Honorable President of Israel, Mr. Reuven Rubi Rivlin, Mrs. Nechama Rivlin, Knesset members, mayors, distinguished guests, dear colleagues:

You have often mentioned that you are a disciple of Jabotinsky. I am not one of his followers, but when I looked at things he said in 1939, I found two interesting quotes:

1. "I do not believe that the constitution of any state ought to include special paragraphs explicitly guaranteeing its 'national' character... It would be better for the constitution if there were fewer of those kinds of paragraphs." 
   
   
2. "If we were to have a Jewish majority in Eretz Israel, then first of all, we would create here a situation of total, absolute, and complete equal rights, with no exceptions: whether Jew or Arab…  there is no difference before the law; all paths are open before him. . . . Complete equal rights would be granted not only to citizens as individuals but also to languages and nations…  equal rights for all Arab citizens will not only be guaranteed, they will also be fulfilled."

Mr. President, distinguished audience,

The development of a joint vision for a shared society for Jews and Arabs in the State of Israel is not an easy task. The term "shared society" indicates the maturing of approaches that have become obsolete. The common term used to be "coexistence", which involved an inherent inequality. MK Ahmad Tibi used the analogy of the horse and the rider. Sadly, this does not reflect a beautiful synergy and coexistence between the two. The problem is that at the end of the ride, the horse is led to the stable, to eat hay, and the horseman goes into his castle, and dines on steak… That is what coexistence encounters looked like for many years, during which the Jewish master was kind enough to "dismount", touch the discriminated Arab, caress him and even say some conciliatory words, and then return to the separate and unequal reality.

Over time, the Jewish-Arab relationship has matured, and we moved on to a discourse of partnership and common interests, and a dialogue on socio-economic equality in the unequal political reality.

Mr. President: Today, I and my fellow activists in the Jewish-Arab field say that we must talk of a shared society that mostly consists of a class and political equality. It should be emphasized that in a shared society, all citizens must be considered legitimate, not only regarding their right to live in this land, but also regarding their rights for power sharing and decision making.

During the day, we heard ideas on building a shared society. You will probably disagree with some of them, and I will probably disagree with some of them, but what is important is to begin the conversation on a joint vision. It may take us several years before we reach the formula that would win the voices of the majority of Jewish citizens and the majority of Arab citizens in this country. We have to get started.

Mutual trust between the parties has to be constructed at the beginning of the process.  It will be followed by providing tools for supporting the effort of building a shared society: Civics education, bi-lingual education, teaching narratives, and negotiation and conflict-resolution skills so that we do not stumble and fall along the path.

We then must arrive at a civil consensus that will turn Israel into a normal state, which recognizes all of its civil elements. Then we would need the kind of leadership that has enough courage to start implementing a joint vision, and yield success stories.

We have already started implementing some of these ideas. We should not wait. We must build trust among citizens, as all Jewish and Arab citizens and children are entitled to positive experiences, which will shape their positive opinions of the other. The future leadership will grow among these children. However, we cannot place all the responsibility on their young shoulders. The responsibility is on our generation. The leadership that will shape the future must start with us.

Together with my colleagues who are active in the field of shared society, we have initiated dozens of projects that prove that this can work. But all the organizations combined barely reach five percent of the population. We only touch five percent of our target audience – and that is not enough.

Your joining our efforts can strengthen and empower the field. Your positive approach can enhance this much-needed activity.

I thank you again for your visit, and for your willingness to begin the dialogue.

 Mohammad Darawshe محمد دراوشه

Director of Planning, Equality & Shared Society

Givat Haviva Center