Israel's Arabs
Ali Haider, 34, is Co-Executive Director of
veteran NIF grantee Sikkuy: Israel Association for the
Advancement of Equal Opportunity. Born in the Arab village
of Iblin near Haifa , he is a lawyer with an LL.M. from Bar Ilan
University . He joined Sikkuy in 2001 as Director of the Affirmative
Action and Fair Representation program and became Co-Executive
Director in 2004.
Q. What role did the social change movement play in the
election results?
A. Only 56 percent of Israel 's Arabs voted this
time, compared to 63 percent of all Israelis. Both figures are an
all-time low. There were major calls by some Arab groups to boycott
the elections, while the social change movement has always insisted
that citizens must play a full role in democracy. But for the social
change movement I fear that indifference and heeding the boycott
would have resulted in a much smaller Arab voter turnout.
Q. What is the significance of the election results?
A. Arab parties increased their representation
from eight to 10 seats through three parties representing three
different streams: Hadash (secular communism), United Arab List
(religious Islam) and Balad (nationalism). In addition, there are
four more Arab/Druze MKs from Zionist parties. Since Rabin's
government in 1992, the Arab parties have often supported certain
left-wing policies from outside of the government. But we are still
not seen as full Knesset Members who can serve in the government.
When it comes to issues of peace and withdrawal from the occupied
territories, people talk of a need for a ‘Jewish' majority in the
Knesset. There is a de-legitimization of Arab Knesset Members and
the rise of Lieberman who speaks of transferring parts of Israel to
the Palestinian Authority will not help.
Q. What should the agenda of Israeli Arab organizations
in the social change movement now be?
A. We must ensure that ways are not found to
exclude Israel 's Arabs from the socio-economic gains that parties
like Shas, Labor and the Pensioners will be pushing for. We must
continue pushing for the implementation of the Or Commission, which
recognized the historic injustices and discrimination against Israel
's Arabs. We must also monitor other government declarations of good
intentions, such as appointing Israeli Arabs to serve on the board
of directors of public companies.
Facts and Figures
- Israel has 1.365 million Arabs representing 19.5 percent of
the country's 7 million citizens.
- 48.4 percent of Israel 's Arabs live below the poverty line,
while 57.5 percent of Arab children live below the poverty line.
(Source: Israel 's National Insurance Institute).
