the israeli incorporation regime79 and political agencies, nor were their demands ever considered an important issue on the agenda of the Palestinian national movement (Rouhana and Ghanem 1998, 333). Objections and demands made by the Arab citizenry are always viewed by Israel as an internal Israeli affair, and the PLO has never brought issues of concern for the Arabs in Israel to the fore in political negotiations and discussions. Thus, as Arab needs were almost completely ignored in the domestic Israeli arena, this community was left without representation from all parties. Indeed, an implicit agreement by both the PLO and Israel made this community a forgotten part of the Palestinian people, denying them genuine representation on all sides. Consequently, Palestinian-Arabs in Israel began the process of building a national democratic movement via a third, non-state alternative: civil society. Formally recognized with the Registry of Associations in the Ministry of the Interior, Palestinian NGOs in Israel are run by Palestinian citizens and aim mainly to serve Palestinian society within the Israeli regime (Payes 2003, 60). Given the disappointment and disillusionment prompted by the oscillating political situation, the Palestinian-Arab community has employed its civil society to struggle for a re-conceptualization, re-definition and re-arrangement of the issues and contentions included in the dominant political discourse. For instance, seeking to depoliticize certain actions otherwise considered prejudicial to Palestinian interests, the Israeli regime often invokes the need for development. Expropriation of Arab land is commonly presented as a necessary sacrifice for the facilitation of economic development projects that mainly benefit the Jewish population (Payes 2003, 82). In protesting against such measures, Arab NGOs in Israel have often reduced their consequences and, in the process, sparked a debate on topics in Israeli society previously considered non-political. Through such measures, Palestinian civil society has been able to propose alternatives to political relations in Israel, recently culminating in three major declarations, popularly called ‘vision documents’. Published in 2006 and 2007, these so-called vision documents include: The Future Vision of the Palestinian-Arabs in Israel formed under the auspices of the High Follow-Up Committee for the Arabs in Israel; The Democratic Constitution by Adalah; and The Haifa Declaration by Mada ­al-Carmel: The Arab Center for Applied Social Research (hereafter ‘Mada al-Carmel’). These documents were prepared in conjunction with one another, and drafted by a range of Arab political activists, public figures and intellectuals – many of whom participated in the drafting of more than one document thereby allowing for collaboration. They constitute