ON THE EVE OF ISRAEL?S INDEPENDENCE DAY, BOY SCOUTS PARADE DOWN THE STREET WITH DRUMS AND FLAGS. Natsot BUT, HERE IN THE ARAB TOWN OF SHFAR-ahm A PARADE OF ARAB SCOUTS WHERE ISRAELI FLAGS ARE RAISED AND CARRIED THROUGH THE STREETS UNDERSCORES THE COMPLICATED POSITION OF THE 1.3 MILLION ARABS WHO MAKE UP 20 PERCENT OF ISRAEL?S CITIZENS. SOME, LIKE ORSAHN YAH-SEEN, THE ARAB MAYOR OF SHFARahm, FEELS THAT ISRAEL IS HIS COUNTRY AND SUPPORTS CELEBRATING ISRAEL?S ANNIVERSARY? ORSAN YASSIN, ARAB MAYOR OF SHFARA?M: The flag represents me. I am a citizen of Israel. I am a Palestinian. I am an Arab. A Palestinian and a citizen of Israel. This is me. This is how I define myself. This is my country and this flag is my flag. I believe in that. BUT, AS ISRAEL TOASTS ITS 60TH ANNIVERSARY, THOUSANDS OF ARABS WILL PROTEST WHAT THEY CALL THE ?NAQBA,? OR THE DAY OF CATASTROPHE. FOR THESE ISRAELI ARABS, THE FOUNDING OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL CAME AT THEIR EXPENSE. THE SITUATION OF ISRAELI ARABS IS INCREDIBLY COMPLEX. WITH THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, THERE IS ALREADY AN IMPRESSIVE LEVEL OF JEWISH-ARAB COEXISTENCE IN PARTS OF ISRAEL. AND ISRAELI ARABS ARE BETTER INTEGRATED WITH MORE POLITICAL FREEDOMS THAN THE VAST MAJORITY OF OTHER ARABS. NONETHELESS, MORE THAN 60 YEARS LATER, MANY ISRAELI ARABS FEEL INCREASINGLY UNWANTED AND FAR LESS WELL OFF THAN ISRAELI JEWS. THERE ARE THREE TIMES AS MANY ARAB FAMILIES BELOW THE POVERTY LINE AS JEWISH ONES. AND, LAND IS AN ESPECIALLY SORE POINT? CLINTON BAILEY, ISRAELI SCHOLAR AND EXPER ON BEDOUIN CULTURE: Land has always been at the heart of the struggle. The Jews always thought of themselves as a people without a land, looking for a land without people. Well, there were people here, there were Palestinians here. IN 1948, AFTER THE UNITED NATIONS ESTABLISHED THE STATE OF ISRAEL IN WHAT WAS ONCE PALESTINE, ARAB ARMIES ATTACKED JEWISH SETTLEMENTS. IN RETALIATION, THE ISRAELI MILITARY EVACUATED AND DESTROYED HUNDREDS OF PALESTINIAN VILLAGES IN THE NORTH. AND, IN THE INTERVENING SIXTY YEARS, ARABS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO RESETTLE THEM. AND, TODAY THOSE VILLAGES REMAIN EMPTY? EXCEPT FOR A FEW GRAZING ANIMALS? BATTLE SCARS OF THE CONFLICT THAT GAVE BIRTH TO ISRAEL? MA?AROUF NEI?MI ASHQAR, FORMER RESIDENT OF IQRIT: I miss everything in Iqrit, to every little soil, to the air, I miss the flowers, the trees. THE ABANDONED VILLAGES TAUNT FORMER RESIDENTS, LIKE MAH-AH-ROOF NAH-MEE AHSH-KAR WHO LONGS TO RETURN TO HIS VILLAGE OF ORIGIN, IH-CRIT ASHQAR WALKS TO IH-CRIT EVERYDAY TO MAINTAIN ITS CHURCH AND CEMETERY - THE ONLY THINGS LEFT OF THE VILLAGE? MA?AROUF: All we want is to come back. We do not want to be dead in our village. We do not want to come only carried in boxes. We want to live and bring up generations here and return to our history. This is what we want. ASHQAR SAYS THAT THE GOVERNMENT?S REFUSAL TO LET HIM RETURN TO HIS VILLAGE MAKE HIM FEEL LIKE A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN. MA?AROUF: I am an Arab, Christian hold the Israeli ID card. We are proud to hold this identity, but we lack a lot of pride. All the time I come to my destroyed land, while I see on the other side people expanding their territory and building houses while I have an Israeli identity, but cannot build or add a straw on my land. Where is our pride? IN 1953, THE ISRAELI PARLIAMENT RETROACTIVELY DECLARED THE CAPTURED VILLAGE LAND TO BE STATE PROPERTY FOR EITHER SETTLEMENT OR SECURITY PURPOSES. CLINTON BAILEY: The government wanted to lay claim to it and be able to use it // first and foremost, for it?s Jewish citizens. // If Israel has any raison d?etre // it has to be a place where Jews can come to. AND SO, ISRAELI ARABS WATCH AS THEIR FORMER LANDS ARE FARMED OR BUILT UPON BY JEWISH NEWCOMERS? DAWOOD BAH-DUR USED TO VISIT THIS CRUMBLING MOSQUE IN THE FORMER VILLAGE OF ROB-SEE-YEE WHERE HE WAS BORN. HE OFTEN TOOK HIS WIFE AND GRANDCHILDREN TO PASS ON THE LEGACY OF FAMILY LAND THAT WAS LOST.