Policy Implications of Arabic Instruction in Israeli Jewish Schools

Abstract

Arabic instruction in Israel's Jewish school sector is unsatisfactory by both objective and subjective measures. This is surprising given that Arabic is an official language, that Arabs have a substantial presence in the country, and the powerful forces that support Arabic instruction. The rationale of Arabic instruction is linked to the needs of the Zionist project of Jewish sectarianism. Ironically, it is this very project as a set of ideologies and social practices, and the institutional forces that embody it, that subvert Arabic instruction. Too few students study Arabic, mostly as a result of the poor value of Arabic as linguistic capital. Here, the linguistic political economy reflects the physical, social, political, economic, and ideological segregation and marginalization of Arabs in Israel. The quality of instruction is further eroded by the very powerful stakeholders that militate for expanding Arabic instruction—namely the security apparatus, academia, and Arabic teachers—all of whom are serve...