Ariel Center for
Policy Research

A JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND THE ARTS

 

NATIV    Volume Twelve    Number 6 (71)    November 1999    Ariel Center for Policy Research

 

SYNOPSIS

 


The Islamic Movement Radicalizes Israeli Arabs

Raphael Israeli

The Islamic movement in Israel, whose history dates from the 1980s, has come to public attention lately due to two major events: The Islamist takeover of the Nazareth city council, which has provided backing to the illicit intrusion of the Muslims in Nazareth into the plaza of the Church of Annunciation, and their attempt to erect a large mosque on the plaza; and the two car bombs that exploded in September 1999 in Tiberias and Haifa, which were found to have been perpetrated by members of the Islamic movement of Israel.  These two events seem to be related inasmuch as the ideological underpinnings of the Islamic movement to a great extent delegitimize Israel and teach contempt of Jews.  In consequence, the Islamic movement has created enclaves of its own in Israel where it can enforce its Islamic laws.  In the past three years, the split between the activists, who wanted everything now, and the more moderates who have advised against boycotting the state institutions, has found its expression in a schism:  the northern Islamic movement, which continues to breed violence against Israel, and the southern branch, which advertises more moderation.

What will happen next depends in no small measure upon what the Israeli government does in its attempt to check the growth of the Islamic movement.

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