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Who Really Wants to Learn Arabic?

On IDF’s ṬELEM Unit as an Example of the Continuation of the Security Discourse in Israeli Field of Arabic in the 2000s

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on ṬELEM, an Israeli Military Intelligence unit, and analyzes it as an example of the ongoing military-civilian alliance with respect to the teaching of Arabic. The article centers around this unit and especially on its efforts and methods to promote Arabic studies in Jewish-Israeli schools. Studying some of its main activities and principal rationale, this article strives to uncover the blurring of the distinctions between education and the military in the crux of the field of Arabic studies in Israel. It therefore concludes that a positive change toward a humane and non-military study of the language will happen only following a thorough restructuring of the system and a resolution to embark on a new path.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I borrowed the term “open secret” from Uhlmann, who referred to the linkage between Arabic and security in Israel. See Allon J. Uhlmann, “The Field of Arabic Instruction in the Zionist State,” in James Albright and Allan Luke (eds.), Pierre Bourdieu and Literacy Education (New York: Routledge, 2008), p. 107.

  2. 2.

    See, for example: Allon J. Uhlmann, “The Field of Arabic Instruction in the Zionist State”; Yonatan Mendel, The Creation of Israeli Arabic: Security and Political Considerations in the Making of Arabic Language Studies in Jewish Schools (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014); Yonatan Mendel, “‘A Sentiment-Free Arabic’: On the Creation of the Israeli Accelerated Arabic Language Studies Programme,” Middle Eastern Studies 49 (3) (2013): 383–401; Muhammad Amara, “Arabic Studies among Jewish-Israeli Students: From a Security-Oriented Approach to a Civilian Approach,” Manbar Van Leer—The Arabic Language in Israel [in Hebrew] (2013): https://tinyurl.com/ya68zf8z.

  3. 3.

    Yonatan Mendel, The Creation of Israeli Arabic, p. 226.

  4. 4.

    Yonatan Mendel, The Creation of Israeli Arabic: Security and Political Considerations in the Making of Arabic Language Studies in Jewish Schools (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

  5. 5.

    This has been told to me in person several times, especially in unofficial meetings.

  6. 6.

    Yonatan Mendel, The Creation of Israeli Arabic, p. 226.

  7. 7.

    Allon J. Uhlmann, Arabic Instruction in Israel: Lessons in Conflict, Cognition and Failure (Leiden: Brill, 2017), p. 46.

  8. 8.

    Reuven Snir, Who Needs Arab-Jewish Identity?: Interpellation, Exclusion and Inessential Solidarities (Leiden: Brill, 2015), p. 130.

  9. 9.

    Roberta Kraemer, Social Psychological Factors Related to the Study of Arabic among Israeli Jewish High School Students (Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Education, Tel Aviv University, 1990), pp. 173–174.

  10. 10.

    In this context, see the following publications of Prof. Muhamad Amara: The Teaching of Arabic as a Foreign Language among Jewish students in Israel—Challenges and Recommendations (Haifa: University of Haifa, The Jewish-Arab Center, 2008); اللغة العربية في إسرائيل: سياقات وتحديات (الناصرة: دراسات, 2010); Arabic in Israel: Language, Identity and Conflict (London: Routledge, 2018), pp. 153–154; “Abolishing the Status of Arabic will be a Fatal Error,” Ha’aretz, May 11, 2017: https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/.premium-1.4085822; Muhamad Amara, Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt, and Abd Al-Rahman Mar’i, “Arabic Language in the Israeli Academy: Historical Absence, Current Challenges, Future Possibilities” (Jerusalem: Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, 2016), p. 9: https://tinyurl.com/ybalxz8b; The Teaching of Arabic among Jewish students in Israel: From a Security Approach to a Civilian Approach, The Van Leer Forum [Manbar Van Leer], September 29, 2013: https://tinyurl.com/n4dpq8n.

  11. 11.

    For further details, see “Arabic in Schools: What Could Increase Its Attractiveness,” Dahaf Institute, July 2000; Dedi Komem, “Language as a Cultural Bridge—Ya Salam, an Educational Model for Living Together,” Abraham Fund Initiatives, 2013.

  12. 12.

    Adva Him-Younes and Shira Malka, “Towards Developing an Arabic Curriculum for Middle and High Schools in the Jewish Sector—An Evaluation Study,” Ministry of Education, Pedagogical Secretariat, Department for Curriculum Planning and Development and the Henrietta Szold Institute—The National Institute for the Study of Behavioral Sciences (Jerusalem: Henrietta Szold Institute and Keter, 2006), pp. 11, 78, 159, 185. Accessible at: http://meyda.education.gov.il/files/Tochniyot_Limudim/DochotMechkarim/Aravit.pdf; see also Or Kashti, “Arabic Studies—Not in Our School,” Ha’aretz, November 30, 2006.

  13. 13.

    Yehouda Shenhav, Maisallon Dallashe, Rami Avnimelech, Nissim Mizrachi, Yonatan Mendel, “The Knowledge of Arabic among Jews in Israel” (Jerusalem: Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, 2015): https://tinyurl.com/yam792fe.

  14. 14.

    See Social Survey 2011 (Jerusalem: Central Bureau of Statistics, 2013). See also the report: “Knowledge of Arabic among Jews in Israel,” p. 24.

  15. 15.

    See for example the studies and reports mentioned in: Or Kashti, “Know Your Enemy: How Arabic is Taught in Israel’s Jewish High-Schools,” Ha’aretz, September 8, 2015: https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-know-your-enemy-how-arabic-is-taught-in-israel-s-jewish-high-schools-1.5396250.

  16. 16.

    See the website of the Intelligence Corps: https://www.aman.idf.il/modiin/general.aspx?catId=60611.

  17. 17.

    Middle East cadet page on the Intelligence Corps website: https://www.aman.idf.il/modiin/general.aspx?catId=60611&docId=73464.

  18. 18.

    See Intelligence Corps website: https://www.aman.idf.il/modiin/general.aspx?catId=60611.

  19. 19.

    The ṬELEM information pamphlet is disseminated to teachers of Arabic in Israel. (My emphases) The pamphlet can be accessed on the Intelligence Corps website: https://www.aman.idf.il/SIP_STORAGE/files/7/71777.pdf.

  20. 20.

    The Intelligence on the Horizon page of the Intelligence Corps: https://www.aman.idf.il/modiin/general.aspx?catId=60612.

  21. 21.

    Ibid.

  22. 22.

    Ziv Goldfisher, “Left-wingers Out: The Lecturer Dr. Mordechai Kedar Goes on the Attack,” Sharon Times, November 8, 2010. The article appears on the Maariv website: http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/175/778.html?hp=54&loc=5&tmp=3701.

  23. 23.

    Uri Blau, “The Blacklists: This is How the Right Tracks Anti-Zionist Lecturers,” Ha’aretz, April 13, 2012: https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/1.1683924.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., p. 32.

  25. 25.

    Or Kashti, “Know Your Enemy: Arabic Studies in Schools are Enlisted in the Needs of the IDF,” Ha’aretz, August 28, 2015.

  26. 26.

    Also known as “Israel National News,” an Israeli media networking which is identified with national-religious Zionism.

  27. 27.

    “The IDF Arabic Quiz: The Language is Crucial,” Channel 7, June 22, 2017: http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/349231.

  28. 28.

    Ibid.

  29. 29.

    Reuven Snir, “Military Intelligence Fodder,” Ha’aretz, August 20, 1995 [in Hebrew].

  30. 30.

    The letter, written on January 16, 2014, was published on the website of Army radio. Ya’ara Barak, “Minister of Education Shai Piron Cuts Down on Arabic Studies,” Army Radio website, January 23, 2014. Accessible at: http://glz.co.il/1064-34809-he/Galatz.aspx.

  31. 31.

    The Maktoob series of books is the flagship project of the Translators’ Circle at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. It aspires to turn the spotlight on the vitality of Arabic literature by translating selected poetry and prose into Hebrew. See Maktoob website: www.maktoobooks.com.

  32. 32.

    The Council was established in 2017 and is composed of 25 members, Jews and Arabs alike, representing different part of society, and includes public figures, rabbis and former supreme judges, and more.

  33. 33.

    For further reading on two of these programs, Arabic2Use and Madrasa see: https://safa1.co.il/arabic2use/ and https://www.madrasafree.net/.

  34. 34.

    See for example, “Ya Salam” project, which was pushed forward by Abraham Fund: https://www.abrahamfund.org/4426.

  35. 35.

    In 2006, the Abraham Fund Initiatives—a not-for-profit organization focusing on advancing coexistence and equality between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel—developed a unique and promising program for learning Arabic. Its uniqueness lies in its focus on spoken Arabic, its inviting civilian tone (“Ya Salam: language as a cultural bridge”), its being intended for elementary school children, the fact that it was developed by a pedagogical committee with cultural awareness and the fact that the teachers who teach it are Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. The most recent data show that the program includes some one hundred teachers and is operating in some two hundred schools all over the country. However, the program is used in the elementary school system only and has not had an influence on the Arabic teaching curriculum and the teaching in middle schools, nor on high school teaching or on the matriculation examinations (grades 10–12) that were the focus of my book The Creation of Israeli Arabic. Moreover, since the Abraham Fund is not a part of the Ministry of Education, it has a limited effect. It is also worth mentioning the important activity of an independent researcher, Ela Velstra, who is responsible for a series of books on the teaching of Arabic that are studied in the framework of “Ya Salam,” and who developed the one-language method and “the language that speaks culture.” The noteworthy activity of Ola Pery should also be mentioned; she developed another curriculum that is civilian and communicative and is admirable. For further reading: Dedi Komem, “Education Begins from the Inside,” Maariv-NRG, March 18, 2013. Accessible at: http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/453/210.html#.

  36. 36.

    Snir, Arabic, Judaism, Zionism, p. 1.

  37. 37.

    Reuven Snir, “Jews as Arabs: The State of Research,” Ruah Mizrahit 2 (Summer 2005): 15.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Middle East Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel

    Yonatan Mendel

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  1. University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Michael Kelly

  2. University of Reading, Reading, UK

    Hilary Footitt

  3. University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Myriam Salama-Carr

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Mendel, Y. (2019). Who Really Wants to Learn Arabic?. In: Kelly, M., Footitt, H., Salama-Carr, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Languages and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04825-9_21

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