And The Point Was....?
One just puzzles over the need to confront Israeli Palestinians living in Umm el-Fahm. What, precisely, was the point, other than to aggravate relations?
Yes, the point is taken that Israeli Jews are outraged that many Israeli Arabs are not utterly committed to the State of Israel, considering themselves to be Palestinians who just happen to live within the confines of Israel's borders. They wanted to march to flaunt the Israeli flag through the town as a prod, a taunt, an aggravation. And they most certainly succeeded.
The point that this is a democratic and free country and the citizens of the country who receive all the benefits of citizenship, yet disdain the country and find fault with its existence are seen as a living insult to both the country and its government needn't be made an issue to bring hostilities into the open. But in democratic style Israeli High Court gave permission for the march to proceed.
That this was meant as a provocation by a radical hard-right group of Jewish Israelis is evident enough in the fact that one of their leaders is a former colleague of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, a noted rabble-rouser and sometimes embarrassment to the state. The Jewish National Front's activists led a march of 500-meters on the outskirts of the town.
And the residents of the town were there to greet them.
Protesting against this undesired presence in their town, and well armed with rocks which they pelted at both the police and the marchers, injuring fifteen police, along with their deputy chief. In a free and open society it's a given that a peaceful march be undertaken, but this march, by right-wing Jews intruding on the home-space of hostile Israeli Arabs, ensured a volatile reception.
The permit to march gave approval to one hundred marchers. And to ensure the safety of the marchers, the police were forced to employ a 25-to-1 ratio of police to marchers. There were an unbelievable 2,500 police present to protect and safeguard one hundred marchers. Adding insult to injury half of the marchers were West Bank settlers, certain not to endear the initiative to the residents of the town.
The Arab protesters, led by the town's mayor, held high Palestinian flags and chanted: "With our blood and our spirit we will defend Umm el-Fahm ... We won't let the racists come in." The protesters were assailed with tear gas during the stone-throwing, as the police did their utmost to keep a barrier between the demonstrators and the protesters.
"We have an issue only with extremists, not the Jews as a nation", the former deputy mayor of Umm el-Fahm declared. And the far-right Jewish marchers claimed they were merely exercising their right of freedom of assembly, sending the message to Israeli Arabs whose lack of loyalty to the state they deplore, that they're held in very low esteem. Contempt, actually.
And this obviously took place in a good-hearted bid to promote enduringly sound relations between the solitudes.
Yes, the point is taken that Israeli Jews are outraged that many Israeli Arabs are not utterly committed to the State of Israel, considering themselves to be Palestinians who just happen to live within the confines of Israel's borders. They wanted to march to flaunt the Israeli flag through the town as a prod, a taunt, an aggravation. And they most certainly succeeded.
The point that this is a democratic and free country and the citizens of the country who receive all the benefits of citizenship, yet disdain the country and find fault with its existence are seen as a living insult to both the country and its government needn't be made an issue to bring hostilities into the open. But in democratic style Israeli High Court gave permission for the march to proceed.
That this was meant as a provocation by a radical hard-right group of Jewish Israelis is evident enough in the fact that one of their leaders is a former colleague of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, a noted rabble-rouser and sometimes embarrassment to the state. The Jewish National Front's activists led a march of 500-meters on the outskirts of the town.
And the residents of the town were there to greet them.
Protesting against this undesired presence in their town, and well armed with rocks which they pelted at both the police and the marchers, injuring fifteen police, along with their deputy chief. In a free and open society it's a given that a peaceful march be undertaken, but this march, by right-wing Jews intruding on the home-space of hostile Israeli Arabs, ensured a volatile reception.
The permit to march gave approval to one hundred marchers. And to ensure the safety of the marchers, the police were forced to employ a 25-to-1 ratio of police to marchers. There were an unbelievable 2,500 police present to protect and safeguard one hundred marchers. Adding insult to injury half of the marchers were West Bank settlers, certain not to endear the initiative to the residents of the town.
The Arab protesters, led by the town's mayor, held high Palestinian flags and chanted: "With our blood and our spirit we will defend Umm el-Fahm ... We won't let the racists come in." The protesters were assailed with tear gas during the stone-throwing, as the police did their utmost to keep a barrier between the demonstrators and the protesters.
"We have an issue only with extremists, not the Jews as a nation", the former deputy mayor of Umm el-Fahm declared. And the far-right Jewish marchers claimed they were merely exercising their right of freedom of assembly, sending the message to Israeli Arabs whose lack of loyalty to the state they deplore, that they're held in very low esteem. Contempt, actually.
And this obviously took place in a good-hearted bid to promote enduringly sound relations between the solitudes.
Labels: Inconvenient Politics, Israel
posted by Pieface | 7:10 PM
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