Further research is required to gain a deeper understanding of how the unstable period’s influence and shape the belonging and identity issues among Christians in the Arab world and Israel. At this time of change in the Middle East, living through the turbulence of the Arab Spring, and the rise of violence by radical Islamist groups against Christian communities, have raised important questions concerning their identity and belonging to the Arab nationality in the Middle East.
The Maronites live in several cities and villages in Israel, some in Arab-only towns and villages, while others in mixed Jewish-Arab cities. Maronites who live in mixed cities follow a different life pattern from that in Arab-only cities and
villages, where the majority of Maronites live. They are more open to the Jewish life style, language and culture, factors that affect their individual identities, and lead to a gradual cultural assimilation of their collective identity.
There is a good case for further research about how assimilation takes place in foreign-western societies, while an opposite phenomenon of "sticking together"
occurs when the same minority lives amongst similar societies around the world, be it linguistic, religious or ethnic.
Further research is required to look into gender differences and its impact upon the different components of identity. Such as issues concerning the integration within society, roles related to society’s expectations, orientation to social and community involvement and the possibility for females of belonging to another community due to marriage. Many factors might have an essential role in shaping the individuals perception and identification, which were not the purpose of the current research.
Another issue which should be considered for further research is the mutual relations between the church and the youth in the congregation and the required actions to “bring the church back” to the people. The community centre, mentioned in the previous chapter, is one of the means that can provide a wide range of social and cultural activities for the Maronite community and other Christian communities. This might have a positive influence on their belonging and identity, because maintaining the Christian presence is more important than maintaining the religious sites. This topic will be worth wider research examining the church's importance in people's lives in multi-cultural communities.
Furthermore, other Maronite communities in diaspora maintain close relations with the church and practice their religious-social activities as a matter of belonging to Lebanon and their roots reflect their awareness of their heritage.
This is not the case for the Maronite community in Israel. It would be interesting to study the reasons for different attitudes, and worth wider research to compare perceptions concerning heritage and identity among members from both communities. In addition research could examine its implications for
minority–majority relationship and the assimilation process in the society in which they live.
Finally, in order to follow the dissemination of the research and enhance the future of the IMAs, a longitudinal study should accompany them, to study the effects of perceiving one’s identity and knowing one’s heritage and planning for a better future to lead a successful life in their own homeland, the Holy Land.
Chapter Seven:
Dissemination Strategies
In this chapter, the purpose of research publication and dissemination avenues in general will be discussed, and then the focus will be on the outcomes, trying to identify suitable ways of dissemination for this specific study.
This study investigated the identity perception of the Israeli Maronite adolescents. All academic studies examining Maronite communities relate to Lebanese Maronites in Lebanon and in diaspora, thus excluding the Maronite minority in Israel for several reasons. Maronites in Israel are considered Israelis who live in a country still at war with Lebanon, as peace has not been officially established between the two countries, as is the case with Egypt and Jordan.
An additional reason might be that the Maronites in Israel, being part of the Palestinian Arab minority, are considered as Palestinians, and thus they are included in the decision made not to forge any relations with Palestinians after the 1982 civil war in Lebanon, and the role the Palestinian troops played in it. A further reason for this neglect could be simply geo-political, since the Maronites, who came to the Holy Land from Lebanon centuries ago, could not maintain any close relations with family and relatives in the mother land.
Finally, the Maronite diaspora in other countries is much larger than that in the Holy Land and Lebanon altogether, with 8 million in diaspora, less than a million in Lebanon itself, and around 7000 in Israel (Wehbe, 2001).
Being a member of this community has influenced the researcher’s personal and professional development. The researcher have decided to make his contribution to research from his personal experience, out of scientific learning and data collection around the elements that have formed his personal identity, not only as a minority member of the Israeli Arab Palestinian population, but as a Maronite Christian in Israel. The researcher was hoping to be able to form a program based on the findings that would promote attention to the needs of this community.