Arab authors in Israel writing in Hebrew

This article reports on the phenomenon of Arab authors in Israel writing in Hebrew. “Writing in Hebrew” refers to literary works originally written in Hebrew or translated from Arabic to Hebrew. The article examines the status of Arabic for Israeli Arabs, the scale of the phenomenon of writing in Hebrew, the bilingual literary works of Arab authors in Israel, and Israeli society’s acceptance of Arab authors writing in Hebrew.

Some ten Arab novelists are currently writing in Hebrew in Israel, an apparently growing trend among Arab authors. The choice of these Arab authors to write in Hebrew is a conscious aesthetic choice and a reflection of their natural gift for writing and mastery of Hebrew. The ten writers are: Anton Shammas, Naim Araidi, Sayed Kashua, Atallah Mansour, Jurays Ṭannūs, Muhammad Ghanaim, Osama Abu-Ghosh, Odeh Basharat, Ayman Siksik, and Salman Natur.