היישובים הערביים הקטנים בישראל: מכפר לפרבר: Small Arab Localities in Israel: From Village into Suburb

This paper analyzes the processes that occurred in and shaped small Arab localities in Israel. These small localities failed to attract the attention of researchers, despite the fact that a tenth of the Arab population of Israel resides in them. Agriculture no longer constitutes the economic base of these localities and most of their manpower commutes to distant employment centers. A variance exists between these localities in the social and physical structure as well as in the growth rate of their population. Only some of them have been granted municipal and planning status and can therefore offer services and infrastructure of better quality. The paper reveals an analogy between small and large Arab localities, which calls into question their identification as villages. A suburban definition would be more accurate, not because of the immigration of middle-class residents into them, but due to economic growth and social change which these localities are undergoing.