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1 The Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel Historical Background The dispersal of the Palestinians disrupted and impeded social and political processes that had been at work among them before the 1948 war. Many villages were destroyed, totally or partially. Their inhabitants fled the country or moved elsewhere in Israel, where they became "internal refugees" (al-Haj 1986; 1988). Numerous families were split in two, with some members in Israel and others in neighboring Arab states. The incipient industry that had begun to appear in Arab communities , as well as voluntary and social organizations, were wiped out. Worst of all, processes that should have produced greater cohesion among all Palestinians and could have led to the emergence of a Palestinian political entity were disrupted or halted in their tracks. In addition to the disruption and delay in these processes, the various segments of the Palestinian people, who lived under different regimes , suffered problems that were both similar and different, but common to all was that they were the result of the 1948 war and together generated the hard core of what has since been called the "Palestinian problem." In 1952 there were about 1.6 million Palestinians , of whom only 11 percent lived in Israel; 18 percent lived in the Gaza Strip, and 47 percent in the West Bank. The balance, some 21 percent, lived in neighboring countries, and 3 percent elsewhere. The problems and condition of the Arabs in Israel, immediately after the 1948 war, were a direct outcome of the hostilities and their aftermath. The essential difference between them and other Palestinians lay in the fact that they had remained on their land and become Israeli citizens. This important fact did not help them much, however, because as far as the Israeli authorities and security services were concerned, they were deemed in many respects to be part of the Arab and Palestinian "enemy" and subjected to various measures to deter or repress t t 1 The Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel Historical Background The dispersal of the Palestinians disrupted and impeded social and political processes that had been at work among them before the 1948 war. Many villages were destroyed, totally or partially. Their inhabitants fled the country or moved elsewhere in Israel, where they became "internal refugees" (al-Haj 1986; 1988). Numerous families were split in two, with some members in Israel and others in neighboring Arab states. The incipient industry that had begun to appear in Arab communities , as well as voluntary and social organizations, were wiped out. Worst of all, processes that should have produced greater cohesion among all Palestinians and could have led to the emergence of a Palestinian political entity were disrupted or halted in their tracks. In addition to the disruption and delay in these processes, the various segments of the Palestinian people, who lived under different regimes , suffered problems that were both similar and different, but common to all was that they were the result of the 1948 war and together generated the hard core of what has since been called the "Palestinian problem." In 1952 there were about 1.6 million Palestinians , of whom only 11 percent lived in Israel; 18 percent lived in the Gaza Strip, and 47 percent in the West Bank. The balance, some 21 percent, lived in neighboring countries, and 3 percent elsewhere. The problems and condition of the Arabs in Israel, immediately after the 1948 war, were a direct outcome of the hostilities and their aftermath. The essential difference between them and other Palestinians lay in the fact that they had remained on their land and become Israeli citizens. This important fact did not help them much, however, because as far as the Israeli authorities and security services were concerned, they were deemed in many respects to be part of the Arab and Palestinian "enemy" and subjected to various measures to deter or repress 11 12 The Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel. 1948-2000 subversive activity. The Arabs living in Israel after 1948 lived in a state of shock engendered by their unexpected defeat by the Jewish forces. They were weak, divided, and devoid of a countrywide political leadership to guide them. The Arabs, too, saw this situation as part of the development and evolution of the broader Palestinian problem. In this chapter I will sketch a general picture of the history of the Palestinian national movement through 1948 and the birth of Israel, of the subsequent history of the Arabs in Israel, and of the...

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