The Information Program on Palestinians in Israel
The Information Program on Palestinians in Israel, which was launched in 2002, presents information on various aspects of the lives of the Palestinians. The Mada Research Center developed the Program with the objective of analyzing and interpreting this information from an alternative viewpoint to Israeli public opinion and Israeli academic discourse, and to provide alternative qualitative information on the Palestinians in Israel. Due to the lack of other resources for data on Palestinians in Israel most of the statistical information in this Program is derived from official documents published by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics*. Since its inception, the Information Program has been seeking to present a different perspective on this data. Information produced by the Bureau is read, analyzed and explained from a critical point of view.
The importance of the Information Program lies in the absence of an independent body that addresses Palestinian demography in Israel. This is particularly problematic given that the state and its institutions consider the Palestinians to be a demographic "problem" in Israel and an obstacle to institutional planning. This approach naturally leads to the formulation and classification of information according to Zionist ideology, and the subsequent use of statistics to "preserve" the state of Israel as a Jewish state. Certain pieces of information are highlighted while others are concealed, and analyses of the statistics usually view the hardship endured by Palestinians in Israel as a product of Palestinian culture and social structure rather than as a result of the Israeli state's continuing policy of oppression. In some cases, the living conditions of Palestinians in Israel are presented as being favorable in comparison to those of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and Arabs in other Arab countries (see for example the booklet published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, entitled: The Arab Population in Israel, 2002).
Another important aspect of this Program is that the information is published in Arabic. Most other data available on Palestinians in Israel has been published in Hebrew. Data will also be translated into English.
*An alternative databank is being developed by The Galilee Society (NGO): www.rikaz.org