Israel's Palestinian citizens feeling the heat, as space for dissent shrinks

Last Friday, Palestinian citizens of Israel gathered at the entrance to Umm al-Fahm, one of the largest Arab towns inside the pre-1967 lines, in order to protest against Israeli attacks in the West Bank, and in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. The demonstrators were violently dispersed by police, who deployed tear gas and stun grenades.

In the aftermath, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman used his Facebook account to denounce the Palestinian protesters and demand they be “treated…as terrorists”. Lieberman claimed he would seek the arrest of “agitators”, in coordination with Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovich, who himself used the occasion to condemn “the radicalisation of parts of the Arab public”.

Lieberman promised that his Yisrael Beiteinu ministers would demand “the government or cabinet discuss the dangerous extremist tendencies among Israeli Arabs, and deal with it meticulously and harshly”.

Israeli PM Netanyahu duly used Sunday’s Cabinet meeting to tell ministers he had “instructed authorized authorities” to consider designating the northern branch of the Islamic Movement as an illegal organisation. According to Haaretz, Netanyahu had “first raised the idea to outlaw the branch during a government discussion on the establishment of a special ministerial committee on minorities.”

The organisation’s leader, Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, has been banned from leaving the country since 18 June for “security reasons”. In response to Netanyahu’s remarks, the northern Islamic Movement declared that it did “not fear the threats and intimidation”, while a spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post that such a ban would be impossible, practically-speaking, to implement.

Meanwhile, attacks on MK Hanin Zoabi continue, with the incitement by political leaders leading to her being insulted and harangued in the street. Efforts continue to pass a law enabling impeachment of an MK “who supports an enemy country or a terrorist organisation, incites to racism, makes statements against the existence of Israel, or operates against it”. The Jewish Home-drafted legislation is known as the ‘Zoabi bill‘.

Writing also on Sunday, a well-known columnist for Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, Dr Haim Shine, warned that “for Israeli Arabs, the moment of truth is approaching“. He added: “they must decide who they are loyal to: the state of which they are citizens or the forces of darkness that have been trying to terrorize Israel for years.”

Such threats are commonplace, but unfortunately, the incitement is set to intensify. The presence of the hard-right in Israel’s government combined with a rise in Palestinian popular protest and resistance – such as in opposition to national service, the anti-Prawer Plan campaign, a return to destroyed villages, and solidarity with those under military occupation – point to an ever smaller space for dissent.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.