Plurality and Citizenship in Israel: Moving Beyond the JewishPalestinian Civil Divide by Dan Avnon & Yotam Benziman

Author:Dan Avnon & Yotam Benziman [Avnon, Dan & Benziman, Yotam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Civics & Citizenship, Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General
ISBN: 9780415557771
Google: 7NGOuAAACAAJ
Goodreads: 9593519
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2009-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

7

Inclusion in administrative proceedings

The case of the community impact survey

Hani Ofek-Ghendler1

Introduction

Cultural pluralism is a social fact. The vast majority of modern societies are characterized by cultural pluralism, though its degree varies from one society to another. In some respects there may seem to be nothing new in this phenomenon. Many examples can be found of societies in the distant and the recent past that included distinct cultural communities (examples include the Ottoman, Greek, and Roman empires). Cultural discourse in the current era, however, is marked by characteristics that distinguish it from previous periods. One of these characteristics is the nature of the demands presented to the state. In the past the “other” cultures saw themselves as living alongside the dominant culture in spatial terms, and hence confined themselves to cultural autonomy – i.e. the demand that the state refrain from preventing the members of the group from preserving and realizing their cultural identity. New cultural groups, however, no longer necessarily consider themselves as “other,” and do not restrict their living area alongside the dominant culture. They often seek rights, equal treatment (in the sense of affirmative action), an opportunity to participate in shaping social arrangements, and an equal opportunity to contribute to the development of collective social life.2

Since its establishment the State of Israel has been marked by a high level of social and cultural pluralism. In its early years, Israel was a classic immigrant nation.3 The level of divergence between the different Jewish groups that migrated to the State of Israel in its early years was enormous. This heterogeneous immigration joined the existing population, which was also heterogeneous insofar as it included both Jews and Arabs. The shared objective of establishing the state managed to unite the different Jewish cultural groups. This task forged a sense of social solidarity between the Jewish groups despite their enormous divergence. Moreover, the tension surrounding the physical survival of the state helped mobilize support among most of the Jewish groups for the highly collectivist belief that cultural diversity could hamper the task of establishing the national home, and should therefore be abandoned in favor of a new collective identity to be created by means of a “melting pot.”4 This situation led to the blurring of cultural tensions and accompanying demands for recognition by the different social groups. Over time, however, as the national objective of establishing the state was achieved, Israel gained strength and the existential threat became more remote, these same themes could no longer function as a strong binding force among the Jewish groups. Alongside the success of the national project, additional factors weakening the common identity of the members of the Jewish group included the impact of globalization, the decline in the governability of the state, and the weakening of its control over mechanisms intended to establish the identities of its citizens.5 Moreover, the State of Israel continued to absorb immigrants from a large number of countries and cultures. During the 1990s, the largest groups of immigrants came from Russia, the CIS, and Ethiopia.

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