Arabic: Israel's Silent Official Language

Though Arabic is one of Israel’s two official languages, it’s virtually non-existent in official Israeli life, and even met by contempt within Jewish Israeli society, explains British journalist Jonathan Cook.

Cook, a former reporter for The Guardian and The Observer, now writes for Abu Dhabi’s The National as the only foreign correspondent based in Nazareth, where he’s lived for almost a decade.

Cook’s position in the Arab heartland of Israel puts a different perspective on his reporting: namely that the post-1967 conflict over the occupied territories is best understood as a reflection and continuation of the larger conflict begun in 1948.