By Khaled Abu Toameh, 11-02-2016
For the full article go to: http://tinyurl.com/z8eynab
For the full article go to: http://tinyurl.com/z8eynab
During the past two decades, some of the Israeli Arab
community's elected representatives and leaders have worked harder for
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip than for their own Israeli
constituents.
◾These
parliamentarians ran in elections on the promise of working to improve the
living conditions of Israeli Arabs and achieving full equality in all fields.
However, they devote precious time and energy on Palestinians who are not
citizens of Israel. They vie for the distinction of being the most vitriolic
provocateur against their country.
◾Such
provocations make it more difficult for Arab university graduates to find jobs
in both the Israeli private and public sectors.
◾The big
losers are the Arab citizens of Israel, who have once again been reminded that
their elected representatives care far more about non-Israeli Palestinians than
they care about them.
The uproar surrounding a recent meeting
held by three Israeli Arab Members of Knesset (parliament) with families of
Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis is not only about the
betrayal of their country, Israel. It is also about the betrayal of their own
constituents: the 1.5 million Arab citizens of Israel.
Knesset members Haneen Zoabi, Basel Ghattas and Jamal
Zahalka managed to accomplish several things at once with this controversial
meeting. They certainly seem to have provoked the ire of many Jewish Israelis.
Perhaps they violated the oath they made when they were sworn into parliament:
"I pledge to bear allegiance to the State of Israel and faithfully to
discharge my mandate in the Knesset."
One thing, however, they have accomplished without
question is acting against the interests of Israeli Arabs.
Zoabi, Ghattas and Zahalka met with Palestinian
families who are not Israeli citizens and do not vote for the Knesset. As such,
none of these families voted for the three Knesset members or the Arab List
party to which they belong. Of course, as part of a democratic government, any
member of the Knesset is free to meet with any Palestinian from the West Bank,
Gaza Strip or Jerusalem.
It is worth noting that not all Arab Knesset members
are involved in fiery rhetoric and provocative actions against Israel. However,
there is good reason to believe that some Arab Knesset members deliberately
engage in actions and rhetoric with the sole purpose of enraging not
only the Israeli establishment, but also the Jewish public.
This meeting was the latest in a series of actions by
Arab Knesset members that have severely damaged relations between Jews and
Arabs inside Israel. Such actions have one clear result: colossal injury to
Arab citizens' efforts for full equality.
During the past two decades, some of the Arab
community's representatives and leaders have worked harder for Palestinians in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip than for their own Israeli constituents.
These parliamentarians ran in elections on the promise
of working to improve the living conditions of Israeli Arab voters and
achieving full equality in all fields. However, they devote precious time and
energy on Palestinians who are not citizens of Israel.
Their spare moments are
spent vying for the distinction of being the most vitriolic provocateur against
their country.
Instead of acting against the interests of the
Palestinians -- by pretending they were sitting in a Palestinian parliament and
not the Knesset -- there are alternative scenarios. These Arab Knesset members
could be serving as a bridge between Israel and Palestinians living under the
jurisdiction of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority in the
West Bank.
Decisions such as the one to join a flotilla
"aid" ship to the Gaza Strip -- which was more a poke in
Israel's eye than any attempt to help Palestinians -- turn the Jewish public
against the Israeli Arab public, who are then viewed as a "fifth
column" and an "enemy from within."
Such provocations make it more difficult for Arab
university graduates to find jobs in both the Israeli private and public
sectors. The deeds and rhetoric of these Knesset members have ensured a
continuing gap between Arabs and Jews inside Israel.
Thanks to some Arab Knesset members, many Jews no
longer see a difference between an Arab citizen who is loyal to Israel and a
radical Palestinian from the Gaza Strip or West Bank who seeks to destroy
Israel.
Of course, Arab Knesset members have the right to
criticize the policies and actions of the Israeli government. But such
criticism ought to be leveled from the Knesset podium and not from Ramallah,
Gaza or on board a ship carrying a load of Israel-haters and activists.
Just to be clear: this is not a call for banning Arab
Knesset members from meeting with their Palestinian brethren from the West
Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. Rather, this is a call for Knesset members to
consider carefully their aims and the tone in which they are carried out.
The recent meeting in question began with a moment of
silence for specific dead -- that is, the Palestinian attackers who murdered
and wounded several people. Jewish Israelis are likely to have particular
feelings about this choice of opening.
Things could have been different. Arab Knesset members
could have used the meeting to issue a call for an end to the current wave of
stabbing, vehicular and shooting attacks, which began in October 2015. They
could have demanded that Palestinian leaders, factions and media outlets cease
brainwashing young men and women, and cease urging them to murder Jews -- any
Jews.
The Palestinian families who met with the three Arab
Knesset members have nothing to lose. Nor do the other Palestinians living in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. For them, these Knesset members are probably
doing a better job representing them than the Palestinian Authority or Hamas.
The big losers are the Arab citizens of Israel, who
have once again been reminded that their elected representatives care far more
about non-Israeli Palestinians than they care about them.
Thus far, only a handful of Arab Israeli voices have
had the courage to criticize their representatives in the Knesset. Yet it is
precisely these citizens who need to punish their failed Knesset members, not
the Israeli government or any parliamentary committee or court. The power is
certainly in their hands.
If the Israeli Arab majority continues to waffle,
allowing its leaders free reign, Arab Knesset members will lead their people
only to nothing.
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