The positive and negative aspects of the status of Israeli Arabs were described today by the deputy mayor of Nazareth, who is a leading Arab politician, to an audience at a meeting held in the committee room of the House of Commons.
Abdul Aziz. Zubi, a leading member also of the leftist Mapam party, told the British audience that the positive aspects could be summed up in terms of better education, health services, national insurance and a general improvement of the living standards of the 250,000 Israeli Arabs.
He described the military government in the Arab areas as one of the negative aspects, asserting it stemmed from the philosophy that Israel is for the Jew only and that the convenience and just demands of the Arab Israelis could be ignored. He added that there was an increasing number of Israeli Jews in all walks of life, including members of the Government and Parliament and political leaders who have declared that Israel’s security has not been served by the military government.
The Arab leader said that Premier Levi Eshkol had already shown that he was not committed to follow the policy of former Premier David Ben-Gurion who strongly fought all efforts to relax military government in Arab areas. Zubi added that Premier Eshkol had promised further improvements in the condition of the Israeli Arabs and that the Arabs trusted him to implement the promises.
URGES APPEAL FOR ARAB-ISRAEL PEACE OVER HEADS OF LEADERS
Discussing the Israel-Arab deadlock, he said: “Israel is a fact and Arab leaders who think it can be made to disappear are politically blind and are indulging in wishful thinking. There is room for an appeal to the Arab masses above the heads of their leaders to tell them that peace is in the interest of Jews and Arabs alike. The Arab masses would grasp such an appeal by instinct, as they often do in political matter.”
The Arab leader said that peace in the Middle Fast would have to come some say and that it could be brought nearer by such Israeli actions as a declaration of a policy now in regard to the problem of the Arab refugees. He said not all of the refugees could return to Israel or want to, but some could and should, without affecting immigration of Jews. He said the “world at large” could contribute to eventual peace by giving up “the habit” of backing two rival sides. He asserted that the Middle East should be excluded from the arms race by an East-West agreement.
He also discussed the current Arab-Israel controversy over Israel’s project to irrigate the Negev by diversion of Jordan River water. He said that the late Eric Johnsto, as emissary of then President Eisenhower, worked out a plan 10 years ago for regional use of the water, with specific allocations to Jordan, Syria and Israel. He added that “Israel has never used more than its allocation and does not intend to.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
