‘I am an Arab Palestinian living in Israel with a disability’: marginalisation and the limits of human rights

Abstract

This article examines Arabs with disabilities living in Israel. Centring their experiences and voices, it argues that the group’s marginalisation is predominantly shaped by the ongoing political conflict. Arabs in Israel suffer deep social and institutional marginalisation on the basis of their ethnic identity and perceived threat and opposition to the state. Arabs with disabilities are neither exempted nor alleviated from this discriminatory framework. Therefore, those services, rights, and policies which are in place are not always fully granted, revealing the deficiency of a rights-based model for advancing their cause. Strikingly, however, it is the barriers and limiting normative beliefs within the community of Arabs in Israel where discrimination is most acutely felt. Being seen only through their disability means a battle for acceptance, integration, and participation in Arab society. Again, without a significant shift in social awareness and underlying normative perceptions, a rights-based model will only go so far.

Points of interest

• This article is about Palestinian Arabs living in Israel with disabilities.

• Despite their disabilities, they face ethnic discrimination from the wider Israeli society.

• Being disabled does not alleviate any of their challenges as they are still viewed in the framework of the ongoing political conflict and seen as a threat.

• Within their own Arab communities, they also face challenges.

• Arab communities limit their aspirations either due to low expectations or a lack of implementation of available disability rights/services.

• The overarching finding of this study is that ethnic discrimination and a lack of disability awareness significantly limit the effectiveness of disability rights and policies.

Keywords:

• Israeli Arabs
• Arab Israelis
• Palestinians
• disability
• persons with disabilities
• Arabs with disability
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Qatar National Library for providing funding for Open Access.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.