Arab integration in Jewish-Israeli social space: does commuting make a difference?

Abstract

Urban research on segregation and integration has been dominated by an obsessive focus on ethno-racial residential patterns, obscuring the multidimensional facets of separation versus encounter that define contemporary urban experience. In this study, we develop an explicitly multidimensional theoretical perspective that relates segregation/integration not only to residential location, but also to daily activity spaces, social networks, transnational media and communications environments, and aspects of identity and sense of place. To disentangle residential location from other facets of segregation/integration, we use GPS and interview data to analyze the socio-spatial experiences of 60 Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel who live in ethnically homogenous Arab towns—divided equally between “localists” versus “commuters” who spend most of their daytime hours working in Jewish-Israeli spaces. While results highlight many important consequences of commuters’ long hours of daily exposure to Jewish urban mileux, daily activity spaces are only marginally associated with other dimensions of socio-spatial integration. Our analysis reveals evidence of complex relations amongst the multiple dimensions of segregation and integration. Partial integration on a few of these dimensions is insufficient to overcome the structural stratification of Arabs in contemporary Israeli society.

Keywords:

• segregation
• Israel/Palestine
• sense of place
• commuting
• multidimensional scaling

Notes

1. This is unlike the situation in the early 1990s, in which commuters remained highly aware of ethnic boundaries since they were instantly reminded of their Arab/Palestinian identity when crossing into Jewish spaces (Schnell, 1994).

2. Several NGOs exist with aims of incorporating Arab workers into higher-pay sectors, including high-tech, teaching in Jewish schools, and medicine. However, their actions thus far are not significant enough to narrow the gaps and to change Arabs’ sense of deprivation.