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A convoy of protests against violence in Arab society on its way to Tel Aviv

The protest is an initiative of the High Monitoring Committee in collaboration with the Joint List, and has been held only four days since the government approved the National Five-Year Plan for Dealing with Crime and Violence in Arab Society.

The convoy is expected to create heavy traffic during the day in the central and Sharon areas

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• protest

Yoav Itiel

Thursday, 28 October 2021, 10:07 Updated: 11:50

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A convoy of vehicles left Wadi Ara this morning (Thursday) in the direction of Tel Aviv, in protest of the rising violence in Arab society and the incompetence of the police. The protest is expected to create heavy traffic during the day in the central and Sharon areas.

The protest is an initiative of the High Monitoring Committee in collaboration with the Joint List, and has been held only four days since the government approved the National Five-Year Plan for Dealing with Crime and Violence in Arab Society. The plan, which is budgeted at NIS 2.5 billion, will set goals for a national campaign on the subject, and is the most ambitious plan on the subject since the establishment of the state.

The chairman of the Monitoring Committee, MK and former Knesset Speaker Muhammad Bracha, said today that "this year there was an unprecedented record in the number of casualties in Arab society. Despite the plan's approval, he said, "eradicating crime from Arab society requires a clear government decision addressed to the police, which has all the means and capabilities to carry out its function, as it did in Jewish society years ago."

Protesters organize for convoy, today (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

Among the goals of the program: dissolution of criminal organizations;

Reducing the effects of crime and violence in Arab society and reducing the economic means available to criminal organizations;

Raising the sense of personal security of the citizens of Israel in general, and of the residents of the Negev, the citizens and the Arab residents in particular;

A significant reduction in the number of weapons illegally held by civilians in Arab society;

Increasing the trust of the Arab public in the law enforcement system;

Increasing cooperation and partnership with representatives from Arab society, including the heads of Arab local authorities and the cities involved, in implementing the plan;

Strengthening Arab society and strengthening community resilience in dealing with violence in the local area and denouncing the effects of violence and crime.

"It is never too late, but the government's plan is too little," says Raja Zaatara, a spokesman for the High Monitoring Committee, who also serves as a member of the Haifa City Council as a member of the municipality's security committee.

"We have presented the demands of Arab society and the plan approved by the government is many billions away from them. The government plan is also not in the right direction. When it seems that the criminal organizations are being dismantled, we will be the first to admit it."

The mayor of Umm al-Fahm and other demonstrators are organizing for the convoy, today (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

This coincides with a six-month emergency operation, led by Deputy Minister Yoav Saglovitz to calm the streets and enable preparations for long-term processes.

Minister of Internal Security Amar Bar-Lev said: "If the containment and reduction do not start to happen in 2022, they will not happen even after that. Therefore, the test of us all will be in 2022 - and we will succeed."

He added that "it is clear that the violence and crime on the Arab street poses a threat to the State of Israel. The crime families in Arab society are holding the throat of the Arab sector."

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stressed that this is not a one-sided task, "it is not just a task of the government, it is a common goal of the Israeli government with the Arab public," he said. "It will not be easy, but we must succeed."

Today's protest returns the ball to the court of the government and the police.

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