Not a day goes by without the Arab sector in Israel suffering a fatality due to criminal violence. Shootings now seem part of the norm and the result is bloody: 17 youths have been killed since the onset of 2021 – that's one every 48 hours.
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This figure alone should be enough to prompt the government to form a police oversight body, as the police has utterly failed to curb violence in Arab society.
Two of the victims were killed by the police during a gunfight. One of them was an innocent bystander and the other a suspect in another shooting.
The question on Arab Israelis' minds at this time is whether fighting crime automatically means law enforcement engage in shootouts in the middle of the street, which result in civilian casualties.
Many would say this price, painful as it may be, is indeed part of fighting crime. But this week's tragedies have sparked anger in the community. Arabs in Israel feel helpless against both the criminals and the police and the government.
The sense of personal security in the Arab sector hasn't dropped – it simply no longer exists. People are dreading 2021 – if its first month is an indication of anything, it will leave 2020, with its grim tally of 113 victims, far behind.
For weeks now, there have been anti-violence demonstrations in Umm al-Fahm. Hundreds of youth gather almost daily to protest the daily shootings and the death threat lurking around every corner for innocent civilians.
Anger is simmering and Arab society seems on the brink of unrest. Arab Israeli youth – most of them not politically affiliated with any party – are realizing that urging the Arab leadership, mayors, police and the government is pointless.
The growing frustration with authorities' impotence against the escalating violence could make the Umm al-Fahm protests spread to other localities.
No one can eliminate the years of neglect that allowed criminal organizations to step into the vacuum created in Arab society for decades, overnight nor can the Israel Police be held solely responsible for this situation.
This requires close cooperation - not to mention a united front – between local leadership, law enforcement, and the Public Security Ministry, as well as the Prime Minister's Office and even the Shin Bet security service.
This is a national problem - not a sectorial one.
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