Israeli Arabs: Fathers and Sons (and Daughters)

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bThey did that, and more. From a group that faced un- bemployment in the cities, and famine and no source of credit in bthe villages, they evolved—with the help of the Israeli govern- bment—into the comfortable and self-assured Israeli Arab com- bmunity of today (nearly 700,000 strong). But this took time, and bfor many years the Arab of Israel assumed a low profile. He was bignorant—he wished only to make a living. Not that he loved the bJews or their state. Hardly. It was rather that he was btraumatized by defeat, a simple person without leadership, liv- bing (until 1966) under military rule that prevented him from bfreely moving about. Most importantly, he was part of the rural, bfeudal family structure known as the hamulla.

bUntil recently—and it is still a powerful factor in many vil- blages—the Arab knew little individualism. Essentially rural, he bbelonged to a basic social village unit, known as ahal or dar, that bcan best be explained as “the extended family.” This included bthe father, mother, all unmarried daughters, and all the sons bwith their wives and children. They all lived in the same village, bin adjacent houses and sometimes under the same roof. Since bthe father owned the land that his children cultivated, he had bcomplete control over them. They would hand over their earn- bings, and he supplied their wants.

bThe second factor that went into the de-individualizing of bthe Israeli Arab was the fact that even beyond the immediate b“extended family,” the Arab village was part of a structure bbased on kinship ties. Related families often lived in the same bneighborhood and shared common economic and social prob- blems. The heads of the hamullas were its oldest members, their bauthority determined by their wealth and immediate family size. bThese elderly hamulla heads held well-nigh dictatorial powers bover the members of their clans. They determined who would breceive land and who would progress up the socioeconomic lad- bder. And because, in the first years of the state, these patriarchs bruled the lives of their people, there reigned an illusory accep- btance of Israel by its Arab citizens.

bThe truth is that the Jewish government understood from bthe first the venality and corruption of the old hamulla patriarchs. bThey were conservative, suspicious people, interested only in btheir own welfare and position. For money and a promise of blocal power they were prepared to give the Jews what they b