In our long history, both war and diplomacy have proven insufficient to create peace for our planet. It is now time to search for alternatives, and there is no doubt that a common language and global culture can play a vital role in building a peaceful world and uniting all of us.
"More Israelis are learning to speak Arabic than ever before", reports the Jerusalem Post, adding that "more Jewish Israelis are taking classes in spoken Arabic than ever before, both in formal and informal frameworks." In the meantime, Mosaic Magazine says that "Israeli Arabs are speaking more Hebrew, and that's a good thing."
So, with both Israelis and Arabs showing more interest in learning each other’s native languages, could Arabic and Hebrew transform Jewish-Arab relations in the long Arab-Israeli conflict? And can language be a bridge for peace in the Middle East?
Israel demotes Arabic
From its independence 1948 to 2018, Arabic had served as a co-official language of the State of Israel alongside Hebrew. 70 years later, that status came to an end when Israel’s parliament passed the Nation State Law on July 19, 2018, downgrading Arabic’s status.
The new law was heavily criticized by the country’s Arab minority who branded it “racist for giving Jews exclusive rights over Arabs.” Najib Hadad, 56, an Arab from the predominantly Arab Nazareth in the north of Israel, told the Guardian newspaper, “In Israel, we have good lives, we work, and we are free to speak. We have our people in the Knesset [parliament]… But this law is a racist law.” But not everyone agrees with that view. People who live in a multilingual society are often faced with the question of which language to speak. Hence it is important to have a common language in a nation as multilingualism can cause misunderstanding, confusion and division. No wonder the first attempts by humans to build a common language date back to ancient times when ancient Greeks called everyone who didn’t speak Greek a barbarian (barbaros).
Arabic retains a special status
But despite the passing of the controversial law demoing the Arabic language, Arabic still enjoys a special status under Israeli law. The new law stated that Arabic will retain “special status” and “will not be harmed.” Israeli daily Al-Monitor reports that “The Knesset marked its seventh annual Arabic Language Day Jan. 25 with special discussions and debates devoted to the topic in the various committees.” “As part of these events, Knesset members were also introduced to a new initiative by the Knesset’s Director General Gil Segal, who had commissioned the first ever dictionary of basic parliamentary terminology in Arabic.” Adds the independent Israeli newspaper.
Today, Arabic remains an important language in Israel. It is worth noting that Arabic is not only widely spoken by Arab citizens of Israel, who represent one-fifth of the country’s more than nine million people, but also by many Jewish Israelis’ parents and grandparents, who immigrated from Arabic speaking countries.
Why learn each other’s languages?
One of the most beneficial aspects of our human nature is our ability to connect with others. It is easier to build a relationship with someone when we speak the same language as them. Communication is therefore the main reason for calls to teach Arabic to Israeli students.
“It is imperative for our children to be able to communicate and engage with Arabs in Israel and neighbors in the region,” said Michal Cotler-Wunsh of the Blue and White Party. And according to Cotler-Wunsh, Arabic taught to Israeli students must include both the spoken and the written forms, “allowing them to understand and be able to communicate with their Arab neighbors in Israel and the region, and helping to bridge the cultural and language gaps that currently exist.”
In addition to communication, learning a language is a window into another culture. In other words, “language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.”, as American best-selling author Rita Mae Brown put it. Teaching Arabic to Israeli students can certainly benefit the Jews by helping them to get closer to the Arabs, spread awareness among them and help them learn about the Israeli history and heritage.
Can the Israelis learn Arabic?
Arabic is well known to be one of the most complex languages in the world. The Arabic alphabet can be very hard to master as it is totally different from the Latin alphabet and the Hebrew language abjad script. The letters change shape based on their position, in the beginning, the middle, or the end of a word. The grammar can be extremely challenging due mainly to the enormous amount of rules which the Arabs themselves find difficult to memorize. But despite all the challenges, Arabic is relatively easy for the Israelis to learn, and Hebrew speakers can benefit from a number of advantages that are not available for the speakers of other languages. Arabic and Hebrew both belong to the Semitic language family, making them similar languages. They have a common denominator: they are both written from right to left. They have shared vocabulary, some common grammatical concepts and pronunciation. Arabic is subsequently a language that Hebrew speakers can pick up relatively easily. As the two languages are related, with so much in common, the question is then: is Hebrew similarly easy for the Arabs to learn?
Is Hebrew easy for Arabic speakers?
The short answer is that Hebrew can relatively easily be taught to Arabic speakers. “Hebrew is much easier to learn for people who speak Arabic than for people who don’t.” says Mark Mostow, a retired mathematician and computer programmer, on social question-and-answer website Quora. Mark, who speaks both Arabic and Hebrew adds, “Both languages build words by fitting roots of three or four consonants into patterns. Besides, modern Hebrew has only one dialect, and there are no major differences between the written and spoken language. This already makes it much easier to learn than Arabic, which has a variety of spoken dialects which differ considerably from each other and from the written language.” Mark Mostow estimates that “An Arabic speaker who makes a serious effort could learn to speak Hebrew well enough for basic conversations in a few months.”
Language bridges the gap between people
“All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” says British politician and writer Tony Benn. The question remains as to whether the two sister languages, Arabic and Hebrew, can serve as vital tools in bridging the gap between the Arabs and the Israelis and bringing about peace and stability in the conflict-ridden Middle East?
Israeli politician Michal Cotler-Wunsh does not doubt it for a minute. Speaking about the need for Arabic studies in Israel, she said, “Arabic studies can lead Israel’s citizens to become a ‘bridge for peace and education’. Cotler-Wunsh insisted that Arabic should be studied in both spoken and written forms. “Learning both spoken and written Arabic would allow Jewish Israeli students to understand and communicate with their Arab neighbors in Israel and the region, helping to bridge existing cultural and language gaps.” she added.
Language and common culture
In our long history, both war and diplomacy have proven insufficient to create peace for our planet. It is now time to search for alternatives, and there is no doubt that a common language and global culture can play a vital role in building a peaceful world and uniting all of us.
