Traditionalism and Political Identity of Arabs in Israel

This paper examines the relationship between traditional (local, clan and religious) identities and political identity of Arabs in Israel. The results indicate that traditional identities are negatively correlated with Palestinian national identity and positively correlated with Israeli identity. This finding may explain why the colonial powers did reinforce parochial identities among colonized peoples in Asia and Africa. By doing so, they intended to inhibit the emergence of a common national identity and thus to maintain loyalty to the colonial regime. The data were collected in 1977 on a sample of 292 Arab university graduates in Israel.