What are the basic values that bind Israel's diverse citizenry? What characterizes Israeli citizenship, a State that incorporates a society with a Jewish majority and an Arab minority? What are the sources of inspiration guiding the civics curriculum taught in Israel's schools? How can higher education enrich Israel's civic tongue?
Civic Tongue in Israel is collection of research reports, theoretical essays and observations about Jewish and Arab attempts to dialogue with one another around these issues. The first group of essays examine the dissonance between the roots of the Hebrew culture in Biblical Hebrew and ethics and its use in the context of Zionist and democratic ethics (Dan Avnon, Eyal Chowers and Revital Amiran-Sapir, Moshe Behar). The second group of essays addresses the tension between native-Arabis speakers and native-Hebrew speakers (Michal Zak, Issam Abu-Rayah, Ruth Gavison). The third group present critical analysis of ways to incorporate and to implement recurring attempts (and failures) to rectify the paucity of democratic civic education in Israel (Hallili Pinson, Gayil Talshir). Daphna Saring and Avner de-Shalit offer innovative perspectives on the public arena and on the responsibility of higher education (and educators) to empower the critical capacities of Israel's citizens.
All who feel a need to deepen civic consciousness in Israel - of the individual, of groups and of civic society associations, of students and of teachers - will find in this book a fresh civic language: educated, reasoned, equal, diverse and sensitive to the needs of Israel's citizen.