Israel is in the Middle East. The Middle East is largely an Arabophone region. These two facts are undisputed. However, Israel insists on behaving like a western outpost in the Orient. While it does so with regards to its foreign policy, it is equally true, and just as foolhardy, with regards to domestic issues.
While many Israelis would like to be European or American, they are not. Modern Israeli culture and behavior is derived from numerous sources, and has morphed into something new.
The current level of language instruction in Israel has a lot of room for improvement. Though not as bad as English, Hebrew language instruction in Israel is poor, to say the least. Instead of improving, Israel’s Ministry of Education has decided that regional language skills are unimportant. As of last year, Arabic has been completely dropped from the mandatory core curriculum.
This was not in order to invest more in to Hebrew or English instruction. There was no pedagogical reason for this decision. This step down in Israeli education was “motivated by an effort to create a curriculum acceptable to ultra-Orthodox schools.” This capitulation to narrow political interests is corruption, pure and simple.
Things are different on the other side of the ocean. Instead of imparting the language of the Jewish people to the next generation, some Jewish day schools are expanding their language departments to include Arabic.
This is the right move in the wrong place. I am not saying Jewish students should not learn Arabic. They should – in Israel. The problem is prioritization. Adding another language to the mix will only serve to dilute the already lacking Hebrew instruction offered by the Jewish educational system in America. In other words, first Hebrew, and only then Arabic.
Israeli education needs to strive for nothing less than excellence. Excellence in today’s Middle East requires the knowledge of Arabic. Instead of eliminating three years of Arabic study from the curriculum, language instruction in Israel needs to be placed front and center. Along with Hebrew and English, students should begin Arabic studies in first grade, if not beforehand.
I am in no way advocating forgoing Hebrew in favor of Arabic. Nor do I think Arabic is more important than English. The three languages are not mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, understanding, and playing by “house rules” in the Middle East requires knowing the language. That language is Arabic.
I’m thinking of taking a course of Intro. Arabic in college. The only problem is that half my family is in France so I should improve my lacking French speaking skills. Though my grandparents in France probably know a good amount of Arabic from their decades in Tunisia.
Many people of that generation in Israel do know Arabic. The disappointing thing is that very few thought it was important enough to pass it on to their kids.
Personally, I would really like to know Arabic. It is no doubt an important language to know in Israel, like it or not.
So true. I believe the Israeli school system should require English andArabic as a second language. Jewish Day Schools in the U.S. should teach, in addition to Ivrit Tanachit, modern spoken Hebrew as part of the core curriculum.
I agree with your article. Learning Arabic is relatively easy for Israelis (native Hebrew speakers) and there is plenty of opportunity for them to practice with Arabic TV, etc. Learning both Hebrew and Arabic together is good for Israelis, because they can understand the politics of the Arab nations around them better. But for Jews outside Israel, Hebrew knowledge is really bad, and should be given priority over Arabic.
Let me state a contrarian view. Arabic is not a high priority for Israel. Most Arabs that interact with Jews already know Hebrew. The chances of Israelis needing Arabic so they can travel through the Arabic-speaking world are nil. Israel’s future is still oriented towards Europe and North America, not their immediate neighbours who want nothing to do with them. So why bother? So they can understanding what Abbas and Hamas are saying about them to each other?
Garnel – “Most Arabs that interact with Jews already know Hebrew.”
That is precisely the problem. Most Arabs can understand Jews, but not vice versa. At least even the playing field.
“Israel’s future is still oriented towards Europe and North America”
That is a problem. Europe and America do not represent Israel’s best interests. Tethering our future to them is foolhardy. Plenty of countries in Asia would be willing to deal with Israel (India, Singapore, even Russia). It won’t a replacement for the U.S. – but this patron-client relationship is not something we should strive for with anyone.
“[Israel future is not oriented towards] their immediate neighbours who want nothing to do with them.”
Like it or not, those are the neighbors. The Middle East plays by different rules than the West, and Israel needs to stop trying to play by Western rules in the Middle East.
All this presumes that some day peace will break out in the MiddleEast and that local businesses will interact with their Arabic counterparts.
Unfortunately if the precedents set by Egypt and Jordan hold firm – total boycott of Israeli professionals by all major guilds and unions – that’s not likely to happen.
And as long as the Arabs have all the oil and tell their Asian customers to not deal with Israel, there won’t be much opportunity there.
Europe and America don’t represent Israel’s best interests, true, but they are at least willing to interact!
Garnel – I don’t think peace will “break out” anytime soon. But If Israelis understood what people in the neighborhood were saying, Israel would be in a much better starting point for whatever happens. Imagine if Israelis didn’t need MEMRI in order to understand what our “peace partners” were saying. Maybe fewer people would be naive? And that is just one reason. I am not advocating this from a business or economic standpoint (though I can imagine some indirect benefits in that area).
The problem in understanding is not a language problem, but one of mentality. I don’t know Arabic, but I know what the intentions of the Arabs are. People who believe in orwellian doublespeak “victims of peace” will not be persuaded of their folly in any language.
@anon – Unfortunately, no argument there.
I agree that it would be desirable for Israelis to know at least spoken and preferably also written Arabic. I discussed this with a neighbor who is a high-ranking officer in something involved with security and knows both English and Arabic on a high level as well as his native Hebrew. He says there is no economic incentive for Israelis to learn Arabic because there is no business for them to do in Arabic. Therefore it will not become a priority.