December 11, 2008

Ali Haider and Shuli Dichter

The attempt by right-wing extremists to march in Umm al Fahm is not new and, unfortunately, is also not unique to Israel. In various places in the world - from Belfast, Ireland to Skokie, Illinois - extreme right-wing organizations have tried to intimidate citizens with their belligerent presence. In Germany, for example, the parliament set restrictions in 2005 on marches of the extreme right near sensitive memorial sites. The message of these marches throughout the world is always a message of denying the civil rights of residents of the area in which they choose to march, or even denying their very existence.

By parading, they believe, they conquer the place and make it their own, replacing the existing legal owners. Umm al Fahm is merely an additional link in the chain of virtual conquests by the right, which pretends that it is doing this "for the good of the state."

The catch is that there is no need to conquer Umm al Fahm in order to make it part of the State of Israel. It is a part of the state and its residents are citizens with equal rights, despite the fact that their rights are not fulfilled and they suffer from institutionalized discrimination. For various reasons, the marchers of the right seek to exacerbate the situation. Their objective is to create provocation and intimidate the residents of Umm al Fahm. They aspire to rekindle violence, again and again, between the Jews and Arabs in Israel, particularly against the background of the already tense and volatile relations. Therefore, it is a hostile parade.

The decision by the extreme rightists to march in the city is not a coincidence. Umm al Fahm, and the Wadi Ara region in general, are considered the soft underbelly of relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel. During the 1980s, Meir Kahane, then a member of Knesset, tried to land a punch on this underbelly, but was blocked by the residents, together with hundreds of Jewish demonstrators who mobilized for this mission.

Subsequently, there were the events of A-Ruha in September 1998, when hundreds of residents were injured. And in the October 2000 events, two residents of Umm al Fahm were killed by the police. In 2003, the leaders of the Islamic Movement were arrested, spent a number of years in prison for economic crimes and, after their release, became leaders of a central stream in the Arab public.

But all of this pales when compared to the structural damage caused to the state and to the concept of citizenship in Israel since Lieberman presented his plan to revoke the citizenship of Umm al Fahm residents and annex them to the Palestinian Authority. The purpose of this plan is to delegitimize the citizenship of the residents of the city and of the entire Triangle region - and of all of the Arab citizens of Israel. The march of the extremists is designed for no other purpose than to bolster this attempt, and Umm al Fahm was selected as the arena for this very reason.

Like similar marches in the world, this one also cynically exploits the principle of freedom of speech. But even if it is legal according to the ruling of the High Court of Justice, it is not legitimate because it is motivated by hatred and seeks to reject the other. Thus, the struggle against this hostile parade, like the campaigns against similar ones in the world, is not only an interest of the residents of Umm al Fahm. It is an interest of all citizens of Israel, Jews and Arabs.

If the judicial system is unable to resolve the problem, the citizens must take responsibility and define what is legitimate and what is not in democratic life. Invalidating citizenship and delegitimizing citizens is not legitimate.

This is a call for civic solidarity: We hope the Arab public will not resort to violence in response to the provocation and will demonstrate communal responsibility. We hope that the Jewish public will show responsibility and express solidarity during the coming weekend, coming en masse to visit the Wadi Ara region and participate in its cultural and artistic life, to visit art galleries, the beautiful hiking trails, and more. These visits will undoubtedly be warmly welcomed. The citizens of Israel should utterly reject the hostile march.