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21 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 21 ONE POLITICAL MOBILIZATION OF PALESTINIANS IN ISRAEL The al-’Ard Movement Leena Dallasheh In this chapter, I explore the history of al-’Ard (The Land, hereafter referred to as al-’Ard or the movement), a political movement established in 1959 by a group of young nationalist/pan-Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel. Al-’Ard remained active from 1959 until 1965, when it was banned by the Israeli government and many of its activists were imprisoned or exiled. I explore the history of al-’Ard, the challenges it faced, and the way it was perceived during its years of activism. I focus on the legal battles that al-’Ard waged in order to gain recognition within the Israeli system, which constituted most of its activities during its six years of existence. I argue that although al-’Ard was part of a wider ideological movement in the Arab world, it also had a unique character that combined pan-Arab ideology with local concerns. Al-’Ard is significant in that it presents one example of the ways in which Palestinians within Israel sought to maintain their identity and rights within the newly established state and in the repressive framework of the military government. Ultimately, however, the movement faced fierce opposition to its political ideology, which was perceived as incompatible with Israeli state ideology, and it was suppressed as a security threat to the Israeli state project. Thus, the history of al-’Ard is also exemplary of the limitations of Israeli democracy and citizenship: although Palestinians are allowed to participate in the system, they are forbidden from challenging its fundamentals (Sa‘adi, 1996: 395–396). In addition, by presenting the history 22 DISPLACED AT HOME of al-’Ard, I critique the scholarship on the Palestinian citizens of Israel that has tended to focus on Israeli state control while Palestinians, including the al-’Ard movement, are presented as passive recipients of history.1 While little has been written on the movement itself, the literature on Palestinian citizens often briefly mentions al-’Ard, focusing on its repression (Stendel, 1992: 234–240, Benziman and Mansour, 1992: 137–138). In order to understand the history and importance of al-’Ard, I draw on the following main sources. First, I use the newspaper al-’Ard that was published in late 1959 and early 1960. Second, I use court decisions and police files related to al-’Ard in the Israel State Archive (ISA). Third, I utilize files from the office of the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Arab Affairs.2 I have also made use of mainstream Israeli newspaper articles about the movement3 as well as articles from the Israeli Communist Party’s Arabic newspaper al-Ittihad. I also examine books and articles written by members of the movement after its dissolution that illustrate how they perceived the movement and their experiences in it. Finally, I interviewed several surviving members of the movement. This range of sources enables a development of a more complete and nuanced understanding of the history of al-’Ard and of its significance. THE STORY OF AL-’ARD After the Nakba, the Palestinians who stayed within Israel became a leaderless minority, as the greatest part of the “political class,” comprised of Palestinian leaders, intellectuals, and the urban population, had become refugees (Sayigh, 1997: 38). Under the military administration that was imposed on almost 75 percent of the Palestinian population in Israel, in the Galilee, the Triangle, and the Naqab, Palestinian political and economic life in Israel were greatly restricted (Jiryis, 1976: 13–55). In these years, the political activism of the Arab community in Israel was centered on three main parties: the government party MAPAI (Mifleget Po‘ale Erets Yisrael [Land of Israel Worker’s Party]), MAPAM (Mifleget ha-Po‘alim ha-Me’uhedet [United Workers’ Party]), and MAKI (ha-Miflagah ha-Qomonistit ha-Yisraelit [the Communist Party of Israel, hereafter referred to as the CPI]) (Harris, 2001: 112). The CPI was the only non-Zionist political party to represent the Palestinians and advocate for their rights during the decade after 1948, and by 1955 had become the preeminent force in the Arab community (Beinin, 1990: 141). In the mid-1950s, after the coup d’état in Egypt led by Nasser that was widely viewed as spearheading Arab nationalism and pan-Arabism, especially following the 1956 Suez War, there was a rise in nationalist mobilization among the Palestinians in Israel. Support for Nasserist pan-Arab nationalism was widespread, including among leaders and members...

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