In a case of dubious and unfortunate timing this week, as we mark the fight against domestic violence, a pioneer of women's rights and a leader of the feminist movement in the Arab Israeli sector, MK Aida Touma-Sliman, was herself subjected to violent treatment โ both as a woman and as a political leader. Touma-Sliman was invited by a group of women in the city of Qalansuwa to speak at the local community center about the struggle, but an extremist group, headed by none other than Mayor Abdulbast Salameh, decided the topic didn't fit their agenda and way of thinking and blocked the event from taking place with threats and belligerent statements. Ultimately, she spoke at the home of Dr. Thabet Abu Rass, a resident of the city, member of the Hadash party and prominent political activist on behalf of coexistence.
It's good the lecture happened, even if at an alternate venue, at the very least for the sake of making a point. But the public event that would have empowered women โ was silenced; freedom of expression and thought โ trampled. The discourse preceding the lecture was violent and rife with political criticism of Hadash and the Joint Arab List faction.
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Despite the political tensions and divisions within the Joint List, it would have behooved the entire Arab leadership, without exception โ every member of the Joint List and Arab city mayors โ to stand behind MK Touma-Sliman, who has spearheaded large campaigns and moved mountains on behalf of equality in Arab society. But not only did no one support her, some even disassociated themselves from her.
A fundamentalist trend is commandeering discourse in Arab society, mortally wounding the struggle for gender equality. In some places, women can't even hold events with a member of Knesset to discuss a problem and its manifestations in the community. How can we take these mayors and community representatives seriously when they complain about the rampant violence and murder in Arab society โ when an event recognizing the fight against domestic violence has to be canceled due to threats? Anywhere else in Israel, in Jewish or mixed cities, this incident would have shaken media outlets and probably been brought to court โ as we've seen before.
Sadly, this isn't the first case of aggressive oppression. In the city of Tira, a women's marathon was prevented under claims it was offensive to the public's sensibilities. In Umm al-Fahm, rapper Tamer Nafar was barred from performing and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a concert hall where the songs of Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum had been played.
We do hear smatterings of criticism of Touma-Sliman's "capitulation" to the mob. It's quite possible, however, that she acted responsibly and prudently by moving the event elsewhere. Her mature decision not only lowered the flames of internal political strife in the Arab sector, but it also forestalled domestic violence becoming a powder keg for cultural polarization in Arab society.
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