Leaders of the Israeli Arab sector and Adalah - the legal center for Arab minority rights in Israel -announced Monday they were close to having 250,000 signatures on a petition calling for an external committee of inquiry to look into the October 2000 riots, in which 13 people were killed.
Once the goal is met, the petition will be presented to President Shimon Peres andPrime Minister Ehud Olmert ,in the hope that "they will wake up and get to the truth." So far, 220,000 signatures have been collected.
In January 2008, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided to close the case – a move harshly criticized bythe Arab sector. The petition initiative – led by Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh – soon followed.
"It stands to become the biggest petition ever brought against any decision made by the Israeli establishment. It cannot be ignored," Shawki Hatib, chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, told Ynet.
"The public is not motivated by revenge, but by the desire for a future in which the person – regardless if he is an Arab or a Jew – is in the center. We call upon the powers that be to wake up. The Arab public will not stay quiet."
Adalah head Hassan Jabareen said in a press conference Monday that his organization intends to pursue both local and international avenues in its "pursuit of the truth", adding the group also intends to submit the European Union and the UN with a report on the October riots.
Hassan Asalah, who represents the families of the men killed, added: "This petition is a badge of honor for our community. It proves we will not rest until justice is done."