Thousands Attend Tel Aviv Rally against Racism & Far-Right Gov’t

Several thousand protestors attended a Tel Aviv rally Saturday night, February 4, against racism, incitement, and the far-right government policies which discriminate against Israel’s Arab citizens. The march was held in the wake of recent house demolitions in the Arab city of Qalansawe in the center of the country and in the unrecognized village of Umm el-Hiran in the Negev, where Arab-Bedouin teacher Yaqoub Moussa Abu al-Qee’an was shot to death by police.

Hadash MKs at the front of the column of marchers in the Tel Aviv rally against the racism, incitement and policies of the far-right Netanyahu government, Saturday, February 4 (Photo: Zu Haderech communist weekly)

Hadash MKs at the front of the column of marchers in the Tel Aviv rally against the racism, incitement and policies of the far-right Netanyahu government, Saturday, February 4 (Photo: Zu Haderech communist weekly)

Demonstrators began the protest march at the intersection of Allenby and King George streets, from where they proceeded to Dizengoff Square to hold the rally. Protestors, including Jews and Arabs, called for an end to incitement and racism and for “Jews and Arabs to cease being enemies.” Calls were made to create a committee of inquiry to investigate the deadly conduct by police during the January 18 eviction of residents of Umm al-Hiran in the south of Israel. Hadash and the Joint List have been demanding such an investigation for weeks.

Public figures participating in the rally included all Hadash Knesset members, two Meretz MKs and Dr. Amal Abu Saad, the widow of Yaqoub al-Qee’an who was fatally shot by police during the eviction of Umm al-Hiran, who said, “We demand an independent inquiry. Since the incident, no one has spoken to us and explained what happened. We are citizens of Israel and we want to be treated with respect. I want to be like everyone else. I want the same respect they gave to residents of Amona. We demand to know the truth behind the incident.”

Majed Abu Bilal, a resident of Rahat and activist with Standing Together, said, “We set out to protest together today—Jews and Arabs—against the racism of this government, which is destroying Arab homes in Qalansawe and Umm al-Hiran, sending in police officers armed for war, and at the same time, is promoting legislation to launder and regulate the takeover of Palestinian lands. We want to say that there is another way—that all citizens are equal. Together we can build a common future, for all of us.”

The event was organized by more than 20 political, human rights and peace movements and groups, among them Hadash, the Communist Party of Israel, Meretz, Standing Together, the Council of Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, Rabbis for Human Rights and others. The slogan chosen for the event was “A joint future: they destroy, we build. … This is the moment to stand together, Arabs and Jews, and to issue a clear call: all citizens are equal both Arabs and Jews, and this home belongs to us all.”