MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Arabs, who have long complained of discrimination, were worrying yesterday about suggestions that Israel may one day "swap" them for Jewish settlers in a deal with the Palestinians.
Talk was of little else at the grocery stores in the Israeli Arab town of Umm el-Fahm as people gathered to read newspaper reports of the idea floated by Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon's government.
"We are equal residents. We want to stay here," said Mr Jabali Khaled Yousef. "We built this country." Israel's relationship with the nearly 20 per cent of its citizens who are Arabs - many of whom have Palestinian relatives - has grown increasingly strained during three years of conflict with the Palestinians.
Israeli officials say they are concerned that a high Arab birth rate could shift the demographic balance.
Palestinians dismissed the idea of a land swap as a publicity stunt. "Sharon is selling air to the whole international community," said Mr 'Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's security adviser.
But Israel's Arabs are not taking it lightly.
"What is serious about this is that Sharon continues to draw a question mark about the status of the Arabs in this country," said Israeli Arab lawmaker Mr Azmi Bishara. - (Reuters)
