(Haneen Zoabi : ’We need to develop another political struggle,
while also using our voice inside the Knesset.’ Photograph : Ronen
Zvulun/Reuters)
**
In the past four years, Haneen Zoabi has been threatened, spat at,
manhandled, accused of being a terrorist and subjected to attempts to
expel or disqualify her from the Israeli parliament. The vilification of
the feisty Israeli-Arab politician comes mainly as a result of her
participation in the flotilla of ships attempting to breach the blockade
of Gaza in 2010.
But in the next few days, she faces a different battle, this time within
her own community : to persuade Arab citizens of Israel to exercise
their right to vote. Polls predict that possibly fewer than half of
Israeli-Arabs will vote in the elections in Israel next Tuesday, a far
smaller proportion than the Jewish population, which is expected to see a
turnout of around 70%.
Of the non-voters, the vast majority cite reasons of "apathy and
disappointment". "[They say] : ’We can change nothing, we don’t want to
be involved in politics,’" says Zoabi, a member of parliament for the
Israeli-Arab party Balad. A much smaller minority "don’t vote as an
ideological boycott".
She listens to what all sides have to say, whether they intend to vote
or not. But she believes, at present, there is no serious political
alternative to participating in Israeli elections.
"A boycott now is an act of weakness, not an act of active struggle. We
would be out of politics. We need to develop another political struggle,
for example civil disobedience, while also using our voice inside the
Knesset [parliament]." Challenge, she says, is sometimes more effective
from the inside than the outside.
At the same time, some criticise her for not solving problems faced by
Israeli-Arabs, such as unemployment, crime, poor housing and entrenched
discrimination. "They think I’m [prime minister] Binyamin Netanayhu,
they think I’m the government," she says wryly, acknowledging her
limited power to effect change.
Neither Zoabi nor any other representative of an Israeli-Arab party is
likely to come anywhere close to government in the foreseeable future.
Although Israeli-Arabs make up 20% of the country’s population, no Arab
party has ever been part of the ruling coalition.
Even so, Zoabi is expected to be re-elected next week for her second
term as a member of the Knesset. The past four years, her first term,
have taught her to react more coolly, she says : "But I am not less
passionate, not less determined. I’m not optimistic or pessimistic, I
just know that we must continue to struggle because there is no other
way.
"Here in Israel, a ’good’ Arab – those whom they don’t hate, those whom
they accept – is a very humiliated Arab. If you want to feel as a human
being, you must be a ’bad’ Arab."
An effervescent 43-year-old, Zoabi is undoubtedly a "bad" Arab in the
eyes of the Israeli establishment and much of the public. Her
participation in the 2010 "freedom flotilla" to Gaza, which ended in
Israeli commandos shooting dead nine Turkish activists on board the Mavi
Marmara, led to her being accused of treason and terrorism. She was
stripped of her parliamentary privileges and assigned special protection
following death threats. An attempt to bring criminal charges against
her failed. Last month, the central elections committee disqualified her
as a candidate, citing her flotilla participation, a decision later
overturned by the supreme court.
"My main ’crime’ was to try to break the siege on Gaza, and to struggle
against the occupation. The minute you challenge something relating to
the rights of Palestinians and the policies of Israel and the army, you
are a threat," she says.
But she did not fully anticipate the political repercussions. Few people
wanted to hear her account, she says. "We face a kind of society which
has a lot of hatred towards Palestinians, a lot of ideological fear. In
order to justify your violence and aggression, you must convince
yourself that they are terrorists."
Political parties on the Israeli left offered no support, she says.
Meretz, the most leftwing party, "made sure not to open their mouths.
They care more about legitimacy within their own society".
Zoabi describes the regime governing Israel and the Palestinian
territories as apartheid. "If the definition of apartheid is to preserve
privileges for one people at the expense of another people, in terms of
land, resources, citizenship laws – then this is apartheid. There are
differences between South Africa and Israel. But apartheid is how to
control, how to keep the dominance. Even if apartheid is a narrow
definition of segregation, you can still find a lot of apartheid
policies in Israel – roads, land confiscation, checkpoints."
She cites the 2011 Admissions Committee Law, which allows small
communities in Israel built on state land to reject applicants who "do
not suit the lifestyle and social fabric of the community". It denies
Arab citizens the right to live on the majority of the land in Israel,
she says. "This is an apartheid law."
Zoabi, who comes from a Muslim family, is the first woman to sit as a
representative of an Arab party in the Israeli parliament. Explaining
how she navigates the complex circles of her life, she says : "I’m not
married, I still live with my parents because I don’t like to live
alone, but I go out, I meet my friends at restaurants, and no one can
criticise me. This is a kind of partial freedom, because there are
borders – and I know the borders. There are limits, but I don’t see my
society as either conservative or liberal. And it’s changing all the
time.
"Part of my vision is to have a modern, liberal, secular society. For
me, that’s not less important than fighting against Israeli racism. The
issues of equality and injustice between men and women are as important
as issues of equality between Jews and Arabs. I want my freedom as a
woman – I cannot say no to inequality with Jews but yes to inequality
with men. Dignity is very important to human values, and part of that is
my dignity as a woman."
(19 janvier 2013 - Harriet Sherwood)
Lancé le 19 décembre 2011, "Si Proche Orient" est un blog d'information internationale. Sa mission est de couvrir l’actualité du Moyen-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord avec un certain regard et de véhiculer partout dans le monde un point de vue pouvant amener au débat. "Si Proche Orient" porte sur l’actualité internationale de cette région un regard fait de diversité des opinions, de débats contradictoires et de confrontation des points de vue.Il propose un décryptage approfondi de l’actualité .
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