The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) firmly and unequivocally denounces the killing of two Arab Palestinian citizens and the wounding of dozens more by the Israel Police Force in the southern Arab-Bedouin town of Rahat during the past week. Furthermore, the CPI holds Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his government fully responsible for the events in Rahat, as they are part of his consistent policy of incitement against the Arab population of Israel in general, and specifically part of the racist electoral campaign of the political right currently being waged. In that sense, Israel’s latest assault on the Syrian city of Quneitra, which we also unequivocally denounce and reject, cannot be detached from the killings in Rahat: Both are cynical provocations manufactured by Israel’s government to ignite the entire region just before the March national elections. As support among the Israeli public for Netanyahu’s government is ebbing, anti-Arab racism and aggression are being exploited by Netanyahu’s bullies to instill fear and anxiety among the Jewish masses and to mobilize their support.
Arab-Bedouin mourners participate in a rally in the southern Israeli city of Rahat to condemn the death of Sami al-Ja’ar, 22, who died of a gunshot wound last week during a police raid in the Negev town, and of Sami al-Ziadna, who was killed during clashes with Israeli police following the funeral of al-Ja’ar. The protesters marched from the house of the al-Ja’ar family to the al-Ziadna family home, January 20, 2015. (Photo: Activestills)
The CPI demands the immediate and total cessation of all hostile activities by Israel in Syria, and calls for the establishment of an official state-sponsored committee of inquiry to examine the events in Rahat.
The representatives of CPI and Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) in the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee have demanded the calling of a general strike on the national level in all Arab cities and towns, and the organizing of acts of protest against the killing of citizens. We also call upon all the democratic forces in Israel to break the conspiracy of silence, and send a clear message against the government’s policy of escalation, its dangerous playing with fire, which ultimately will only bring great damage to the true interests of both peoples in this country.
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