Civic Service and Social Class: The Case of Young Arab Women in Israel

Abstract

This study examines the motivations of young Arabs—as a national minority in Israel—for enrolling in civic service contrary to the discourse of the Arab leadership, which repudiates their participation. Thirty-eight interviews were conducted with Muslim, Christian, Bedouin, and Druze Arab volunteers who acknowledged that although civic service would not end discrimination against them, it could improve their subjective feeling in their homeland. Civic service also plays a major role in resource accumulation, and a combination of meager family resources and significant high school achievement compels them to volunteer in order to pay for their undergraduate education. The program offers particular benefits for Druze and Bedouin women: in the absence of suitable jobs for religious women, it provides them with economic independence as well as religious protection. The draw of civic service stems from its role as a path that meets the unique needs of minorities, the middle class, and women.