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I used to work at the cash wrap at the Adidas Sports Performance store this past spring in SoHo, Manhattan, New York. For those who don’t know, SoHo is a huge tourist attraction in New York City; sort of seen as an iconic shopping area. Working as a cashier in the city meant that I had to engage on a daily with hundreds of tourists; tourists from all different countries, cultures, and religions. Although I’ve encountered hundreds of experiences at my job, there was one specific event as a cashier that I would forever keep with me. As I called “following guest”, a father along with his two sons approached me. They were unloading all of the items from the shopping bag as the father was double checking what he was about to purchase. His children were complaining to him in a foreign language about something I was uncertain of at the moment. Once the father responded to them, that’s when I was able to sort of comprehend what he was telling his children. He was talking to the boys in Hebrew, the official national language of the state of Israel. I was able to understand a little bit of what he was telling his boys because I have a basic comprehension in Arabic. His words sounded extremely similar to some Arabic words, which left me in awe as I was efficiently completing his transaction. After he swiped his unsigned credit card and I requested his I.D. for identity verification, I read his name, which was surprisingly a common Arabic name. “Ibrahim Shariffi” it said, written in English and Hebrew although the titles on the card were written in both Hebrew and Arabic. I was excited to have this customer at my register because I felt like I was able to relate him. I could read the Arabic written on his I.D. card, I could briefly understand what he was telling his children in Hebrew, and Israel borders the country that my father came from, Lebanon. I looked up and smiled at the man, putting away the Middle Eastern politics and controversy, Arabs and Jews conflicts, all the way to the back of mind and told the man “I understood what you were saying to your sons!”. He looked up at me with a confused grin as I told him “You’re from Israel, my father is from Lebanon. We’re neighbors. Welcome to New York.” The man enlarged his former smirk and showed a sign of comfort through his facial expressions. Although he had a thick Middle Eastern accent, we had a brief conversation in English about Israel in which he was recommending me to visit. I felt so relaxed talking to someone directly from Israel without feeling any pushbacks or discomfort about our political or religious backgrounds. Our similar, yet different languages was what connected us; it was a beautiful moment in which I would always cherish.
After this remarkable engagement occurred, I pondered if Israelis or Hebrew speakers could understand Arabic the same way that I, as a half Arab, was able to briefly understand Hebrew. As I kept that question in my mind, I remembered that I actually had a friend with an Israeli-American, Jewish heritage. I saw her at the gym after a week of keeping this wonder in mind and had to ask. She said a sentence in Hebrew to me to see how much I would understand, but I was only able to pick up about 2 to 3 words. As I said a sentence to her in Arabic, she was able to understand a good 5 words and get the jist of what I was trying to say. I was stunned by how similar our languages actually were and how distant politics and religion made our people become. Then I wondered, is it possible for Arabic to be the official language of Israel? Could a common language help us unite as one? Language is something extremely important. Without language, we will not be able to communicate, learn, and prosper from one another. Being biracial (being of 2 different races, in my case Hispanic and Arab), language plays a huge factor in my life. Since my dad is from a small country in the Middle East called Lebanon, Arabic is a language that I’m familiar with. When I was in the fifth grade, I lived in Lebanon for a year not knowing Arabic. The only languages taught in Lebanon were Arabic, French, and English. Although we border Israel to the south, Hebrew (which is the language spoken in Israel) was never an option to learn. Israeli-Lebanese relations have never been on good terms and conditions although, Lebanon was the first Arab country to show desire for a peace treaty with Israel in 1949. There has always been a conflict between Muslims and Jews since the 7th century A.D. with the spread of Islam throughout the Arabian peninsula, till this very day (Wikipedia, “Israel-Lebanon Relations”). The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also a huge issue in the Middle Eastern world. Palestine used to be a country that bordered Lebanon directly to the south until the official state of Israel was established in 1947. In the late 1800’s, a minority group of Jews known as Zionists had an envisioned goal to create a Jewish homeland. At first, this immigration created minor problems compared to the problems still being dealt with today. However, as more and more Zionists immigrated to Palestine, many of them came with the wish of taking over the land and creating a Jewish state. Eventually, fighting broke out, with an escalation of violence. In Palestine as well as Lebanon and all of Israel’s neighboring countries, the official language is Arabic. Palestine, however, does not recognize Hebrew as an official second language, but as a third language to few. On the other hand, while Hebrew is the official language of Israel, Arabic is the shares the same position as an official language and Russian and English are the second . I believe that it is highly possible for Arabic to become Israel’s first official language. Research and experiences have shown this to have a positive impact and result for the region. I observed how Arabic and Hebrew are spoken and came across some similarities in the 2 languages. Through my research I discovered that Arabic and Jewish languages have their fair share of differences, but also share many similarities. First off, Arabic is a Central Semitic language that is closely related to Aramaic, Hebrew, Ugaritic and Phoenician (Khalaf, Semitic Lang.). It is the language of the Quran, which majority of Muslims read. Of the total world population, approximately 420 million people speak Arabic, and this makes it the sixth most popular language in the world (worldatlas.com). 26 countries in the world have Arabic an official language. On the other hand, Hebrew is a West Semitic language of the Afro-asiatic language family. Israel is the only country with Hebrew as its native language and Jews worldwide use it for religious purposes. Today, Hebrew is spoken by 7 million people worldwide (omniglot.com). Even within Israel, Arabic is commonly read and spoken. Israel is the only country in the world that has Hebrew as a national language; other Jews throughout the globe use it solely for religious purposes. Because both languages originate from Semitic language, they are similar. As an Arabic speaker, I am able to notice the similarities between both languages if I listen to a Hebrew conversation as well as Hebrew speakers I personally know can notice similarities when Arabic is spoken. “The Arabic language in Israel is spoken natively by a large proportion of the population, reaching over 20 percent of the total population mainly by the Arab citizens of Israel and among the Arabic-speaking Jews from the Arab world.” (Wikipedia, Arabic Language in Israel). Almost everything labeled in Israel, is sub-labeled in Arabic including, billboards, traffic and highway signs, stores, official documents, etc. Arabic is commonly used and seen throughout Israel. Recently, towards the end of the year of 2015, a bill was passed in Israel making schools mandatory to teach Arabic from the 1st grade up (Harkov, 2015). I found this fact to be quite appealing due to the fact that it coincided with my predicament. Israel is geographically surrounded by all Arabic speaking countries in literally every direction. It makes total sense to incorporate and mandate Arabic into the Israeli school system. “...there is no better way to do that than by understanding each other’s language, to understand the culture and mentality of 1.5 million Arab citizens of Israel and hundreds of millions of Arabic- speakers in the Middle East.” said Oren Hazan, member of the Likud (right-wing political party in Israel) (Harkov, 2015). Arabic being the national language of Israel could be the way to lessen tension between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East and help promote acceptance to both cultures. But on the other hand, the Knisset (unicameral parliament of Israel) seems to disagree with my thesis. In a Forward Magazine article by Nathan Jeffay, I discovered that Arabic wants to be stripped down of its official status in Israel by government officials as well as Israeli citizens. In 2008, “a bill to relegate Arabic to the status of “secondary language” and elevate Hebrew to sole “primary language” was read. … The proponents of the bill — deputy Knesset speaker Otniel Schneller of Kadima, Shas caucus whip Yakov Margi, and Likud lawmakers Limor Livnat and Yuli Edelstein — say it is an important move to preserve the Jewish character of the country. They view it as a counteroffensive against calls from Arab Israeli citizens for symbols of state, such as the national anthem and flag, to be made less Jewish and more representative of all Israel’s citizens.” (Jeffay, 2008). Bar-Ilan University professor emeritus Bernard Spolsky, an expert on language in Israel seems to disagree with the Knisset’s proposal, therefore supporting my claim. Yosef “Yossi” Beilin, former Israeli statesman and scholar in the Knisset was warned that the bill will promote a sense of alienation among Israeli Arabs. “Some 20% of Israelis are Arabs, and something like this worsens relations, and moves in the opposite direction to that which we should be taking … In fact, Arabic should be much more official and studied much more widely than it is today.” said, Spolsky. He was referring to the widespread failure of Hebrew-speaking high schools to meet a national curriculum requirement that every student learn basic Arabic. (Jeffay, 2008). Arab lawmaker Hanna Swaid agrees that Arabic is a benefit for the state of Israel; “...a good example of the integration of the Arab citizens of the State of Israel, and without any reason to demolish this, this bill will harm relationships between Arabs and the state.” (Jeffay, 2008). Not only do Israeli residents agree that Arabic is a positive reinforcement to their society, Israeli-American citizens agree too. I lastly interviewed a few people on their thoughts of Arabic becoming the official language of Israel. Rachel Meiron, whom is a camp supervisor in Brooklyn, New York , a former Israeli resident, and a mother of 3 was quoted saying, “Yeah, I do think Arabic being the official language of Israel would be a positive thing. Everyone around me spoke Arabic and even all of our neighboring countries spoke it. It’s a high demanded language to know in today’s date.” Rachel said that she wishes her children learnt the Arabic language while they lived there back in 2008. Another person I interviewed, Robert Sharaffi, current student at Kingsborough Community College who identifies as an Israeli-American took a different approach to the thought than Rachel. I quotes him saying “ I visit Israel almost every summer. Arabic is a cool language to learn but I never felt the pressure to speak it. I don’t think Israel would change our national language from Hebrew to Arabic because Israel is a Jewish State and we can’t change the official language of our religion”. The last person i interviewed, Linda Schindler, whom is a former Israeli resident, banker, and grandmother, agrees with Rachel Meiron. “Other than English, Arabic was an essential language that I would have to get used to when I worked as a banker in Tel-Aviv. We had a lot of Arab tourists as well as citizens that spoke to me in Arabic. I wish I would’ve learnt it at a young age.” My results to my research was unique. Some things I learnt were surprising and some things I expected. I learnt a lot about the Israeli government and board as well as Israel’s drastically changed geographic size throughout the years. Researching and viewing all different opinions from writers and actual people that I interviewed was so beneficial and beautiful to learn. Throughout this research, I learned as well as experienced that language really is a barrier dividing people of similar cultures and beliefs. Although I came across some opposing viewpoints to mines, I found it extremely beneficial to my research and understanding. It helped me perceive and understand both sides to my initial hypothesis, helping me present a more unbiased conclusion. It is extremely possible that Arabic can be the official language of Israel. I recommend even deeper research and investigation on this topic. But, I would love to suggest and promote education and unity. Language is what unites people from all different religions, cultures, and political views. My experience interviewing a few Israeli-Americans really changed by biased, mildly stereotypical perspective on Jewish culture, especially the Israeli culture. I was brought up with a very biased and negative view on Israelis, coming from a half Lebanese, Muslim household. Hebrew is a beautiful language that must be forever kept and it will be, my research just found Arabic to be a more efficient language for the region. I do not think that Arabic would affect Jewish culture as there are a great amount of Arabs that practice Judaism, as well as Middle Eastern culture will always remain similar. |