Adalah Demands Criminal Investigation of Public Security Minister Erdan for Incitement

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – is demanding a criminal investigation into Israel’s Minister of Public Security, Gilad Erdan, for incitement to racism against Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. Adalah Attorney, Nadeem Shehadeh, sent a letter to Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in response to a series of public statements and social media posts by Erdan during the wave of forest fires in Israel some three months ago and, more recently, following the deadly police shooting incident during home demolitions in the Arab-Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran.

Minister of Security Gilad Erdan’s tweet in Hebrew on January 18, 2017, the day of the violent incident at the unrecognized village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev: “Then the terrorist sharply turned his wheel and quickly accelerated in order to run down a group of police officers."

Minister of Security Gilad Erdan’s tweet in Hebrew on January 18, 2017, the day of the violent incident at the unrecognized village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev: “Then the terrorist sharply turned his wheel and quickly accelerated in order to run down a group of police officers.”

Attorney Shehadeh detailed in the letter a number of examples of public incitement Minister Erdan has made against Arab citizens. On his Facebook page, for example, Minister Erdan posted on December 3, 2016: “Israel has experienced arson terrorism and I won’t let anyone sweep this fact under the rug. The problem with arson: Why does it seem unrealistic that Arabs would attempt to harm Jews?” Nevertheless, following thorough extensive investigations by Israeli police and firefighting authorities, no indictments have been filed against any Palestinian citizens of Israel in connection to the wave of forest fires in November 2016.

Regarding the events in Umm al-Hiran, Minister Erdan was quick to declare the incident as having “a nationalist background” – in other words, a terror attack – and tweeted: “The terrorist sharply turned his wheel and quickly accelerated in order to run down a group of police officers.” Despite Erdan’s tweet, Israeli police video footage of the incident and eyewitness testimony reveal that police opened fire on Abu Al-Qee’an’s vehicle before he accelerated in the direction of officers. This totally contradicts police claims that Abu Al-Qee’an sought to “ram” them with his vehicle.

Minister Erdan also made public statements of incitement against an Arab member of Knesset from Hadash following the police killing in Umm al-Hiran: “I want to say at this moment to [Member of Knesset] Ayman Odeh and the rest of the MKs from the Arab List who have come to enflame sentiments this morning: This blood is also on your hands. This is a grave statement, I know, but not as grave as your actions today. You are a disgrace to the State of Israel.” Joint List Chairman MK Odeh himself was wounded when Israeli police opened fire on him with sponge-tipped bullets in Umm al-Hiran that same day.

Adalah Attorney Shehadeh emphasized that Minister Erdan’s statements constitute a most serious danger to the Arab public in Israel. “The minister’s repeated statements indicate a trend towards stigmatization of the Arab citizens of Israel, marking the entire Arab public as a source of danger and making accusations against them in an arbitrary and collective manner… This official approach of increased suspicion against all Arab citizens likewise influences the general public’s perspective and strengthens the phenomenon of negative stereotyping of Arab citizens – stemming from the perceived connection between the Arab public’s struggle and acts of terrorism.”

Adalah stressed the increased influence – and potential for danger – of incitement promoted by the government minister responsible for public security. “Erdan’s statements have decisive impact upon the manner in which the police perceive the Arab public, and upon their readiness to employ improper means and tactics when interacting with Arab citizens, for example, the light finger on the trigger police have adopted concurrently with perceiving the Arab public as an enemy.” As Adalah noted previously, “This rhetoric is a continuation of the Netanyahu government’s ongoing strategy of incitement against Arab citizens of Israel, and its portrayal of them as a fifth column. The government’s legislative agenda also mirrors its incendiary speech with the passage of new racist laws, most recently the Expulsion Law, which seeks to illegally kick Arab members of the Knesset out of the parliament.”

Related: Posts about Gilad Erdan and his incitement against the Arab community in Israel