Abstract

The idea of establishing an Arab university in Israel is much debated, particularly within Arab society, Jewish society, and at Israeli institutions where it has met with a great deal of opposition. The vast majority of the Arab public consider establishing an Arab university to be an opportunity to serve the Arab citizens of Israel and reinforce their status, while protecting their identity, culture and existence. We also observe a wide consensus among the social elite who study at Israeli academies concerning the existence of an Arab university as one of the most essential collective rights of the Palestinians in Israel. Those who advocate establishing an Arab research university consider it to be a response to the marginalization and national- and cultural-exclusion policies suffered by Arab students in the academic sphere, while detractors suggest that establishing such a university will hinder the graduates' integration into the Israeli labor market on the one hand, and will increase marginalization and encourage Arab extremism and hostility toward the Israeli state on the other. This research paper discusses the vision of establishing an Arab university: the barriers and obstacles, the inequality in academic rights, and the way in which this dream can be fulfilled. This paper also deals with three phenomena: “Jordanization” and “Palestinization” of higher education, namely, studying in Jordan and in Palestine, respectively, and globalization of higher education, i.e., studying in Western and other countries. The study presents the most recent data on higher education among Arab Palestinians in Israel.