ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with Arabic as a mother tongue in the Palestinian Arab education system. It argues that the socio-political contexts and the Zionist-Jewish ideology play a significant role in shaping Arabic language education in Israel among both Arabs and Jews. Zionist-Jewish ideology plays a significant role in Israel – and this includes education and policies. By means of its ideology and policies, Israel has attempted to denationalize Arabic language education, depleting Arabic language teaching of its national identity and consciousness and Hebraizing large sections of Palestinian Arab society. One of the principal goals of the Israeli education system in Palestinian Arab society is to void Arabic education of all national content. The Arabic language has not fulfilled its role in the Palestinian Arab education system as a language of a national and indigenous minority that has the right to maintain its identity in various dimensions and at various levels.
