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The law of the nation-state provokes a fierce debate between Jews and Arabs in Israel about the need for such legislation and its various clauses. But a majority of MPs voted without hesitation in favor.
As someone who studies the status of the Arabic language, I feel obliged to address the article of the law that removes the place of Arabic as a official language. Beyond the practical implications of this, there is another aspect: It signals that Israel seeks to be a foreign implant among its neighbors and to eliminate the link between Arabic and Jews.
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Here are nine points to consider, now that Arabic has been erased in as an official language:
1. Lower the status of Arabs and Arabs: that is what the law tries to impose on us. It states that Arabic will no longer be an official language but in the same line says that its status "will not be harmed." Semantics will not deceive anyone: If Arabic was an official yesterday but is not one today, then its status – and that of Arabic speakers – has been harmed. Essentially, Israel is telling its Arab citizens: From now on, we do not officially recognize your language and culture.
2. Protest and Language: The link between language and identity is a Gordian knot that is at the forefront of the latest research on the subject. For example, the first "war" of the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine is called "the language war" and has to do with opposition to the decision of the company Ezra to teach the Technion and to Reali school in German. The major anti-apartheid protests in South Africa also marked a milestone following a decision regarding the language: In June 1976, the Soweto riots erupted after the authorities announced that the government was in a state of emergency. Afrikaans and English would be the languages of instruction. It is difficult to understand why the Israeli government felt that it was so urgent to put pressure on this sensitive point.
3. Arabic and November 29: Israel still stresses that the foundation of state creation has been the acceptance by the Zionist movement of the United Nations Sharing Plan of 1947. Regardless of the nature of the plan, it must be remembered that the basis of the establishment of Israel, its consent to the Partition Plan, is based on a promise at the heart of this plan: the commitment of the Jewish State not to undermine the rights of minorities, with explicit mention of "preservation of linguistic rights". Clearing the status of a language that was an official language of the country for many decades would be a flagrant violation of the commitment upon which the Israeli establishment was founded.
4. Judeo-Arab relations and government recommendations: the reduction of the status of Arabic is not only fought by human rights organizations; this also goes against the recommendations of a government inquiry commission. It is astounding to return to the report of the Gold Commission, which investigated the events of October 2000 concerning Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. The commission, led by Judge Theodor Or, concluded that "the government must act to erase discrimination against its Arab citizens". It is not surprising that the commission appointed by the government also discussed language rights. the official language was one of the few collective rights enjoyed by Arab citizens and should be preserved. This is exactly the opposite of the purpose of the nation-state law.
5. Arabic and the Arab world: Israel is located in an area where Arabic is the lingua franca. Israel does not have peaceful and warm relations with the Middle East countries, even though it has its hand outstretched in peace. Will the elimination of the status of Arabic help Israel to convey a message of peace to its neighbors? If Arabic had never been an official language here, it would be one thing, but by the official erasure of the Middle East language, Israel sends an unfortunate message to all its neighbors: The The official status of Arabic might have been a slight respect for the local language, but now that this is removed too.
6. Arabic and Jews, Arabic and Hebrew: Arabic is not only the language of Muslims, Christians and Druze in the Middle East. Arabic was the most common language of the majority of Jews until the 12th century, and continued to be a language of creativity and communication and philosophy for most of the Jews who lived in the countries of l & # 39; Is. Some of the most important Jewish religious and philosophical writings, from Musa ibn Maimun to Said ibn Yusef al-Fayoumi (Maimonides and Saadia Gaon), were written in Arabic and Judeo-Arabic. Moreover, of all the most spoken languages of the world today, Arabic is the closest to Hebrew. They are "Semitic sisters," as Jewish scholars refer to it, "and all the roots that exist in Hebrew also exist in Arabic," as Eliezer Ben-Yehuda noted. Thus, the erasure of Arabic also means the erasure of part of the Jewish past, and the Jewish connection to the Arabic language, the Middle East and the local people.
7. Knowledge of Arabic among Jewish Israelis: The most recent survey on knowledge of Arabic by Jewish Israelis had disturbing results. Led by a polling institute of Tel Aviv University in 2015, the survey found that less than 10% of Jewish Israelis said they "understand Arabic"; only 6.8% of Jewish Israelis said "understand Arabic letters"; 2.4% said "that they could read a short text in Arabic"; 1.4% said they could compose a brief email in Arabic and only 0.4% said they could "read a novel in Arabic". The situation has never been worse. The generation who knew Arabic as their mother tongue is disappearing. For the first time in 1500 years, there is no Jewish composition in Arabic in this country. And erase the official status of Arabic is the most distant thing from a solution to this problem.
8. Opposition of professional organizations: The learned professional organizations opposed the elimination of the official status of Arabic in Israel. The Israeli Association for the Study of Language and Society, the independent professional badociation that is interested in the link between languages and people in Israel, said that its members " They are categorically opposed to the language section of the bill. "The same goes for the Arab Language Academy in Israel, founded as a result of a government law, which read:" Given the sharp decline in the Arab situation, steps should be taken to improve its status. "And most scholars of Arab studies believe that the removal of the official status of Arabic is bad and stupid. MPs thought differently.
9. Arabic as an official language – which hurts ?: "The official language" is a general status given to a language and each country chooses how to interpret that. You may require knowledge of official languages for government employment; others may choose to make the official language visible on its currency. South Africa has 11 official languages. Does this mean that every lecture in every public university is given in 11 languages? Of course not. But it is a way for the state to tell its citizens: You are part of us. In Israel, since 1948, there are two official languages, just as there are two peoples living in the country. Preserving the official status of Arabic is also important in principle, and the elimination of this status will have far more serious consequences than maintaining the status quo ante would have had.
The Knesset had its say and the law of the nation-state was promulgated. Ironically, in the midst of discussions about Israel's "Jewish and democratic values", part of the law that could have called for preserving the official status of Arabic and promoting knowledge of the language would have been the only part, in the deepest sense of the term. both Jewish and democratic.
Dr. Mendel is Director of the Center for Jewish-Arab Relations of the Van Leer Institute, Director of the Forum of Hebrew-Arab Translators and Researcher at the Forum for Regional Reflection
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