The already volatile situation of the Palestinian citizens of Israel has been exacerbated by the October 7th massacre and the war with Hamas that ensued. Dr Ahmad Agbaria of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas, Austin, talks about how their status and democratic rights have been affected, and what role they might play in its aftermath.
The interview was recorded on the sidelines of the “Democracy and Its Alternatives: The Origins of Israel’s Current Crisis” conference, held at Brandeis University and organized in partnership with the Center for Jewish History in New York.
Ahmad Agbaria says that post 1945 post-colonial states were generally (very) secular. I think he (and secular nationalist everywhere) misses the fact that ALL nationalist movements (Israeli included) have a very instrumentalist attitude to religion (as a convenient tool for nation-building). They neglect that religion is not simply form, it has also CONTENT.
PS re the remarks on the THREAT (to the Israeli Radical Right) represented by the increasing INTEGRATION of Palestinian citizens into Israeli society. (It was also a threat to Hamas, which acted accordingly.)
This may sound paradoxical. It is in fact which has ALWAYS recurred in the history of nationalism. There is still a widespread assumption that Jewish assimilation FAILED in twentieth-century Europe (as demonstrated by antisemitism, pogroms, etc.). But look at historically, from the point of view of ANTISEMITES. If Jews are, to any extent, integrating into European societies, is this some POSITIVE? Of course not! More Jewish integration means MORE competition (on the qualified labour market, etc.).