Greater comprehension of the Israel Arabs’ needs by the Government and the open-door policy of the Histadrut, Israel’s federation of labor, to this minority are creating bridges to peace in the region, Yusuf Khamis, one of Israel’s leading Arabs, told the American Histadrut Cultural Exchange Institute here today.
Mr. Khamis, who was a member of Israel’s parliament for eleven years, is a member of the Histadrut executive committee and director of its Arab Department’s social welfare and mutual aid program. He is in America in behalf of “New Outlook,” the Middle East monthly magazine. He addressed members of the executive committee of the Cultural Exchange Institute at its headquarters here.
Mr. Khamis pointed out that of the approximately 300, 000 Arabs in Israel, 42, 000 of them — or a total of 103, 000, if their families are included — are members now of the Histadrut. The rest are, in the main, small farmers who have hesitated about entering the Histadrut’s cooperative buying and distribution systems, but are gradually doing so. All the Arabs in the country are covered by the labor organization’s health and welfare system, the Kupat Holim.
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