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August 8, 2003/Av 10 5763, Vol. 55, No. 50
Police tackle Arabic language lessons
URIEL HEILMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NETANYA, Israel - About a dozen Israelis sit hunched over their desks in a picturesque beachfront set-ting, haltingly trying out their first sentences in Arabic.
"I live in Jerusalem and I work at the university," one says.
"My name is Shuka and I live with my family in Tel Aviv," says another.
A short distance away, another Arabic course for beginners is getting under way. The students in this class, however, are learning sen-tences of a different nature.
"Sit on this bench! You've got several options here and you'd better not make things difficult for us," one student reads from the text in his instructional booklet.
The students in the second class are Israeli police officers, taking a special course for police working in Arab towns and neigh-borhoods in Israel.
The police course is one of many specialized Arabic courses at Ulpan Akiva, the Netanya-based institute for Hebrew language and culture.
Among the institute's other Arabic programs are language courses for Israel's navy, staff in the Prime Minister's Office, officials in the Interior Ministry and, of course, Israel's military intelligence services.
This summer's course is the institute's first for regular police.
"We try to connect to the Arab mentality. There are things you can say to a Jew that are offensive to Arabs," such as refusing to drink coffee with an Arab, which is considered an insult, says one police officer in the class.
The officer, like most in the class, wouldn't disclose his name. Some of the police are members of special un-dercover units, and their identities require protection.
"The police are taught the appropriate vocabulary for their work - if it's a conversation at a checkpoint, if it's a greeting, if it's about customs and respecting the locals," says Salman Amer, director of the ulpan's Arabic language program.
Knowing the language is key to building positive relationships with Israel's Arabs, Amer says.
"When a police officer stops me and he doesn't know my language and just says, 'Open the trunk,' it can seem like an act of violence," Amer says. "But when you know how to speak politely and say, 'Good morning. Please let me look inside your trunk,' you treat a person like a human being."
Tensions between police and Israeli Arabs reached the breaking point in October 2000 when, just days after the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada, 12 Israeli Arabs were shot dead when Israeli police opened fire on rioters.
Most Arabs who teach the language to Jews aren't comfortable about publicizing that fact. The ulpan's lone Arab Muslim teacher - who asked that his name not be used - says he asks his parents not to tell anybody in his village that he teaches here.
"When someone teaches Arabic for Jews, people right away think you're a traitor, or teaching the Mukhabarat," the teacher says, alluding to Israel's intelligence services. "It's not like that."
The other two Arabic teachers on staff are Israeli Druse, both veterans of the Israel Defense Forces.
There used to be many Arabs at Ulpan Akiva, most of them Palestinians studying Hebrew. But that ended with the outbreak of the Pal-estinian intifada in September 2000.
"Ulpan Akiva's motto is, 'Language is a bridge to a relationship,' " says Esther Perron, the institute's executive director. "But the last group of Palestinians we had here left on the eve of Rosh Hashana in 2000, and we haven't seen them since."
Nowadays, the only Arabs at the ulpan are at the front of the classroom, where the task of teaching is not always easy - especially when your students are unruly and armed.
"When you teach soldiers in intelligence units, they sit there and listen and do their homework diligently," says Saleh Dery, one of the Druse instructors. "But these cops need a break every 15 or 20 minutes. They don't have a very long attention span."
Nevertheless, he says he generally is able to maintain a good rapport with his students.
"I feel like I'm an am-bassador here for Israeli Arabs. Many students who learn here come with stereotypes, and when they see how their Arabic teacher treats them and teaches, they leave with a different feeling than when they came," the Arab Muslim teacher says. "This is good for both sides, for coexistence."
The police learn the basics of the language, but their course focuses on practical usage. While the Arabic course for civilians starts with the present tense, the course for police begins with the imperative tense - or, as the teachers refer to it, the "occupation" tense - so "Open the door!" is taught before "I am opening the door."
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