On video: about 80,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv against the legal revolution (photo: Yotam Ronen, Shlomi Gabai, Sima Sasson, Network 13, the Black Flags, Crime Minister)
Justice Minister Yariv Levin admitted yesterday (Monday) in the Knesset plenum that the three indictments against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu contributed, as he said, "to a very broad public understanding that there are failures in the justice system that need to be corrected", which only made him determined to advance the reform of the justice system.
In response, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that Levin's current proposal "is dangerous and will harm the foundations of the State of Israel, its economy and its citizens."
These words came against the backdrop of the huge demonstration on Saturday, when over 80,000 demonstrators invaded Bima Square and the surrounding streets under torrential rain to protest against the changes promoted by the government to weaken the justice system, when men and women, young and old, celebrities and ordinary people all stood together in the rain and expressed a firm stance against the reform .
The one who undoubtedly stood out in his absence was opposition leader Yair Lapid, who holds, at least outwardly, the title of the acting leader of the "Only Not Bibi" bloc. This is a kind of big miss for him, especially given the fact that the chairman of the state camp, Benny Gantz, walked among the protesters as a groom on the day his joy
But those who think that Lapid stayed alone at home are mistaken, because it was possible to notice that quite a few minority groups decided to adopt his decision not to come to the demonstration, with the most prominent group being without a doubt the Arab population.
So it is true that it did not happen out of identification with the chairman of Yesh Atid, and it could be seen that there were a number of Arab participants, when even the chairman of Ra'am Mansour Abbas was there in a guest appearance on a Rockstar standard that the demonstrators keep shaking his hand - but it cannot be ignored From the fact that the demonstration on Shabbat did not speak to the Arab public and did not manage to attract them en masse to the city to Tel Aviv.
The protest against the reform is all-Israeli.
The demonstration in Tel Aviv, on Mochash (photo: Reuven Castro)
First, it should be noted that this is not the first time that large parts of the Arab public do not feel a connection to protests identified with the Jewish public in general and the center-left bloc in particular.
It is enough to see how the Arab public was absent in the past from the bridges and intersections protest or the Balfour protest against Benjamin Netanyahu at the time.
We are already in 2023 and it can still be seen that there is a considerable gap between what brings the Jewish citizens versus the Arab citizens to the streets.
And so, while the government's promotion of reform in the judicial system speaks to the Jewish citizen, regardless of his political position, whether he supports it or opposes it - it somehow fails to speak to the average Arab citizen who conveys that reform is not currently at the top of his list of priorities, And it's not exactly considered something that takes away sleep from one's eyes, which can only point to the gap in the day-to-day concerns of the two populations.
It is true that the protest against the reform against the judicial system is all-Israeli.
Last week, we witnessed the call of Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas to the Arab public to join the protest in the Bima square, and on the other hand, Ayman Odeh spoke during the demonstration that was held in the same square the week before.
And yet, the protest is still perceived by large sections of the Arab public as a Jewish protest rather than an Israeli protest, a protest by someone who feels an integral citizen in the State of Israel more than the protest of the Arab citizen, who even in the 75th year of the state still feels like someone who has to fight for his place.
The protest of the belonging more than of the outsider.
Indeed, the Arab public should not be viewed as one piece, and it is likely that the resident of the triangle looks at the picture in a different way than the resident of the north or the south, but it is impossible to ignore the general picture that the protest has not yet been able to speak to the Arab public.
And this is exactly the point that needs to be emphasized and clarified: while the residents of Hod Hasharon and Ra'anana, for example, feel worried about the developments in the political system and the promotion of reform by Yariv Levin, it can be seen from the other side that this is perhaps the last thing that worries the residents of Rahat, Baka al-Arabiya, or Ilbon. While the wave of violence and crime is spreading like wildfire in a field of thorns in the Arab settlements, and has unfortunately become synonymous with the Arab society - when there are a variety of reasons for this - and we do not see an adequate response from the state; while people are dealing with the housing crisis on a daily basis, when we hardly see a construction boom in the Arab settlements, and the emphasis is on the government and the Ministry of Housing is how to solve the housing crisis in Jewish society; while the Arab citizen saw how in the last year the country burned, burned and shook against the background of the inclusion of an Arab party in the coalition,
More in Walla!
Thousands of right-wing activists demonstrated across the country: "This government has no legitimacy"
To the full article
More in Walla!
The poverty report: half a million families lived in food insecurity in 2021, 665 thousand children experienced hunger
Like the last of the thugs: Israel Post tramples the weak in Israeli society
10 weeks and you will know how to swim long distances!
At TI we commit to success!
Advancing Levin's reform is the last thing that interests Arab society.
Rahat (Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson)
On the other hand, the same public does not forget, for example, that the Jewish public did not join the mass protests against the violence and crime in Ayalon and Route 6 at the time, not to mention the protests against the nationality law in 2018, when it was clearly visible that the Jewish public chose to join the Arab-Druzi public protest and felt less connected to the Arab-Muslim public protest - Christian, even though the two protests took place a week apart.
If that's the case, where does the expectation come from that the Arab public will fill the Bima square en masse?
Something to think about.
Finally, should we put up with the situation?
of course not.
First, work must be done intensively on increasing political awareness among the Arab public, and instilling in them the feeling and thinking that they are part of the game and are not conditional citizens.
On the one hand, the Arab public needs to understand that they must take matters into their own hands and not wait for things to happen on their own, and do all they can to participate in the game - it does not help to raise one's hands.
On the other hand, the Jewish organizers, speakers and politicians should be pushed to talk directly to the Arab public, and not do it through the Arab politicians - talk directly to the Arab public and explain to them that it is also in their hands and sitting in the stands is not the solution.
Because we simply must not repeat the historical mistake made by the center-left Jewish politicians, who often advocated renouncing the Arab public, a mistake that cost everyone dearly.
news
Political-political
Tags
demonstrations
Israeli Arabs
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/VB2FZXRBEFBPNAN5IFP75J6YOM.jpg)
