Israel's Arab Citizens
Beginning in Moment's September/October 2009 issue, the special series "Israel's Arab Citizens" has examined aspects of the social, economic, and cultural life of the 1.5 million Arab citizens of the State of Israel. Nine installments are planned, of which three have been published. The first installment, written by veteran New York Times and Associated Press reporter Dina Kraft, profiled three generations of Arab Israeli women, titled "From Arab to Palestinian Israeli: One Family's Changing Identity." The second, "Separate But Not Equal," which appeared in the September/October 2010 issue, examined the performance of Arab Israeli children in segregated public schools. "Separate But Not Equal" tied for first place in the Best Investigative News category of the Ethnic Media Awards, sponsored by the American University School of Communication and New America Media. The third, "The Arab Glass Ceiling," was published in the January/February 2011 issue, the fourth and most recent installment,"Double Exposure," was published in the May/June 2012 issue. The articles are available in full on Moment's website.
Editor and Executive Publisher Nadine Epstein wrote of her motivation for initiating the series and the importance of focusing attention on the Arab Israelis in a Letter from the Editor:
Our lack of knowledge has serious consequences: I regularly meet Jews and non-Jews who view Israel’s Arab citizens as, at best, suspect and at worst, terrorists. The reality is that this is a largely peaceful population—very few have been associated with terrorism—with a complex identity. They speak Hebrew, sometimes even better than Arabic, and many vote in Israeli elections. They support a Palestinian state, but their lives are in Israel and most have no intention or desire to leave. At the same time, they are often considered collaborators by some of their Arab brethren.
Future installments will focus on politics, economics, the media, women and radical Muslim movements, as well as possible futures for the Arab Israeli population.
Read more about this topic: Moment (magazine)
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