In many modern nation-states, national identity is not inclusive of all of the state’s citizens; rather, it is limited (in varying degrees) to the members of the dominant group. Because such states are structurally unable to meet indigenous/minority groups’ basic human needs for identity, inclusion, and equality, the formation of ethnically based identity and political organization is a natural alternative. To the extent that such alternatives are considered threatening to the state, it will deal with indigenous/minority groups by developing systems of control, based on varying degrees of force, depending on the state’s claim (or lack thereof) to be “democratic.” In this article, the author examines the role the state educational system plays in identity formation and the state’s system of control among indigenous Palestinian youth in Israel.

No abstract

The state educational system in Israel functions effectively to maintain the cultural, socioeconomic, and political subordination of Israel's Palestinian Arab citizens through the imposition of aims, goals and curricula to which the students cannot relate, and the substandard and discriminatory provision of educational resources, programmes and services; all of which result in markedly poorer levels of educational achievement and lower rates of students qualified to enter higher education. As with every other aspect of the education system in Israel, these inequitable outcomes are not a matter of chance, but rather a matter of policy. In this paper, I will explore the ways in which racially derogatory attitudes towards the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel have been translated into discriminatory practices in the state-run educational system. I will examine the mechanisms by which these practices have placed Palestinian Arabs on an unequal footing with regard to their social, economic and political development vis à vis the Israeli Jewish majority, and have led to the institutionalisation of an education system that perpetuates racist attitudes and practices.Nearly one in four of Israel's 1.6 million schoolchildren are educated in a public school system wholly separate from the majority. The children in this parallel school system are Israeli citizens of Palestinian Arab origin. Their schools are a world apart in quality from the public schools serving Israel's majority Jewish population. Often overcrowded and understaffed, poorly built, badly maintained, or simply unavailable, schools for Palestinian Arab children offer fewer facilities and educational opportunities than are offered other Israeli [Jewish] children. (Human Rights Watch, 2001, p. 11) [Institutional racism is] the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people. (MacPherson of Cluny, 1999, p. 684)

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to investigate the Islamic work ethic (IWE) and individualism among Arab college students in Israel, who represent an ethnic and religious minority in a western‐oriented state.Design/methodology/approachThe participants included 837 male and female Arab college students from an academic and a technical college in northern Israel. Most participants (64 percent) were Academic college students. Two measures were used: the IWE and individualism scales developed by Ali. Correlation analysis and two‐way multivariate analysis were used to analyze the data.FindingsThere was a strong and highly significant correlation between the IWE and individualism scales. Academic college students scored significantly higher than technical college students on both scales. There were significant interactions between gender and marital status, and college type and year of studies, on the scales.Practical implicationsWithin the multi‐cultural context of Arab college students in Israel, the IWE and individualism scales emerged as reliable, practical measures for understanding the work‐related values of Arab college students in Israel.Originality/valueThis study is the first in the published literature to use the IWE and individualism scales among Arab students who were not raised in a homogeneous Islamic cultural context. Although the Arab minority in Israel is exposed to Israeli and Western, as well as Islamic, cultural and organizational influences, IWE scale proved to be highly reliable for this population. The IWE and individualism scales, used together, were uniquely effective for capturing the many nuances of work‐related values in this complex, multi‐cultural context.

No abstract