"The Future Vision for the Palestinian Arabs in Israel," which a group of intellectuals and public figures from the Arab sector in Israel published last December, sparked a range of reactions (for a day or two) among the Jewish public - none of which expressed joy and satisfaction. Even for Shuli Dichter (Ma'anit), one of the two executive directors of Sikkuy - a Jewish-Arab nongovernmental organization that works to promote full equality in the allocation of state resources - the document caused "discomfort, to put it mildly." But not all of it, just the first sentence - which defines Jewish settlement in Israel as a colonialist process. "I personally had to surmount this high hurdle in order to continue reading the document," he admits.

Shuli Dichter: "Those among the Arabs in Israel who define Zionism as colonialism make things easy for themselves. For colonialism there is a solution - de-colonialism, which means the return of the colonialists to the place they came from. We, unlike the colonialists, have nowhere to return to.
Thus, there is no solution for Zionism. Rather, it is the solution. It is true that this is talk and not a practical demand. As'ad Ghanem, one of the document's signatories, was my partner in managing Sikkuy for five years and was a researcher at the Jewish-Arab Center at Givat Haviva, and I know for a fact that he does not intend for us to return tomorrow to our countries of origin.
Nonetheless, the authors of the document, and the Arab public in general, must get used to defining us in the way that we define ourselves, just as we must get used to defining them as they define themselves - that is, as Palestinians who are citizens of Israel. I needed to make an "Averbukh" jump over this section in order to continue reading the document."

"I also have criticism about the clumsy wording, the truncated ideas, the unprofessional editing. It is an unfinished document, half-baked, but it is clear - and this is something significant - that it authentically reports from within and reflects an important internal debate being conducted in recent years within the Palestinian society in Israel. For years, we have become accustomed to hearing about what is happening among "our Arab neighbors" from all sorts of Middle East experts. And here is an unmediated report, straight from the kitchen. The document provides us with more than a peek into the depth and complexity of the internal Palestinian Israeli discourse, as opposed to the political discourse vis-a-vis the Jews alone, and it is important for Israeli society to be exposed to this truth."

"Of the 34 signatories, I have quite a few friends, including activists or participants in the organization's activities. They see an interest - both ideologically and on a practical basis - in cooperating with a Zionist like Professor Itzhak Galnoor, the co-chairman of the organization, who was the only Jew to be invited to speak before them, as part of the process of internal clarification that spanned a year and a half."

"I am working to promote the Jewish Zionist interest. Period. For this purpose, I maintain a partnership with Arab citizens of Israel - Palestinians as they define themselves - who, on their part, work to promote their interests. This meeting of the two interests is aimed at promoting full and complete equality in the distribution of resources allocated by the government. This is the goal of our activity. What you call a "nationalistic and religious tide," I call "a growing recognition by the Arabs of Israel of their affinity with the Arab world." This reminds me of what Amos Oz wrote about Rabin, when he was the chief of staff, in the book Under This Blazing Light: One day, before the Six Day War, an intelligence report landed on the desk of the chief of staff, noting "mighty concentrations of forces on the Sinai front." Rabin crossed out the word "mighty" and wrote "very large" instead. He gave rational and proportionate dimensions to this information. And if you talk about a tide, then what do you propose - to be swept away in the tide? As a Zionist, and especially as a citizen, I cannot accept weakness as a starting point. We offer a dialogue approach that entails daily action to promote equality between citizens."

"It entails a structured conflict, like in every dialogue. And, yes, there is a chance for shared life and this chance cannot be put off any longer."

The Sikkuy NGO has a 12-member executive board, equally comprised of Jews and Arabs. The organization has two chairmen (a Jew and an Arab) and two co-directors. Generally, the Jews in Sikkuy are from the central stream (Zionists) and the Arabs are also from the central stream of Palestinian society in Israel. This situation ensures the creation of a shared agenda at the organization, which expresses - beyond the disagreements - an aspiration for equality between citizens. Sikkuy has a staff of 18 working on all of its projects. Part of the NGO's activity, Dichter explains, is conducted by volunteers in Arab and Jewish communities and regions. This often involves specific and stubborn struggles, such as equalizing entry fees for Arabs and Jews at the local country club. This achievement, attained by volunteers from the Misgav regional council, is one component of a more important accomplishment - placing equality at the top of the agenda at the northern regional councils. Other achievements include the establishment of permanent frameworks for cooperation between neighboring Arab and Jewish localities, mediation and advancement of forming joint industrial zones, and partnership in tourism and environmental projects.
"Our positioning is vis a vis the government," Dichter explains. "We gain a foothold in the doors of the various ministries, and I sometimes I really do this physically, until they are forced to listen to us. Today, senior officials in government ministries are also requesting reports and working papers from us. This year, for the first time, we will issue the "Equality Index." The organization's researchers have been working on this index, backed by a steering committee of some of the top statisticians in Israel, including: Professor Yossi Yahav, Professor Mohammad Haj Yahya, Dr. Rassem Khamaisi and Professor David Nahmias. It is an aggregate index that will report on the state of equality between Jews and Arabs in five areas: education, social welfare, housing, health and employment. I cannot publicizeanything at this time, but the data shows a very large disparity. In accordancewith the index data, we will prepare new policy papers to exert pressure ongovernment ministries to institute full equality."