In the aftermath of the war of 1948 between Arabs and Jews, Israel was established and
780,000 Palestinians were displaced. Only 156,000 Palestinians remained within the state of
Israel and became Israeli citizens. The overwhelming majority of the Palestinian urban elite and
middle class were deported 'from the country and became refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip
and nearby Arab countries. The Palestinian Arab in Israel is an indigenous minority, who formed
the majority in Palestine until 1947. Today, this minority constitutes about 20% of the state's
population.
Conclusions:
1. The Palestinian minority in Israel lives under a threatened and conditional citizenship.
Since its establishment, Israel has been practicing a demographic ideology that aims to
keep the Jewish population the vast majority. In Israel, there are some old and new laws
that discriminate against the Palestinian minority. The most important are , immigration
laws, The Law of Return (1950) and The Citizenship Law (1952), which allow Jews to
freely immigrate to Israel and gain citizenship, but excludes Palestinians. Recently, the
discriminatory Nationality and. Entry into Israel Law, which prohibits the granting of any
residency or citizenship status to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories married to
Arab citizens of Israel was renewed. "The citizenship of Arabs in Israel is so distorted
that it can surely be called 'de facto Class B citizenship'. The shooting to death of 13
Arab demonstrators in the fall of 2000 struck a critical blow to Arab citizenship.
2. The Palestinian collective struggle for equality in the planning and economic field has
become a central part of their life and collective identity. They protest against
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governmental policies related to their urban life and issues of land confiscation,