Jews and Druze in Israel: state control and ethnic resistance

Palestinians in the Israeli Labor Market

“…The example of nursing among Druze women might be a case in point. The fact that a negligible number of Druze academic women are employed as nurses, compared to 8 percent among the two other Palestinian groups, cannot be explained either by geographical factors (the Druze live in the same areas as Christians) or by discrimination (due to political alliance with the state, Druze are, if anything, less likely to suffer from discrimination; see Firro 2001;Yiftachel and Segal 1998). 14 It does appear that the reason is a cultural attitude that deems nursing unsuitable for women, perhaps due to the close contact with male bodies.…”

The Druze in Israel: a less persecuted minority?

“…Out of 141,000 dunams owned by Druze villages in 1948, only 13,000 are left in their hands, while the rest have been taken by Israel (Al-Wasat : 2001, p. 25). Some of these villages lost more than 60% of their land holdings in the first decade of statehood in Israel's attempt to Judaize the Galilee (Yiftachel and Segal 1998). These measures have had serious repercussions for the Druze economy, which revolved around agricultural activities.…”

Inverted First- and Second-Order Elections: The Israeli Case

“…If the major factor influencing Druze behavior is their acceptance of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, then one should expect voting patterns similar to those of the general Jewish population. However, their wish to refrain from aspirations for national independence and their will to maintain their unique ethno-cultural identity have created strong local leadership and a strong community capable of mobilizing resources in order to press demands for material needs vis-à-vis government institutions (Yiftachel and Segal 1998). Thus, while sharing a similar socio-economic status with the majority of Muslims, Druze cannot be described as alienated from the state.…”