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عربي في إسرائيل
كتاب عالميّ بقلم عربيّ
هذا الكتاب الهام الذي نُشر في لندن بالانجليزية ليقرأه العالم كله! و نقدمه اليوم مُترجما إلى العربية , يختلف عن جميع الكتب الاخرى التي تناولت هذا الموضوع في أن مؤلفه العربي - فوزي الأسمر - نشأ و عاش في اسرائيل منذ قيامها ( فقد كان في العاشرة من عمره حين سقطت أجزاء من فلسطين , و منها موطنه "اللد" في يد الاسرائيليين عام 1948 ) . . و هو يستمد من مكانته ككاتب و شاعر عربي له شعبيته بين العرب في اسرائيل الجرأة على أن يُصوّر الواقع الذي يعيشه العرب داخل اسرائيل . . . و من خلال فصة حياته التي يرويها في هذا الكتاب نرى صوراً من المجتمع العربي الذي يناضل و يفرض وجوده على الاسرائليين من حوله . . . و يعترف الكاتب اليهودي " ا.ف.ستون" في مقدمة الطبعة الانجليزية للكتاب بصحة القول : ( في اسرائيل ما أشق أن تكون عربياً ! ) , ثم يضيف : ( انه لكتاب مؤلم لليهود ان يطالعوه ! ).
و الشيء المؤكد , أنك حين تفرغ من قراءة هذا الكتاب , ستكون أوفر معرفة و اغزر إلماماً بحقيقة ما جرى و يجري اليوم للعرب في هذه المدن الحبيبة : يافا , حيفا , اللد , الرملة , رام الله . . . و القدس !
هذا الكتاب الهام الذي نُشر في لندن بالانجليزية ليقرأه العالم كله! و نقدمه اليوم مُترجما إلى العربية , يختلف عن جميع الكتب الاخرى التي تناولت هذا الموضوع في أن مؤلفه العربي - فوزي الأسمر - نشأ و عاش في اسرائيل منذ قيامها ( فقد كان في العاشرة من عمره حين سقطت أجزاء من فلسطين , و منها موطنه "اللد" في يد الاسرائيليين عام 1948 ) . . و هو يستمد من مكانته ككاتب و شاعر عربي له شعبيته بين العرب في اسرائيل الجرأة على أن يُصوّر الواقع الذي يعيشه العرب داخل اسرائيل . . . و من خلال فصة حياته التي يرويها في هذا الكتاب نرى صوراً من المجتمع العربي الذي يناضل و يفرض وجوده على الاسرائليين من حوله . . . و يعترف الكاتب اليهودي " ا.ف.ستون" في مقدمة الطبعة الانجليزية للكتاب بصحة القول : ( في اسرائيل ما أشق أن تكون عربياً ! ) , ثم يضيف : ( انه لكتاب مؤلم لليهود ان يطالعوه ! ).
و الشيء المؤكد , أنك حين تفرغ من قراءة هذا الكتاب , ستكون أوفر معرفة و اغزر إلماماً بحقيقة ما جرى و يجري اليوم للعرب في هذه المدن الحبيبة : يافا , حيفا , اللد , الرملة , رام الله . . . و القدس !
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1977
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194 people want to read
About the author
فوزي الأسمر
2 books4 followersولد فوزي الأسمر في حيفا عام 1937 ، درس التاريخ والعلوم السياسية في الولايات المتحدة ، حصل على درجة الدكتوراة من جامعة اكسيتر في المملكة المتحدة ، حصل على الجنسية الأمريكية عام 1981 ، ترأس تحرير صحيفة الشرق الأوسط الدولية ، وترأس مكتب وكالة أنباء الإمارات في واشنطن .
ألف فوزي العديد من الكتب كان من اهمها عربي في إسرائيل عام 1975 الذي ترجم إلى عدة لغات ، وصف أوضاع الأسر العربية في إسرائيل ، فقد كتب عن مصادرة إسرائيل لأرض عائلته ، واعتقاله لنشطه السياسي بين عامي 1948 و1970 ، وألف كتاب الصورة النمطية للعرب في أدب الأطفال عام 1986
ألف فوزي العديد من الكتب كان من اهمها عربي في إسرائيل عام 1975 الذي ترجم إلى عدة لغات ، وصف أوضاع الأسر العربية في إسرائيل ، فقد كتب عن مصادرة إسرائيل لأرض عائلته ، واعتقاله لنشطه السياسي بين عامي 1948 و1970 ، وألف كتاب الصورة النمطية للعرب في أدب الأطفال عام 1986
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October 13, 2020
To Be an Arab in Israel is Fouzi El-Asmar's biography. It details his life as an Arab citizen of Israel, an author and an editor. This book is groundbreaking as it was among the first books in Israel talking about the Israeli-Arab experience. El-Asmar touches on many topics such as Israeli prejudice, socialism, his life in Tel Aviv of the early sixties, and his experiences in detention.
There's so much about this book that just seems wild. It's like the Israeli political landscape has simultaneously changed drastically and still not at all. For example, El-Asmar writes about driving to Gaza or about a Jerusalem road to Amman. These things seem almost mythical to me. Israel of the fifties where some people didn't speak Hebrew is just so weird for me to imagine. However, a lot of his descriptions of Tel Aviv remain remarkably relevant, considering how much time has passed. The problems of the conflict remain as unsolved as ever.
For me, the most interesting part of this book was the part about the 1967 war. He says that some of the Israeli left changed. The happiness about the victory overpowered the sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Allegedly, some of the Israeli left supported peace only because they were scared to lose wars. After the victory of 1967, many of them stopped being scared and lost the desire for peace.
I found this fascinating because in 2020, we know Israel is more powerful than the Palestinians. It's not challenging for Israel to fight against the Palestinians and therefore believing in peace is done despite Israel's military ability and not because of it. It's like the rules of the game have changed entirely. The political stalemate is still here, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is alive and kicking but something inherent has changed.
El-Asmar also describes the Israeli voices against keeping the land. I've always thought activism against the West Bank was a new phenomenon but this simply isn't true. We learned in school that Israel couldn't decide between annexing the land (like the Golan) or giving it for peace (like Sinai). The indecision led to no clear policy which led to the settlements. It's a tiny minority but it's remarkable that it was there, that even in 1967, some people thought staying in the West Bank would lead to corruption.
The last chapter really brings to light the contemporary problems. El-Asmar describes many times where Jewish Israelis said racist and hateful things about Arabs around him. Beyond this, he experiences severe censorship, false allegations, and many police inspections. On one hand, I do think we've improved in the sense that such things are no longer socially acceptable. As far as I know, censorship towards Arabs is not a thing anymore and there are laws protecting minorities. You can't say that you don't want to sit next to an Arab. Ironically, Jews tend to believe Arab doctors are better but apparently Arabs believe Jewish doctors are better.
On the other hand, there's still a cloud of suspicion towards Israeli Arabs. It's obvious that Israeli-Arabs deserve full equal rights and treatment but at the same time, this is truly a sticky situation and even after 70 years, we're no closer to finding a way to truly incorporate Arabs. There's always this question of how much do we give, how much influence does the minority have over the majority. Can a student write a uni paper in Arabic? Should everything be subtitled in Arabic? Can we give room for those who want to mourn the Nakba? Should the government fund artists that deny Israel exists?
And beyond that, El-Asmar doesn't this up bluntly so I will. There's a war going on. This isn't a normal minority/majority problem. When talking about the 1967 war, El-Asmar says he's worried both for his Jewish-Israeli friends and his family in Lebanon and Jordan. This is incredibly understandable. I do not blame any person who feels a strong connection to the Palestinian cause or to the pan-Arab identity. However, it's also a problem, or a potential problem. How can Israel make room for a population that perhaps wishes to fight against it?
El-Asmar doesn't dig into this. I think that's a shame because these are questions we have to answer together. El-Asmar's focus is always on his own suffering but he doesn't recommend anything else. When terrorism occurs, can we blame Jewish-Israelis that are hesitant about hiring Arabs? Even if it's a tiny-teeny minority, it exists. There's a part where El-Asmar is told Jewish Israelis will entirely accept him equally and without hesitation once the fighting ends. El-Asmar is offended but this is actually an important point. The Israeli racism is a side effect of the conflict, just as the Palestinian antisemitism.
We need to find a way to balance this out. Many Israeli leaders don't make it easy (ahem, raising the electoral threshold so that the Arab parties will have to run together and then constantly focus on the Islamists in the joint party) but we have to give Israeli-Arabs a chance, to listen to what they're actually saying, to make the public space safe for them to express themselves without the classic "oh, you have problems with Israel? Why don't you go to Gaza?".
The predicament of Israeli-Arabs is remarkable because it is so precarious. El-Asmar's comments on Israel could be seen as traitorous to Palestinians. He recognizes Israel's right to exist as Jewish country. He's so involved with Israeli politics in a way that would make people call him out as a normalizer, I imagine. He seldom refers to himself as a Palestinian. Sure, he mentions the Palestinian refugees but the vast majority of the book focuses on his issues within Israel rather than the broad Palestinian problem. I cannot help but wonder if this is because this book was published in Hebrew initially, if El-Asmar is censoring himself or if this is truly how he sees things.
Which highlights the precariousness. Israeli-Arabs also risk being seen as traitors in Israel. This is fascinating because as a Jewish-Israeli, it's always been clear to me what my "side" is. The existence of Israeli-Arabs shows us that it is not so black and white. While their identity faces a crisis, I do feel like they have this amazing potential to also be a bridge between us all, as El-Asmar himself does during those early years.
To conclude, I find it fascinating to see a perspective from the seventies. As a book, I felt like there was something very clunky about it. The chapters felt disconnected from each other. However, I do think this presents a snapshot of life in Israel in the seventies as an Israeli Arab.
What I'm Taking With Me
- Yeah okay, I probably should have read this in Hebrew but who has time for that
- Administrative detention is so fucked up. Like, I know terror organizations are a thing and I know early years Israel was a chaotic mess but come on. We can do better. We need to do better.
- Reading this after reading Leila Khaled's biography is wild. Like wow, they do not agree on anything pretty much. This shows how the Palestinian society itself is very divided which is yet another problem. El-Asmar and Khaled were both born in Haifa in the late 1930s/early 1940s respectively but their lives are so different.
- El-Asmar was friends with people who are essentially political and cultural giants. I mean Amos Kenan, Itzhak Danzinger, Uri Urlev. These are voices that shaped the Israeli left and it's remarkable to hear about them as just friends.
-------------------------------------
Okay yes, I just finished another book about Israel and Palestine but in my defense, I'm probably going to have to drop my uni course about the conflict so this is me making up for that. Review to come!
There's so much about this book that just seems wild. It's like the Israeli political landscape has simultaneously changed drastically and still not at all. For example, El-Asmar writes about driving to Gaza or about a Jerusalem road to Amman. These things seem almost mythical to me. Israel of the fifties where some people didn't speak Hebrew is just so weird for me to imagine. However, a lot of his descriptions of Tel Aviv remain remarkably relevant, considering how much time has passed. The problems of the conflict remain as unsolved as ever.
For me, the most interesting part of this book was the part about the 1967 war. He says that some of the Israeli left changed. The happiness about the victory overpowered the sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Allegedly, some of the Israeli left supported peace only because they were scared to lose wars. After the victory of 1967, many of them stopped being scared and lost the desire for peace.
I found this fascinating because in 2020, we know Israel is more powerful than the Palestinians. It's not challenging for Israel to fight against the Palestinians and therefore believing in peace is done despite Israel's military ability and not because of it. It's like the rules of the game have changed entirely. The political stalemate is still here, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is alive and kicking but something inherent has changed.
El-Asmar also describes the Israeli voices against keeping the land. I've always thought activism against the West Bank was a new phenomenon but this simply isn't true. We learned in school that Israel couldn't decide between annexing the land (like the Golan) or giving it for peace (like Sinai). The indecision led to no clear policy which led to the settlements. It's a tiny minority but it's remarkable that it was there, that even in 1967, some people thought staying in the West Bank would lead to corruption.
The last chapter really brings to light the contemporary problems. El-Asmar describes many times where Jewish Israelis said racist and hateful things about Arabs around him. Beyond this, he experiences severe censorship, false allegations, and many police inspections. On one hand, I do think we've improved in the sense that such things are no longer socially acceptable. As far as I know, censorship towards Arabs is not a thing anymore and there are laws protecting minorities. You can't say that you don't want to sit next to an Arab. Ironically, Jews tend to believe Arab doctors are better but apparently Arabs believe Jewish doctors are better.
On the other hand, there's still a cloud of suspicion towards Israeli Arabs. It's obvious that Israeli-Arabs deserve full equal rights and treatment but at the same time, this is truly a sticky situation and even after 70 years, we're no closer to finding a way to truly incorporate Arabs. There's always this question of how much do we give, how much influence does the minority have over the majority. Can a student write a uni paper in Arabic? Should everything be subtitled in Arabic? Can we give room for those who want to mourn the Nakba? Should the government fund artists that deny Israel exists?
And beyond that, El-Asmar doesn't this up bluntly so I will. There's a war going on. This isn't a normal minority/majority problem. When talking about the 1967 war, El-Asmar says he's worried both for his Jewish-Israeli friends and his family in Lebanon and Jordan. This is incredibly understandable. I do not blame any person who feels a strong connection to the Palestinian cause or to the pan-Arab identity. However, it's also a problem, or a potential problem. How can Israel make room for a population that perhaps wishes to fight against it?
El-Asmar doesn't dig into this. I think that's a shame because these are questions we have to answer together. El-Asmar's focus is always on his own suffering but he doesn't recommend anything else. When terrorism occurs, can we blame Jewish-Israelis that are hesitant about hiring Arabs? Even if it's a tiny-teeny minority, it exists. There's a part where El-Asmar is told Jewish Israelis will entirely accept him equally and without hesitation once the fighting ends. El-Asmar is offended but this is actually an important point. The Israeli racism is a side effect of the conflict, just as the Palestinian antisemitism.
We need to find a way to balance this out. Many Israeli leaders don't make it easy (ahem, raising the electoral threshold so that the Arab parties will have to run together and then constantly focus on the Islamists in the joint party) but we have to give Israeli-Arabs a chance, to listen to what they're actually saying, to make the public space safe for them to express themselves without the classic "oh, you have problems with Israel? Why don't you go to Gaza?".
The predicament of Israeli-Arabs is remarkable because it is so precarious. El-Asmar's comments on Israel could be seen as traitorous to Palestinians. He recognizes Israel's right to exist as Jewish country. He's so involved with Israeli politics in a way that would make people call him out as a normalizer, I imagine. He seldom refers to himself as a Palestinian. Sure, he mentions the Palestinian refugees but the vast majority of the book focuses on his issues within Israel rather than the broad Palestinian problem. I cannot help but wonder if this is because this book was published in Hebrew initially, if El-Asmar is censoring himself or if this is truly how he sees things.
Which highlights the precariousness. Israeli-Arabs also risk being seen as traitors in Israel. This is fascinating because as a Jewish-Israeli, it's always been clear to me what my "side" is. The existence of Israeli-Arabs shows us that it is not so black and white. While their identity faces a crisis, I do feel like they have this amazing potential to also be a bridge between us all, as El-Asmar himself does during those early years.
To conclude, I find it fascinating to see a perspective from the seventies. As a book, I felt like there was something very clunky about it. The chapters felt disconnected from each other. However, I do think this presents a snapshot of life in Israel in the seventies as an Israeli Arab.
What I'm Taking With Me
- Yeah okay, I probably should have read this in Hebrew but who has time for that
- Administrative detention is so fucked up. Like, I know terror organizations are a thing and I know early years Israel was a chaotic mess but come on. We can do better. We need to do better.
- Reading this after reading Leila Khaled's biography is wild. Like wow, they do not agree on anything pretty much. This shows how the Palestinian society itself is very divided which is yet another problem. El-Asmar and Khaled were both born in Haifa in the late 1930s/early 1940s respectively but their lives are so different.
- El-Asmar was friends with people who are essentially political and cultural giants. I mean Amos Kenan, Itzhak Danzinger, Uri Urlev. These are voices that shaped the Israeli left and it's remarkable to hear about them as just friends.
-------------------------------------
Okay yes, I just finished another book about Israel and Palestine but in my defense, I'm probably going to have to drop my uni course about the conflict so this is me making up for that. Review to come!
June 13, 2019
A great book written by a great author. It is a biography about Fouzi El-Asmar's life as an Israeli Arab and the injusticies that Israeli Arabs have to go through on their daily lives as they are treated as animals or bizarre creatures who have no rights and are not worthy of living. It discusses the Israeli people's vision of the "Promised Land" as an empty land that was waiting for their return rather than the land of the many civilizations that was constructed on it prior to their claiming the land as their own property and expropriating the Arabs of their lands and belongings.
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