The Evolvement of an Arab–Palestinian National Minority in Israel

Developments in the national consciousness of Arabs in Israel are addressed in three consecutive periods, each representing a phase in the evolvement of the Arabs in Israel as a national minority, characterized by unique political and ideological developments. Following the establishment of Israel, Arab national consciousness was relatively subdued, given the imposition of a military government regime in Arab-populated areas and the physical isolation of Israel's Arabs from the Arab world. The second period, from 1967 to 1993, symbolized the national awakening of the Arabs in Israel in a process, which came to be known as Palestinization, which was strongly influenced by their renewed contact with the Palestinians in the occupied territories and by the rise of the Palestinian national movement. During the third period, from 1993 to the present, the national dilemma of the Arabs in Israel was further accentuated by the 1993 Oslo Accords, leading to recurrent attempts by Arabs in Israel to reformulate and propose alternative models to the 1948 paradigm of minority-majority relations in Israel. This article examines these developments in terms of ideology, politics, and means of protest.