The IMAs have to deal with political, psychological and socio-cultural factors as expressed in the conceptual framework. The implications of these factors on Identity perception and future orientation were examined, and the findings were presented at Table 4 (p. 113).
Identity perception
While the majority of participants adopt the Israeli Arab identity as the clearest identity in terms of belonging, the Palestinian component as Arabs is apparent in the cultural aspect in their repertoire. Concerning the religious factor, the Christian element was dominant in their definition. However, the impact of the Maronite component was minor, limited, and, in some cases, non-existent.
Their limited knowledge about their heritage and culture as Maronites was evident in their unawareness of significant milestones in their history and its key figures. Their involvement in the community was limited to religious ceremonies on major holidays, if at all.
Future orientation
The future orientation, focused on the IMAs’ individual success in their careers and their academic studies, without any commitment to the collective community. As Maronite Christians, being part of the Arab minority living in the Jewish State, they mentioned the obstacle they face which prevent them from planning their future. In spite of the difficulties, they were very clear regarding their intention not to leave the country, although they didn’t feel any belonging to it. They expressed their preference to live close to their families in the future.
The following table concludes the main findings according to the identity concepts, the factors that affect them and range within which each concept exists.
Table 4: Main Concepts of Identity Perception and Future Orientation
Belonging: Clear belonging to the wider Christian community, and proud to be Maronite.
Alienation: The Maronite component is insignificant and irrelevant in their Christian identity definition.
Between living in Israel and immigration:
Living in Israel: Preference to live in Israel for family reasons.
Immigration: Limited housing opportunities and residential areas
Career opportunities: lack of career opportunities for minorities in Israel.
Need: Continuous empowerment and development of the community.
Indifference: Passiveness and unwillingness to act.
Summary
The participants’ identity comprised several components, some of which were contradictory. Most of the participants’ statements concerning perception of identity contained several characteristics or values, which appeared sequentially in one sentence. While defining themselves as Arabs, some emphasized the Israeli Arab factor within that definition, mixing it with being Palestinians. The order according to which the components were organized was not consistent. While some put the Israeli component prior to the Arab, others did the opposite. Some aspects in the definition of the ethnic and national identities overlapped. However, most participants identified themselves as Israeli Arabs. There was also confusion about the sense of belonging to their country, as it was reflected in the relative question about their homeland, being Israel, Palestine or Lebanon, and also showed a different level of loyalty to the state of Israel. However, almost all participants indicated that they were Arabs first, by stating their Israeli citizenship.
The religious identity is characterized by a clear tendency of identification with Christianity as a whole, while stressing their pride of being Maronite, although the Maronite factor was insignificant in their religious definition, the participants defined their connection to Maronite Christianity as the community tradition to participate in the Maronite liturgies on Sundays and Holidays. Those who took pride in being Maronite Christians, acknowledging that they are religious, did not connect their perception of religion to the attributes of the Maronite theological and spiritual heritage.
The place of residence in the future orientation stressed the preference of living in Israel, in the vicinity of their parents, although the country has not been regarded as a place where minorities are fully respected. The Arab countries were undesirable places of residence. As for their academic studies and professional careers, the participants expressed a feeling of uncertainty and detachment from Israel, mostly due to socio-political reasons and limited employment opportunities. Regarding the significance of higher education,
almost all participants, including parents, expressed their willingness to proceed with academic studies, either in Israeli universities or abroad.
Most of those who preferred to study in foreign universities related to the difficulties associated with university admittance terms, like a minimum age policy, or the psychometric tests which are considered as a major obstacle for Arab students in getting to universities. However, in spite of the hurdles, most of them expressed the intention to stay in Israel. Only few had plans to settle down abroad. The majority of the parents argued that the academic studies of their children were of great importance to them, realizing that this was the only way to get into the Israeli life and market.
For the professional career, most of the participants preferred developing careers that involved direct contact with, or taking care of people: social sciences, medicine and medicine-related disciplines. Few wanted arts, sports and fashion as areas of future occupation. It was obvious that almost all the participants had already decided about their future areas of occupation, with very few of them having no clear idea about their future professional plans.
Nobody expressed the wish to build their professional future in Arab countries, not even in Lebanon, as they had noted, where Christians play a role in the government.
Involvement in the Maronite community ranged between the awareness of the need of active change, but with a certain degree of indifference and unwillingness to self-commit. The sub-categories identified reflected a lack of organized activities intended to enrich the life of the Maronite community. Most of the participants’ views on the involvement into the community life reflected the frustration with the current situation in the community life and insufficient role of the Maronite clergy. Most of them wished to promote the community activities within the framework of the church and with the purpose of strengthening the family relationships through community activities. Many participants acknowledged that it might be good to organize a range of activities within the church, albeit nobody mentioned the church as the only institution that connected the members of community to their historical and
cultural heritage. Some participants voiced the need to have a secular leadership along with the religious one.
The following table concludes the findings according to the main concepts of the research; identity and future orientation. The main perception as expressed by most participants for each concept:
Table 5: Adolescents’ perception of identity and future orientation from all methods
Concept Main perception
Identity
Ethnic and national identity Israeli Arabs
Religious identity Christians
Maronite pride
Heritage Lack of knowledge and frustration
Future orientation
Place of residence Israel
Academic study Academic study in the Israeli universities Professional career Direct contact with people
Involvement in the Maronite community
awareness of the need of active change but unwillingness to self-commit
Chapter Five:
Analysis and Discussion
This research concerns the investigation of the Maronite Christian adolescents’
identity perception, by being part of the Israeli Palestinian Arab community, reflecting on their future orientation and heritage awareness. It examines the main factors which could influence the conceptualization of their own identity and attempts to outline the ways to cope with the problems that might interact with the shaping of their identity, stressing the implications of the socio-psychological, socio-political and socio-cultural factors.
The research questions that led the research were:
How do the IMAs perceive their identity within the Christian Palestinian Arab community in Israel?
What effect does the perception of IMAs’ identity have on their future orientation and heritage awareness?
The identity perception, which was targeted in the different data collection methods and expressed in the findings, included religious, ethnic and national identities, involvement in the community and heritage awareness. Future orientation included place of residence and academic studies. The procedure of data analysis was carried out by dividing the data into sections and reorganizing them into categories (See Appendix 23), which enabled organizing the data according to relevant characteristics (Shkedi, 2003).
Triangulation was used among the different tools in this research, including the focus group, which was carried out almost a year after data had been collected through the other methods. Triangulation revealed that there was a clear similarity in the participants’ attitudes as expressed by the different data collection methods. Integrating the data findings from the different methods (Table 3, p. 110 & Table 4, p. 113) helped verify that the same phenomenon occurred in various sources, enabling a better explanation (Stake, 2000) and allowing an examination of it from several points of views (Alexander, 2001).