Palestinians of 48 and the Knesset .. Joint alliance and calls for a boycott

Mohammed Mohsen Wedd - Umm al-Fahm

Between a participant and sections of the political game in the Israeli parliament, the joint list represented by 13 deputies tends to strengthen its power with 16 deputies, with one million Palestinians from 48 eligible to vote in the Knesset elections that will be held on the second of next month.

The amendment of the Knesset's Basic Law in 2014 raised the percentage of deduction in the Knesset elections, from 2% to 3.25%, in the entry of Arab parties and movements represented in the Israeli parliament through negotiations for unity and alliance, knowing that this amendment mainly affects Arab political parties that cannot separately bypass these The ratio.

January 2015 was a watershed in the history of Arab representation in the Knesset for parties participating in the elections, where the joint coalition ran the 20 legislative elections and won 13 seats, after the representation of Arab parties without the coalition was limited to nine seats.

Although the strength of the joint was strengthened through the electoral coalition, which proved to be fragile in the April 2019 elections, as the joint divided and contested the elections with two lists whose representation ceased by ten seats, the issue of participation and boycott remains a matter of controversy, knowing that participation rates by voting do not exceed 60% of the right holders Polling inside the Palestinian people.

What are the composite parties for the joint list?
The joint list consists of alliances composed of the Democratic Front Party, the Israeli Communist Party, the National Democratic Assembly, the United Islamic List and the Arab Movement for Change, and brings together the folds of the Communist trend and advocates of Arab-Jewish coexistence, and the secular nationalist movement alongside the United representing the southern Islamic movement.

With the enhancement of its parliamentary representation, the participant is looking at this stage to double the Arab female presence in the Knesset, represented by the two deputies Aida Toma and Heba Yazbek, and in order to develop the struggle for women's rights. And Imane Yassin.

Is the joint strategic alliance or a terminal to cross the Knesset?
In the 22nd Knesset elections in April 2019, the joint disintegrated and the parliamentary elections were contested on two separate lists, one of which includes the Arab and Democratic Front for Change and the second includes the Southern Islamic Movement and the National Assembly.

With the increase and expansion of the boycott movement circle, the percentage of voting in the April elections in the ranks of Arab citizens reached 49%, where the Front and Change Alliance won six seats, while the United and Alliance Alliance won four seats, three seats less than what they had in the previous joint coalition, The participant returns to a united coalition in the September 2019 elections and gets 13 seats.

What is the importance and feasibility of Arab representation in the Knesset?
Dr. Yusef Jabareen, a professor in the international law, attaches the utmost importance to the representation of minorities in the parliaments of her country, and believes that the interest in Arab representation in the Knesset should be doubled for the Palestinians of 48 as the original owners of the land.

Jabareen sees the representative of the Front party, the Knesset, as a political platform for the struggle and realization of rights for the Palestinians of 48 and support for the Palestinian people and their issues, but he affirms that it is one of the agendas of all the platforms and battlefields of the mass action, which also meets with the currents and movements that call for a boycott.

How to align between common and interrupt stream?
Jabareen stresses the need to work and search together for alternatives besides parliamentary work, by rebuilding the Arab masses under the umbrella of the Supreme Follow-up Committee, in parallel with the parliamentary work and activities of the parties and movements participating in the elections.

The same position, expressed by the representative of the National Assembly, Sami Abu Shehada, who is the first Palestinian from Jaffa to enter the Israeli Knesset, where he stressed the necessity of building a unitary project for the Arab masses inside the Palestinian outside the Knesset as well, the pillar of which will be a common experience, provided that the project brings together various political movements and currents. National and Islamic forces and movements boycotting parliamentary work in the Knesset.

Share or boycott?
In addition to participating in the elections, Abu Shehada stresses the necessity of working and aligning with the boycotting movements and movements, which are considered a pillar of political and mass work inside, with participation in the elections and maintaining an Arab national representation in the Knesset to be a lever to establish our presence in the homeland and our presence in every forum to confront Israel and its policies towards Palestinian people.

He believes that in light of the changes, a fundamental change must occur in all matters related to the political and electoral weight of the 48 Palestinians, stressing that although there is talk of a minority that remained in its homeland after leaving most of its people and is still fighting for freedom, independence and rights, this minority has a million votes. Reaching 16 seats, even under the initial boycott, while stressing the need to build a common base for political and national unity that includes the various colors of the Palestinian political spectrum inside.

With the joint alliance seeking to consolidate its power and influence in the upcoming Knesset elections, by obtaining 16 seats, which means that it is impossible for Netanyahu, who faces a corruption trial, to gain the confidence of 61 Knesset members and thus his inability to form a narrow right-wing government, the voices rise and the activity of the movements and movements increases. That calls for a boycott, and these movements are represented by the Islamic movement headed by Sheikh Raed Salah, an Israeli outlawed, the Al-Wafa and Reform Party, a mass non-parliamentary political party, and the Sons of the Country movement, a national liberation movement, and the struggle movement, which defines itself as the Palestinian national movement at home.

Why boycott, and what are the options and alternatives to the 48 Palestinian organization?
The leader of the Islamic movement, a member of the Al-Wafaa and Islah party, attorney Zahi Najidat, asserts that the Knesset, since the Nakba, did not really have the right to 48 Palestinians and was a tool for racist legislation against them and their presence in their homeland. It is to support their rights.

Najidat believes that the activity of the boycott movement with this critical stage the Palestinian issue is going through and the challenges of the "deal of the century" and the alleged American peace in the Middle East, it is imperative that the Palestinian interior who lived and lives and suffers from the experience of Israeli policy raises his voice to build. He affirms that the Knesset will not remove injustice from the Palestinians, will not liberate Jerusalem, and will not contribute to the independence of Palestine.

On the alternatives, Nujaidat affirms the necessity of adhering to the national principles and unitary political discourse, particularly at this stage in which the Palestinian political discourse witnesses a sharp and dangerous decline in the demand and service matters due to indulging in the game of the Israeli parliament.

Outside the platform of the Israeli Knesset, the leader believes in loyalty and reform that the alternative is to rebuild the Arab masses and elect a direct follow-up committee from the Palestinians of 48 as a model for a parliament that manages their affairs and follows up on their issues by creating an Arab national fund of contributions from the Palestinian internal funds, as well as rebuilding civil institutions and business associations Civil society on a sound national basis, the pillar of which is popular and public action.