Arab voters - will they stay away from polls?
Photo: Reuters
Arab group: Boycott elections
Group of Israeli Arabs calls on Arab community to refrain from taking part in elections
An Arab-Israeli convoy departed from the northern community of Shfaram Saturday as part of a campaign calling on Israeli Arabs to boycott the upcoming general elections.
The group is calling on Arabs to refrain from taking part in the elections and instead focus on forming genuine elected institutions and reforming the Arab-Israeli Supreme Monitoring Committee. Participation in past elections did not benefit local Arabs in any way, the group says.
The convey, which included dozens of vehicles manned by members of the "Popular Committee for Boycotting the Elections" headed to several Arab communities in the northern Galilee region, before proceeding to a planned rally in the town of Umm al-Fahem.
Elections 2006
Roee Nahmias
Survey shows 69 percent of Arabs intend to vote, after many boycotted previous elections; according to survey, three large Arab parties to combine for 10 Knesset seats
Popular Committee member Raja Agabaria told Ynet the purpose of the convoy is to stress the group's position vis-a-vis the elections and the need to focus on building Arab institutions.
"We want to tell people there's another option aside from the elections," he said.
'Arab MKs achieved nothing'
The Popular Committee mostly comprises independent public figures as well as members of a nationalistic left-wing Arab group, Bnei HaKfar (villagers,) which espouses Marxist beliefs. In the past, the group was also supported by leftist Jewish activists.
The Popular Committee stressed, however, that its campaign is not directed against Arab parties, which have warned earlier against a mass Arab election boycott. Such move will play into the hands of rightist politicians interested in marginalizing Arabs ahead of a future transfer or a population tradeoff that would see Arab communities handed over to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for West Bank settlements, Arab politicians said.
In a recent interview with Ynet, Agabaria said: "We keep on telling our community that for almost 60 years we've had Arab Knesset members, yet their presence didn't contribute a thing."
"The expropriation of land continues and the struggle for equal rights for the Arab minority remained in the realm of slogans," he said. "Not only have we failed to achieve anything…the State's racism deepened and was even institutionalized through racist laws."
