48 Palestinians face the Corona and HIV discrimination in Israel

Muhammad Mohsen Wedd - Umm al-Fahm

The marginalization of the Israeli government to the needs of the Arab towns inside the Palestinian in the face of the emerging corona virus and limiting its spread reflected the policy of racial discrimination of the occupation with Palestinians 48 in various aspects of life, a approach that spanned decades and was manifested in dealing with the Corona pandemic. 

While the government of Benjamin Netanyahu focused its efforts and medical and health financial resources on the Jewish towns, in an effort to limit the spread of the virus while imposing strict restrictions and measures in mid-March, the Arab community was marginalized in terms of examinations and preventive measures. 

Exclusion and marginalization contributed to a silent spread of the virus within the Palestinian community inside, to date, 600 cases that do not include infections in coastal cities were recorded, noting that 120 cases were recorded in less than a week in the villages of Al-Baana and Deir al-Assad in the Upper Galilee, so the government announced imposing a comprehensive closure on them for a week, And the state of closure places these Arab towns in front of unknown challenges during the month of Ramadan. 

Events, political and popular frameworks, and national and Islamic forces unanimously agree that the formation of the Arab country emergency room and its broad activities with the Presidents Committee and the Higher Follow-up Committee for the Arab Masses have enhanced the readiness of Arab towns.

The discrimination virus
In light of the discrimination in the time of Corona, the Palestinian community inside seemed like an independent republic within the state that perpetuated the historical discrimination policy virus by unfairly providing government services, especially in health-related services, which contributed to the spread of the virus and the registration of hundreds of infections among Arabs. 

The head of the Ba’na Council, Ali Khalil, says that the Israeli authorities intervened - weeks later - to prevent the outbreak of the virus in Arab towns, where the government imposed a comprehensive closure on his town and the neighboring village of Deir al-Assad, after the outbreak.

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Khalil explained that the delay in conducting the tests to discover Corona for more than three weeks is "another aspect of the racial discrimination that we see in our daily lives, and that this caused the virus to spread among the Arabs, knowing that the majority of HIV infections are primarily from the Israeli labor market." 

Al-Bana and Deir al-Assad countries, according to Khalil, complain of marginalization and denial of emergency services and mechanisms to support and prevent the virus, as well as the lack of support in government budgets, noting that he initiated with the powers and political parties, Zakat committees and the People's Committee to distribute about 1150 food parcels before the days of Ramadan, and will be Distributing its weakness during the holy month. 

The  pandemic
challenges and in front of the approach of discrimination and marginalization, the director of the Galilee Society, Ahmed Al Sheikh, who runs the country emergency room to confront Corona, praised the unity of the Arab masses, partnership and cooperation between the various parties, civil society groups, people's committees and zakat committees, and its pioneering role in containing the virus, while the government role was absent. Official about the Arab towns. 

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, the sheikh confirmed that the vast majority of HIV infections in the Arab community are from the Israeli labor market, indicating that 70% of the Arab casualties are from the youth category from the age of 20 to 40 years, where the majority of infections in the Arab community were recorded in the last week, after the Ministry marginalized Health Preventive and counseling services are late in conducting tests to discover Corona among Arabs.

The director of the emergency room stated that the Arab towns that found themselves facing the challenges of the pandemic, despite the policies of discrimination and deprivation of budgets, succeeded and prepared for confrontation, and embodied the pioneering model in the social solidarity project in various aspects of life, indicating that the delay by the Israeli government in conducting checks and not publishing the path for the injured Corona contributed and accelerated the spread of the virus in the Arab towns.

The Sheikh attributed the interest of government ministries in the Arab community in everything related to the spread of the virus to the pressures exerted by the joint list and the emergency room on the government and held it responsible for the outbreak of the virus, and warned it of the possibility of losing control of Corona in Arab towns. The Israeli government also realized that the spread of the virus in Palestinian towns would contribute to its spread within the Jewish towns. 

For  independent
republics, for his part, Osama Al-Saadi, the deputy in the joint list, said that for weeks the Israeli Ministry of Health had refrained from examining Corona discovery in Arab towns, and that its interest was directed at the Jewish towns, indicating that this delay contributed to the spread of the virus, and that only after pressures from the joint list and a committee Emergencies and Arab organizations forced the government to start conducting tests. 

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Saadi explained that the various governmental institutions deal with the Arab community with all matters related to measures to limit the spread of the Corona virus, reflecting the blatant discrimination systematically by successive Israeli governments in all matters relating to the overall civil and health services, as it was proven with clear evidence that discrimination and differences In the health services sector, Arab citizens are exposed to HIV infection with higher rates compared to population groups. 

He pointed out that Netanyahu dealt with the Arab towns as if they were independent republics within the state, which must manage their affairs, stressing that it alerted the various political and popular and health activities and clerics in the Palestinian community inside, and the joint unitary activity in the preventive, educational and health measures, all of which prevented the spread of the epidemic in Arab towns, praising the commitment of the vast majority of the masses to the restrictions and health instructions, the commitment of homes and awareness of the importance of preventing the expansion of the epidemic. 

An investigation committee of the
same position expressed by the representative of the joint list, Emmans Shehadeh, who heads the sub-parliamentary committee to combat the Corona virus, and who called for an immediate investigation committee regarding the failure of the Israeli Ministry of Health in the Arab towns, in the wake of the closure imposed by the Israeli government on the villages of Al-Ba'anah and Deir al-Assad in the Galilee The highest after the outbreak of the virus in both countries. 

Shehadeh criticized the indifference by official institutions in dealing with the trends of Arab leaders and the delay in conducting the tests to discover Corona.

He held the government responsible for the outbreak of the virus in Arab society, stressing that this marginalization and delay in responding to the needs of Arabs reflects a policy of discrimination, injustice and gaps in various services and health in particular, which exposes the Arab community at home to a serious health situation as a result of this epidemic.