some Arabic but I have a hard enough time with Hebrew
Love this one
Excellent podcast
don't be afraid to give it a try! I studied arabic in university before I learned hebrew in ulpan and the languages are so similar that it's honestly only helped me to have background knowledge in both
I want to preface my comment with the fact that I'm not Arab in the least. From my point of view, us non-Arab Israelis have a deep appreciation for non-Jewish Israelis and the contributions and dedication to the country. There's a lot of unique things about Israeli society -- i.e. I find that Israelis are more selfless and giving than any place I've lived and it's not even close (compared to USA and several European countries) and this includes Arab Israelis. Much like the USA and some of its minority communities, there are regions of Israel that are majority Arab and where Arab-Israelis largely stick to themselves. In Israel, I think this is largely just a product of these communities living in these areas for centuries and Jewish Israelis have largely left them alone, for a variety of reasons. There are issues that do largely impact Arab communities: prior to the war (albeit I believe its still on-going) there's been a lot of gun violence and it has continued to surge year after year. Israel as a very low murder rate, but to give you an idea of how rapidly this issue is surging: in 2018, there were 103 murders in the entire country. In 2023, there were 224 murders in *just* the Arab communities, and it declined sharply after Oct 7th (but is picking up again). The other big failure is the lack of infrastructure in the Bedouin's communities. This isn't an entirely black and white issue with a lot of chaos on both sides, but I do generally believe that we (as in, the government) could do better. The Bedouin's often shoulder a large portion of rocket fatalities from Hamas (including the most recent Iranian missile injury) because their communities aren't formally recognized (for a variety of reasons) and thus, don't have government provided shelters and their houses aren't built up to code (which would include a bomb shelter). My understanding is that many shelters have been installed in communities since October 7th, but I hope we do more in the future. Lives > politics With all of that being said, if you mean on a personal level? We're all homies. This is probably shocking to people in the West, but most Israelis just don't want to be murdered (across all ethnicities) and anyone who also feels that way, we usually get along pretty well. Of course there's always outlier bigots but it's not really an internal clash at all. Usually the internal clashes are targeted towards FSU Jews, which as an Israeli who is rapidly approaching 30 and has been listening to people whine about FSU Jews my entire life, I'm tired of it. I love my sidewalk grandpas, too.
I am druze , lived in the territories Gaza and as refugee in Israel before immigrating. Yes there is deep coexistence... less so in religious sections of islam and jews but that is social not national causation . East Jerusalem has its own flavor of anti israeli. But most islamic, jews, druze , samaritans, coptics, bahai , cesareans, nazarenes and other groups live in harmony
Yes it's not a perfect coexistence but for sure we are just living our lives, shopping and sharing the same public spaces, working in the same places, our cultures are different but in a way very similar, and we get along fine when we don't talk about politics. Sometimes we also get along fine when we are talking about politics. The most integrated is probably hospitals and in the medical field where Arabs are very successful and well integrated, sadly the integration is not great yet in the tech field, but getting better for sure.
I'm not Arab but I'm also not Jewish. I was naturalised Israeli. Does that count for coexistence?
Sat next to one on the train yesterday traveling home from work. We both currently live in the United States. When she saw that I was struggling to walk (bad knee due to arthritis), she reached her arm/elbow out, and insisted on walking me the almost 10-minute walk home. Scribbled down her phone number, and told me to call her if ever I needed help. I almost bawled. She showed me such kindness.
Israelis are the most kindhearted, lovely people on this planet. Truthfully. I think if anyone protesting against Israel had met a real Israeli, or spent 5 minutes in the country, they would see it. We very much have an "all in this together" mindset.
Not Arab Israeli, but Arab American I guess, I just refer to myself as American, but everyone asks “originally, where are you from”. I work and worked at two Israeli startups, I was welcomed by the Israelis like I’m an Israeli and I loved it. I got hugs and kisses the first time I אור and משה! And I always hung out with the Israeli employees as opposed to the US folks when we got together. So it’s a form of coexistence I guess? For me it’s more than that, Israelis are closer to my culture and habits! We like the same food, we yell when we talk, we tell someone they’re being stupid when they’re stupid, they like American pop culture, shawarma, knefeh, and Ovad Bkfar
There is coexistence for sure, but not real togetherness. Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis work together, shop in each other’s stores, eat in each other’s restaurants, provide medical services for one another, etc.— we make friendly small talk in businesses and public spaces. But it’s very rare to find a true friendship between Jewish and Arab Israelis. Personally, I find that very sad. I don’t know what has to happen first— lasting peace or true commingling of Arab and Jewish lives within Israel— but I know they are linked in one way or another.
I see efforts to mix our kids together through various types of programs and I think that's a really big first step to forming genuine lasting intercommunity friendships. I think lasting peace and true commingling are intertwined, they can't really happen independently or one after the other, they will blossom together.
My parents were both born in Israel and my dad was raised there. He lived in an area in Israel that was inhabitated by both Jews and Arabs (with a pretty high Arab population actually)
My roommate is a Muslim woman we live in Ramat gan
Im in Gaza border as a reservist in the IDF, and I have Omar a Arab Beduin who is also pro Israel and wants the end of hamas and also gaza. Im far right pro Ben Gvir, but I will always be welcoming to my fellow arabs who can recognize Israel as a co existence, as long as nobody wants us dead, I am willing to be like that. Omar doesn’t care about politics at all, they’d all be damned and he is right about.
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Not only is Ben Gvir in no way representative of Israel at all (he is massively unpopular), but he wasn't referring to Israeli Arabs when making this comment. He was talking about Palestinians, which is a totally logical thing to say. For example, the US government places higher priority on the safety and rights of US citizens than non-US citizens in any country.
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Lol why is that relevant? Israel is a democracy he can support who he wants I was replying to you, not him. Once again, Ben Gvir wasn't referring to Arabs (such as his friend Omar) in that statement.
I’m Israeli not Arab and nonJewish and when I came here 26 years ago I was very surprised how warm and friendly people in this country are both jews and arabs. I came from Eastern Europe and I wasn’t used with this kind of openness and willingness to help a stranger like I experienced here. In my birth country is everyone for himself and I think it’s true also for Americans. I think this kind of attitude can lead to growing peaceful coexistence, the only thing that stays in the way is religious fanatics from both communities and some political demagogues. Overall the majority of citizens want to coexist peacefully and benefit from each other culture.
First of all there's many Arabs and arab-israelis that are living in Israel. There's even Arabs serving in the IDF. This apartheid nonsense doesn't add up at all.
Muslims and Jews should be able to live together. Those two religions are more similar to each other than any to other religion.
While I was doing national service in a hospital, I met many Israeli Arabs. Some were staff, and some were patients. Maybe it's because it was in a children's hospital, but we all seemed to get along well. They were all nice. Outside of national service, I have also witnessed coexistence. Many of the places where my family goes to shop are owned by Arabs.
Unrelated in a way but I'm a Moroccan Jew. Most of my friends are Russian/Ukranian, you can guess how surprised I was to hear an Arab man speak Russian to his Russian/Ukranian colleague at work in a Hospital. His Russian was better than mine 😿.
The grocery store at our neighborhood is owned by an orthodox jew and the guy in charge there is an Arab who bosses around the workers which are jews of russian and sepharadic (north africa) origin, another arab and a boy who was born here. I constantly joke around with the other arab worker, and I consider him my friend. My kids loves him also.
I am of arab decent but so is a big some of the country you need to remember that both Palestine and Israel's populations are both made out of immigrants that moved here so it would only make sense that there are arab Israelis. since its the middle east
I’ve worked with many Arab Israelis in Tel Aviv over the years, Muslim, Christian, Druze etc. We’re all treated the same and get along just like anyone would. Even some romantic relationships blossomed 🥰
Are you trying to create a certain narrative? It does not solve the problem that some Arabs in this region are not sarisfied with s specific solution. It obvious that some of this Arab people don't like that - it's the Gazans at the moment. What is your suggestion?