Palestinian NGOs in Israel: A Campaign for Civic Equality or "Ethnic Civil Society"?

Introduction

Research on the politics of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel (PAI) has thus far focused mainly on parliamentary activity. In recent years, the PAI has also been resorting to mobilization through civil society associations, an area that has thus far received little scholarly attention. The absence of a theoretical link between the universalistic assumptions of civil society theories and the particularistic motivations behind communal mobilization has led some observers to assume that PAI non-governmental organizations target civic equality.¹ This is largely because civil society is conventionally seen as building strong, inclusive societal bonds. In this article, I present an alternative: PAI NGOs constitute what can be termed "ethnic civil society." Rather than view PAI NGOs as embarking on a civic campaign for civil equality, I contend that PAI civil society associations are a mode of ethnic mobilization, targeting the empowerment of an ethnic community. As such, they are distinct from conventional civil society organizations that promote civic rights. PAI NGOs borrow a variety of strategies that are applied by "classical" civil society associations, but their ends are more particularistic, aiming at institutional reform favorable to the PAI community and raising political and communal consciousness amongst the minority population.

More generally, ethnic civil society mobilization is a peculiar sub-type of civil society activity. The study of this phenomenon requires an integrated framework that bridges between civil society activity and ethnic mobilization. Such a link is necessary for a better analysis of ethnically based civil society mobilization that promotes institutional reform and raises minority political and communal consciousness. Such mobilization, however, does not target universal empowerment of citizens vis-à-vis the state, as "classical" civil society does. Rather, the focus is on Communal empowerment. This new framework allows the analyst to examine both religious and secular civil society organizations within a single framework, rather than treat them conventionally as separate categories.

Ethnic Civil Society

The study of ethnically based associations has remained relatively peripheral in civil society theory. For many, the concept "ethnic civil society" itself seems almost like an oxymoron. The term civil society, although very fuzzy, as noted by several scholars,² hints at more encompassing citizenry collectivities. New civil society movements are conventionally perceived as building inclusive linkages within society, framing their demands around universal rights, dealing with issues such as the environment, women's rights, or human rights.³ These issues are generally understood to cut through communal boundaries. Ethnically based associations, conversely, frame their demands around particularistic communal identities. Ethnic schisms are often described as hindering the development of effective civil society.⁴ And yet, many communal groups besides the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel—for example, the Scotts in Britain, the First Nations in Canada, the Flemings and Walloons in Belgium, and many indigenous peoples in Latin America—have been increasingly able to build powerful, ethnically based linkages that contest the norms embedded within the state and existing institutional arrangements. Thus, ethnically based associations have become an important channel for political action, adopting civil society mobilization strategies.

Ethnic civil society should thus be studied as an exceptional sub-type of civil society. Civil society, in turn, is conventionally studied in relation to the state in a state-society framework. In exerting sovereignty, states exercise "supreme civil power in an extended territory."⁵ The state has vital influence over access and distribution of material and cultural resources in the territory under its jurisdiction, and it possesses the authority to punish violators of its rules. Joel Migdal notes that civil society associations often offer a parallel order to that of the state—an autonomous, alternative set of practices and institutions in which the impact of the state is limited.⁶ These parallel institutions offer alternative forms of political and social authority to (or sometimes competing with) those of the state. Alternatively, Chabal and Daloz have observed in their study of civil society in Africa that, rather than isolate from each other, state and society sometimes mutually attempt to penetrate one another.⁷ This kind of activity can lead to mutual constitution...