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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 19:05 14/12/2007 Playing with fire By Moshe Arens Tags: clashes, Druze, Peki'in, IDF The Druze community, as well as the Circassians in Israel, has for the past 50 years been living proof that you don't have to be Jewish to be a loyal citizen of Israel or to share in the burden of defending the country Last week's violent clashes between the police and the Druze inhabitants of Peki'in should be a wake-up call for Israel, signaling that we face a problem that is too hot to be handled by local police officers. The dimensions of the problem − the underlying anger and rage of the villagers and the support for them in much of the Druze community in Israel − go far beyond the unruly, and possibly criminal, behavior of some of this Druze village's inhabitants. The real problem here was less their acts of vandalism than the fact that the decision regarding how to attempt to respond to them was made by local police instead of at the highest level of the government, which presumably would have better recognized the ramifications of allowing this local problem to spin out of control. The resulting violence, which engulfed the whole village and led to many injuries, threatens to endanger the longstanding relations between the State of Israel and its Druze population. The Druze community, as well as the Circassians in Israel, has for the past 50 years been living proof that you don't have to be Jewish to be a loyal citizen of Israel or to share with its Jewish citizens the burden of defending the country. The Druze, who speak Arabic and whose culture is Arab, have demonstrated that those thing need not be an obstacle to being an integral part of Israeli society. What happens among the Druze could well serve as an example to be followed in time by the other segments of Israel's Arab minority. Advertisement But for this to happen, the Israeli government must have a comprehensive policy regarding the state's minorities. A policy whose aim is the establishment of equality of rights and obligations among all segments of the population. A fundamental part of such a policy must obviously be a program of affirmative action for the Druze, which would serve to demonstrate the advantages that are attained by those who serve in the IDF. It may come as a surprise to many Israelis that this has not been the policy until now. For many years in fact, it was quite the contrary. Until relatively recently, Druze soldiers in the IDF did not enjoy equality of opportunity with Jewish soldiers. Many branches of the service and the highest ranks were closed to them. It was only during my first two tenures in the Ministry of Defense that this discriminatory policy was changed, and that turned out to be a long and laborious process. When I entered the Foreign Ministry, in 1988, not a single Druze was a member of the foreign service. A policy I instituted, calling on the foreign service to recruit Druze who had served in the IDF, in time gave Israel its first Druze consuls and ambassadors. To this day, however, other government ministries and offices have still not pursued such a policy. Nor does the Supreme Court have a single Druze judge. It is hard to understand why the ministers who preceded me in both the defense and foreign ministries did not adopt such a policy, and why the government still does not insist on such a practice in all ministries and government offices. The recurrent talk of the need to give Israel's minority population representation on the boards of government companies, regardless of whether they have served in the IDF; the elevation of Arab MKs to membership in the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and membership in the cabinet, may at first sight seem like the most progressive of measures, but in fact they would be counterproductive. To the Druze, these would demonstrate that serving in the army is nothing special, whereas to the rest of the minority population, it would demonstrate that equality of obligations is not one of the norms of Israeli society. When members of the Druze community argue that Arab Israelis who do not serve in the IDF are exceeding them in advancement economically and professionally, there is an element of truth in their complaints, since those not serving in the IDF have a three-year head start on those who fulfill their obligations as citizens of Israel. Now along comes the present government and proposes a policy of national service for those who do not serve in the IDF. What does this say to the Druze community? That there is nothing special in putting your life on the line for the defense of Israel. If that is so, why should they continue to do so? Rather than the rest of the minority population following the example of the Druze population and accepting the full obligations of citizenship, we may next find the Druze following the others and ceasing to serve in defense of their country. The Druze community is a tipping point for relations between the State of Israel and its minorities. What happened in Peki'in was far too important to have been left to the discretion of the local police. Bookmark to del.icio.us Humanitarian Crisis The Red Cross says conditions have worsened in Palestinian areas. 'Sacred basin' At Camp David, Israel pushed for a body to ensure religious freedom in J'lem for all.

Today Online Israel, U.S. to discuss their differering assessments on Iran Responses: 80 Ruth Meisels: No commandment for Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem Responses: 85 Lisa Goldman: Law applied capriciously over my Lebanon trip Responses: 17 Yossi Sarid: Angela Merkel is antithesis of Hillary Clinton Responses: 23 Yoel Marcus: There are no Israeli politicians to rely on Responses: 21 Rosner: Should U.S. Jews have voice in shaping Israel policy? Responses: 15 Rosner's Domain Who believes in intelligence reports? American Jews are losing interest in Israel Guest: U.S public doesn't think there is need for or a point to creating a Palestinian state Americans do not believe the NIE report on Iran (What To Read) More Headlines 18:01 Cabinet declares 'special situation' in Sderot area 17:07 At least three killed, 30 hurt in explosion at Gaza Strip funeral 17:41 Stealth campaign underway to name late Moroccan king as righteous gentile 13:41 Israel, U.S. to meet to discuss differing assessments on Iran 19:08 IDF chief: Druze officers are this generation's Maccabees 15:46 Top Fatah official abducted by Hamas gunmen in Gaza Strip 13:56 Abbas to blast Israel for building in settlements, E. Jerusalem 09:02 Criminal charges could topple Ashkenazi chief rabbi from office 17:14 Physical Education teacher dies during Haifa high school class 13:11 Taxi driver abducted by Palestinians, rescued by IDF Previous Editions Select Day 13 dec 12 dec 11 dec 10 dec 09 dec 07 dec 06 dec 05 dec 04 dec 03 dec 02 dec 30 nov

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