by Mohamed Kaabiya
The Bedouin people are crying out and fighting for their existence within Israeli society while the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee turns its back on them.
The Arab Higher
Monitoring Committee in Israel is an independent political organization
that was established in 1982 in an effort to coordinate the political
activities of Israeli Arabs and their various organizations. The
committee comprises local leaders, Knesset members from Arab parties and
members of apolitical organizations. However, unfortunately, most of
the committee's activities and those of the Arab political parties are
tainted by hypocrisy. When it was established, the committee set a goal
of promoting and developing Arab society in Israel. In reality, there
are many contradictions between this goal and what is actually
happening. In this piece, I will examine some of the committee's main
values and goals and I will explore what is happening on a practical
level on the ground.
The action to eliminate all signs of racial discrimination:
In practice, the
policies of the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee itself are
discriminatory. It purports to represent the entire Arab community in
the country, but the right to vote and influence decisions are given
only to those approved by its members. Moreover, the Bedouin community
in the north, some 100,000 people who vote in Israeli elections, have no
representation in the committee, despite the fact that they voted for
the Arab parties in considerable numbers during the last election.
A committee like this
does not give expression to the views of the entire spectrum of the Arab
sector and completely ignores the Bedouin population in the north of
Israel, a population that lives with increased conflict of identity and
belonging.
The action against the home demolition policies:
We are all aware of the
issue of home demolition and the problem of housing construction
permits. With every home destroyed where our Bedouin brothers in the
south live, we see committee members arriving at the site, and instead
of trying to find a solution, they incite in an effort to step into the
media spotlight. They speak in sound bites designed to enrage the young
people and get them out onto the streets to protest -- with some of
these protests turning violent. In the end, our sons are arrested and
must deal with legal proceedings and criminal records while the Knesset
members return to their homes in their pristine suits.
It is not only in the
south where we see this hypocrisy; there are also land and construction
permit problems in the Bedouin villages in the Galilee region. But
there, we don't see Arab public figures taking an interest in solving
the problem -- not that we want them on the ground there, since that is
not where solutions come from anyway. They sit in the holy of holies for
decision-making -- the Knesset, and it is from there that they need to
take action. But what can be done when our representatives in the
Knesset are busy dealing with the problems of other people, and not
those of their voters?
A solution for refugees in their national homeland:
Do you not first have
the responsibility to find a solution for the Arab citizens who stayed
here and did not leave their land and their homes? To deal with the
growing crime in our sector? Welfare? To deal with the integration of
the Arab sector into Israeli society? Or are these topics less
attractive and "sexy" than the Arab-Israeli conflict on which you are
piggybacking?
The committee is very
good at publishing and distributing flyers and posters -- to make
announcements about school strikes, when those suffering from the
strikes are our children, the students, and to spread threats and lies.
One thing it is not very good at is truly trying to help advance the
Arab-Israeli public.
I, as a member of the
Bedouin community, see the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee and the Arab
parties as my representatives in the political arena. I am not
interested in an organization that tries to distance me from the country
and its society. The Bedouin people are crying out and fighting for
their existence within Israeli society while the Arab Higher Monitoring
Committee turns its back on them. This has been especially true
recently, when the Bedouin community was denied the opportunity to elect
the committee head. Furthermore, as a community that has given its body
and soul to the State of Israel since before its establishment, the
Bedouin have particular demands, especially for their sons who have been
released from the army. It is a community that cannot be represented by
a committee with a foreign agenda.
The Bedouin must do
some serious soul-searching. We must renounce, for once and for all, the
hypocritical, unworthy and inadequate representation of the Arab Higher
Monitoring Committee and the Arab parties, and follow in the footsteps
of our forefathers in this land. We must continue fighting for this
country's existence and for our own existence within it, and try to
integrate into Israel's society and institutions, which have always
recognized and respected our contributions.
Mohamed Kaabiya is
the coordinator for the Bedouin division of the "Aharai! IDF"
organization, which helps encourage and prepare youth for IDF service.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=13721
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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