‘I am an Arab Palestinian living in Israel with a disability’: marginalisation and the limits of human rights

Abstract

This article examines Arabs with disabilities living in Israel. Centring their experiences and voices, it argues that the group’s marginalisation is predominantly shaped by the ongoing political conflict. Arabs in Israel suffer deep social and institutional marginalisation on the basis of their ethnic identity and perceived threat and opposition to the state. Arabs with disabilities are neither exempted nor alleviated from this discriminatory framework. Therefore, those services, rights, and policies which are in place are not always fully granted, revealing the deficiency of a rights-based model for advancing their cause. Strikingly, however, it is the barriers and limiting normative beliefs within the community of Arabs in Israel where discrimination is most acutely felt. Being seen only through their disability means a battle for acceptance, integration, and participation in Arab society. Again, without a significant shift in social awareness and underlying normative perceptions, a rights-based model will only go so far.