"العربيّة الإسرائيليّة": تجلّي الاستشراق اللغويّ في سياق استعماريّ صراعيّ

Abstract

This article examines the status of Arabic among the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel. Through the lens of conflict and colonialism, this study examines the complex dynamics that have shaped Arabic as a language since 1948. In the aftermath of the Nakba, a large population of Palestinian Arabs turned into a marginalised minority within Israel, the newly established state, raising critical questions about the preservation of Arabic, their ancestral language and a key marker of their cultural and national identity. Drawing on Yasir Suleiman’s conceptualisation of language as a site of ideological contestation, this article situates Arabic within the broader framework of linguistic Orientalism, viewing it as an extension of colonial structures that continue to shape Israeli-Palestinian relations. Here, Arabic is not merely a medium of communication but a battleground in the struggle for identity, memory, and historical narrative. The article shows how the marginalisation of Arabic within this context is both a symptom and a tool of the asymmetrical power relations embedded in Israel’s sociopolitical fabric. By analysing this condition and its impact on the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, this study sheds light on the deeper cultural dimensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.