Israeli Arab Ra’am Party Chairman MK Mansour Abbas addressed the war at a meeting of his Knesset faction today (Monday), calling for a ceasefire and a release of the hostages.
Abbas began by saying that “since the detestable attack on the seventh of October on the Gaza Perimeter, and the murder of more than 1400 citizens including 20 Arab citizens and the subsequent declaration of war which has taken the lives of thousands, especially women and children, residents of the Gaza Strip.”
“Out of concern for the safety and lives of many people, I appealed to the Arab and Jewish citizens of the state out of a vital need to demonstrate civic responsibility, and to become stronger in patience, in wisdom, and in tolerance, to maintain public law and order, and not to be dragged by every action of physical, verbal, or written violence, or harm to public and private property, or incitement, or the promotion and spread of false rumors.”
“Be careful with everything you published on the internet”
Abbas appealed to the youth of the Arab community and asked them to be particularly careful in their conduct on social media. “Even today, I stress my call once again, especially to youth and students in institutions of higher education – be careful with everything you write and publish on social media.”
He added that “especially when these posts bear messages which violate the law or arouse feelings and contain provocation, or can even be interpreted as such, and consequently, the publisher could be exposed to interrogations, trial, and even punishment.”
The Ra’am Chairman stressed the consequences of published material online: “Worse, some of these publications could arouse violence or conflicts and tensions with other people and groups. There are suspicions and fears that the situation will develop and escalate inside the country, to the point of a direct clash and physical conflicts between Arab and Jewish citizens.”
“In a situation like this one, the state applies emergency regulations which narrow the democratic space. In emergency situations, the defense authorities automatically receive broad powers to immediately and directly handle any publication they consider to be harm or an attempt to harm the security of the country and the citizens, or even publications which the authorities suspect regarding the intentions and goals of the publisher, and for that reason, great caution must be exercised.”
“The Arabs of Israel are in a complex and difficult situation”
Abbas stressed the importance of blocking the extreme parties who could lead to a deterioration within Israel. “To all the people in Arab society, people and also leaders, I say today clearly and directly, and without stuttering – first of all, wisdom, and responsibility, and the public interest and the future vision for us as a an Arab-Palestinian society, and also as citizens of the State of Israel, require us to block any path to the marginal extreme parties trying to push us into a clash and conflict with the state and its security establishments, as well as with the Jewish citizens.”
Abbas noted that Jews and Arabs must continue to cooperate to keep the peace. “Instead of this, we all, Arab and Jewish citizens, must take care to cooperate to maintain quiet and peace and strengthen the fabric of relations, understanding, and tolerance to overcome this crisis in peaceful ways.”
“There is no doubt that we, the Arab citizens of Israel, are in a very complex and difficult situation. The events of Shabbat and the murder of 1400 Israeli citizens including 20 Arab citizens shocked us and unsettled our feelings, and on the other hand the pictures of innocent victims of thousands of children and women and the scenes of destruction in Gaza cause much pain and sorrow among us.”
“But despite this, Arab citizens are still demonstrating responsibility with these difficult situations and this war, and no-one has hesitated for a moment to do their job. We call for a complete ceasefire, to free the hostages especially children, women, and the elderly, and to expand humanitarian aid, and to jumpstart the process and political solution of two states – a state of Israel and a state of Palestine one alongside the other in peace and security, in partnership and tolerance between the two nations.”
He ended by asking Israeli Arabs to be patient: “We are in a critical stage, and this requires us to be strong and restrained, to be patient and wise, and to rise above the pain and the feelings of anger, fear, and sadness, and I am sure that what will come will be better, with God’s help with patience, salvation will come.”