While the media is holding passionate discourse about a bill that would grant the prime minister immunity and the public lines up in favor of or against it, it is of no difference to 20% of the residents of Israel, because all they want is to be immune themselves – immune against shootings and street violence in their communities. I'm talking about us, the Arabs.
Nearly every day reports out of Nazareth, Tamra, Baqa al-Gharbiyye, and Kafr Kanna inform us of murders in Arab society. In many of these cases, the victims are innocent. It's only May, and since the start of the year, the Arab sector in Israel has seen 24 murders. Arab society is plagued with urgent internal problems that range from difficult socio-economic conditions to faulty infrastructure to a high rate of crime and lack of safety. This is a reality that makes no sense.
Although we have representatives in the Knesset, they don't work to promote solutions to these problems and aren't putting the matter on the government's agenda. When MKs like Ayman Odeh and Aida Touma-Sliman take aim at the police, they forget to note that a little less than a year ago they voted against setting up new police stations in Arab local authorities, which the cabinet decided to do under an amendment to existing law that would increase police presence and law enforcement in the Arab sector. How can they blame others, when the responsibility for that not happening falls squarely on their own shoulders?
In recent years, Arab MKs have neglected their constituency and busied themselves with incitement, divisiveness, and external matters – all at the expense of their voters. On Election Day, the Arab public demonstrated apathy, and most of them stayed home in protest. This led the Arab parties to lose numbers, with the Balad list hovering over the minimum electoral threshold. After the election, Odeh promised to look into the matter to discover what had led to the low voter turnout among Arabs. It appears that hasn't happened yet.
Jamal Zahalka and Hanin Zoabi might not be in the Knesset anymore, and Basel Ghattas has been in prison for almost two years, but make no mistake: the Arab leadership is changing but in essence, it remains the same. It's been three weeks since the new Knesset was sworn in, and so far the Arab MKS have taken care to leave the building during the national anthem; take part in marches and events to mark Nakba Day, complete with Palestinian flags; and talk about apartheid, occupation, and their support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. All the while, Arab society is treading water. Nothing is changing, and blood is spilled with no repercussions.
It doesn't look like violence in Arab society will come to an end any time soon. Our representatives are busy with provocations instead of working on our behalf. To tell you the truth, that's currently the worst crime in the Arab sector.
