"A SPACE OF FRICTION": INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS, AGENCY AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVISM AMONG ARAB STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN ISRAEL

Zeina Gnaima

Abstract


In recent decades, the Israeli higher education system has undergone a process of massification, which has been presented in institutional discourse as a promise of the democratization of knowledge and social mobility for the Arab-Palestinian minority. However, the academic encounter emerges as a Space of Friction, saturated with power relations, in which structural and institutional barriers function as "gatekeepers" that exclude minorities. This study seeks to deconstruct students' experiences by examining how institutional, structural, and socio-cultural barriers shape their agency, educational activism, and experiences of identity and belonging. Methodology: The study was conducted within a qualitative-interpretive paradigm using an extended case study approach. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 Arab male and female students from diverse higher education institutions and academic disciplines. The data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach and triangulated against nine critical theoretical frameworks, including Critical Race Theory (CRT), Structuration Theory, and Intersectionality. The findings reveal a complex dialectic between institutional betrayal and the reproduction of inferiority, on the one hand, and the emergence of subversive agency, on the other. Students confront a language wall that produces professional muteness, as well as a campus transformed into a fortified space characterized by processes of escalating silencing and surveillance (a digital panopticon), particularly following the war events. In response, students enact "Authorial Agency", employing artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) as a form of linguistic body armor to circumvent power hierarchies, while establishing an "academy within the academy"- alternative knowledge infrastructures grounded in solidarity and academic "Sumud" steadfastness. The intersectional analysis further revealed that, for mothers, family status is transformed from a barrier into a pedagogy of demonstration and a driver of intergenerational excellence. The study challenges the deficit paradigm, which attributes inferiority to minority populations, and demonstrates the existence of "Resistant Capital" among Arab students. The findings underscore the need for a paradigmatic shift- from a model centered on fixing the student and cultural assimilation toward transformative leadership that advances epistemic justice and cultural humility in institutional governance. Students' successful navigation of the matrix of domination testifies to a form of collective resilience that transforms enforced transparency into sovereign political and intellectual visibility.

Keywords


student agency, educational activism, transformative leadership, Arab sector in Israel, chilly climate, habitus, epistemic justice, intersectionality, academic sumud, digital panopticon, authorial agency, epistemic attack

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abu-Rabiah, E. (2025). Navigating language barriers: Hebrew proficiency and self-efficacy among Muslim Arab Bedouin students in Israeli higher education. Journal of International Students, 15(3), 71–90. https://doi.org/10.32674/s08gad96

Abu-Rabia-Queder, S., & Weiner-Levy, N. (2013). Between local and foreign structures: Exploring the agency of Palestinian women in Israel. Social Politics, 20(1), 88- 108. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxs022

Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822395324

Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Addison-Wesley.

Alyasin, A., & Shah, M. A. (2026). Human-AI collaboration in academic writing: Exploring university students’ perceptions and agency. Ampersand, 16, 100256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amper.2026.100256

Amara, M., Donitsa-Schmidt, S., & Mar'i, A. (2016). The Arabic language in academia in Israel. Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.

Arar, K., & Mustafa, M. (2011). Access to higher education for Palestinians in Israel. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues 4(3). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1108/17537981111159975

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-08589-000

Bell, D. A. (1980). Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilemma. Harvard Law Review, 93(3), 518–533. https://doi.org/10.2307/1340546

Binhas, A. (2019). Shared Living in Israel- Higher Education as an Agent of Change in a Conflicted Society. Ukrainian Policymaker, 5, 17- 23. https://doi.org/10.29202/up/5/2

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood Press. Retrieved from https://www.ucg.ac.me/skladiste/blog_9155/objava_66783/fajlovi/Bourdieu%20The%20Forms%20of%20Capital%20_1_.pdf

Brinkmann, S. (2014). Interviewing. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/InterViews.html?id=bZGvwsP1BRwC&redir_esc=y

Castells, M. (2012). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the internet age. Polity Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Networks_of_Outrage_and_Hope.html?id=ETHOCQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y

Choi, S., & Lee, S. (2025). When advantages disappear: Long-term trends in gender and social origin inequalities and the rise of horizontal stratification in higher education in South Korea. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 97, 101036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2025.101036

Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Black_Feminist_Thought.html?id=cdtYsU3zR14C&redir_esc=y

Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167. Retrieved from https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Qualitative_Inquiry_and_Research_Design.html?id=Ykruxor10cYC&redir_esc=y

Dallasheh, W., & Zubeidat, I. (2023). The relationship between emotional intelligence and the learning motivation of students with specific learning disorders moderated by the inclusion ability of special education teachers in Arab minority in Israel. Educational Studies, 49(3), 451–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2022.2138268

Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2023). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York University Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.8784640

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research. SAGE. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/The_SAGE_Handbook_of_Qualitative_Researc.html?id=qEiC-_ELYgIC&redir_esc=y

Diab, A. K. (2024). Pursuing dreams, confronting paradoxes: Palestinian students in Israeli institutions. Social Sciences, 13(6), 290. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13060290

Elias Haneen, R Even-Zahav, S. Pagorek-Eshel & B. Gavriel-Fried (2023): "Arab students do not reveal their difficulties": faculty members’ perceptions of the barriers to higher education among Arab students in Israel, Intercultural Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2023.2279485

Elmalak-Watad, A. (2025). Transformative Leadership in Arab Schools in Israel: Strategies for Promoting Social Justice and Mobility. Education Sciences, 15(10), 1374. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101374

Emerson, R. W. (2015). Convenience sampling, random sampling, and snowball sampling: How does sampling affect the validity of research? Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 109(2), 164–168. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X1510900215

Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Tavistock. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Discipline_and_Punish.html?id=pWv1R2o_PWsC&redir_esc=y

Freire, P. (1970/2021). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed.html?id=M4MQAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y

Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Polity Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/The_Constitution_of_Society.html?id=x2bf4g9Z6ZwC&redir_esc=y

Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action: Lifeworld and system. Beacon Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/The_Theory_of_Communicative_Action_Lifew.html?id=KA7pAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y

hooks, b. (1990). Yearning: Race, gender, and cultural politics. South End Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315743110

Ladson-Billings, G. (2021). Critical race theory- What it is not!. In Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 32-43). Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.loyola.edu/_media/join-us/karson-institute/documents/Critical%20Race%20Theory%20What%20it%20is%20not.pdf

Leng, C. (2025). The Role of Higher Education in Promoting Social Mobility and Reducing Inequality. Contemporary Education Frontiers, 3(3), 70-74. https://doi.org/10.18063/cef.v3i3.801

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Naturalistic_Inquiry.html?id=2oA9aWlNeooC&redir_esc=y

Lund, A., & Vestøl, J. M. (2020). Agency and the technology-mediated work of students. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2019.100373

Manor, R., & Watad, A. (2024). Hebrew instruction in the Arab education system. Megamot. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-teaching/article/complexity-of-teaching-hebrew-in-israels-arab-school-system/99E70B28059AF4943F895773A46E811C

Manor, R., & Watad, A. (2025). The complexity of teaching Hebrew in Israel’s Arab school system. Language Teaching, 58(1), 14–26. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-teaching/article/complexity-of-teaching-hebrew-in-israels-arab-school-system/99E70B28059AF4943F895773A46E811C

Marques, R. M. G., Lopes, A., & Magalhães, A. M. (2024). Academic identities and higher education change: Reviewing the evidence. Educational Research, 66(2), 228-244. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2024.2334760

Matusov, E., Smith, M., Soslau, E., Marjanovic-Shane, A., & Von Duyke, K. (2016). Dialogic Education for and from Authorial Agency. Dialogic Pedagogy, 4. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2016.172

Morley, C. (2024). The systemic neoliberal colonisation of higher education: A critical analysis of the obliteration of academic practice. The Australian Educational Researcher, 51, 571–586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-023-00613-z

Nieminen, J. H., Tai, J., Boud, D., & Henderson, M. (2022). Student agency in feedback: beyond the individual. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(1), 95-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1887080

Nyagope, T. S. (2024). Massification at higher education institutions; challenges associated with teaching large classes and how it impacts the quality of teaching and learning in South Africa. International Journal of Environmental, Sustainability, and Social Science (IJESSS), 5(1), 209-220. https://doi.org/10.38142/ijesss.v5i1.852

OECD (2022), Education at a Glance 2022: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3197152b-en.

Phyo, L. W., & Ilie, S. (2025). Toward 2030: Inequities in Higher Education Access in Southeast Asia. Social Sciences, 14(10), 592. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14100592

Robertson, R. (2023). A critical race theory analysis of transnational student activism, social media counter-stories, and the hegemonic logics of diversity work in higher education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 36(5), 900–917. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1885073

Roshid, M. M., & Le Ha, P. (2023). Higher education as public good, sustainable development goals, and crisis response in neoliberal political economy. Research in Comparative & International Education, 18(2), 317-347. https://doi.org/10.1177/17454999231174137

Sabbah-Karkabi, M., & Abu-Rabia-Queder, S. (2025). The politics of silence: Palestinian faculty and the struggle for voice in Israeli academia in times of war. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2025.2561759

Scott, J. C. (1990). Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts. Yale University Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1np6zz

Shinar, A. (2026). Epistemic assault and freedom of speech. In A. Shinar & M. Kremnitzer (Eds.), Are the muses silent? Israel Democracy Institute. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/400020057_Are_the_Muses_Silent_On_Freedom_of_Speech_in_Wartime

Shkedi, A. (2003). Words of meaning: Qualitative research theory and practice. Ramot.

Smooha, S. (2002). The model of ethnic democracy: Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Nations and Nationalism. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8219.00062

Thomas, S. (2018). Diversity regimes in higher education. Higher Education.

Totry-Jubran, Manal, Silencing in Time of War: The Violation of Palestinian Citizens' Freedom of Expression in Israeli Academic Institutions (March 30, 2025). Manal Totry- Jubran, Silencing in Time of War: The Violation of Palestinian Citizens' Freedom of Expression in Israeli Academic Institutions in Are the Muses Silent? On Freedom of Speech in Wartime 150 (Adam Shinar and Mordechai Kremnitzer- eds., The Israeli Democracy Institute, 2026), Published in A Book by The Israeli Democracy Institute: Are the Muses Silent? On Freedom of Speech in Wartime, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6087746

Trow, M. (1973). Problems in the transition from elite to mass higher education. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED091983.pdf

Trow, M. (2000). From Mass Higher Education to Universal Access: The American Advantage. Minerva 37, 303–328. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004708520977

Wainwright, E., & Watts, M. (2021). Social mobility in the slipstream: first-generation students’ narratives. Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2019.1566209

Wieczorek, O., & Muench, R. (2023). Academic capitalism and market thinking in higher education. In R. J. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & K. Ercikan (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education (4th ed., Vol. 8, pp. 37–47). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.02086-8

Yin, R. K. (2012). Case study methods. In H. Cooper, P. M. Camic, D. L. Long, A. T. Panter, D. Rindskopf, & K. J. Sher (Eds.), APA handbook of research methods in psychology, vol. 2. research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological, and biological (pp. 141–155). American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/APA_Handbook_of_Research_Methods_in_Psyc.html?id=0309zQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v13i7.6894

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2026 Zeina Gnaima

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2015-2026. European Journal of Education Studies (ISSN 2501 - 1111) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All authors who send their manuscripts to this journal and whose articles are published on this journal retain full copyright of their articles. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).