In Nazareth: the Israeli Arab

Had I known how beautiful the city of Nazareth is, I'd surely have been here five years ago. In addition to being absolutely lovely, it is comforting to see a souq in the old city and hear Arabic and smell mint tea. You know, Tel Aviv showed me that in the midst of the Middle East, in a country with a 20% population of Palestinians (in response to a comment, I'll clarify that I mean a 20% population of Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship but additionally you have Palestinians with Jerusalem ID--basically residency cards and others who live there "illegally"), one can go through daily life without ever seeing an Arab. That just seems so wrong to me. Israel occupies three territories with a total population of nearly 4 million. How amazing that I could spend two days there and never see a single Palestinian! Even on the way to Nazareth, the largest "Arab" city in Israel, I only heard Hebrew on the bus. But between you and me, the two boys behind me were Palestinian. I know this because I needed help and their English was crap and my Hebrew non existent. There is this tension, and it's really terribly sad. How can one be Palestinian and Israeli? The more I speak with Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship, the more I realize they can't answer this question either.