Thousands of Arab-Palestinians protested Saturday evening, November 28, in northern Israel over the far-right government’s decision to declare the northern branch of the Islamic Movement an illegal organization.
Protesters in Umm el-Fahm march against the banning of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement on Saturday, November 28. (Photo: Al Ittihad)
The demonstration, organized by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, took place in the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm, and included Arab lawmakers as well as the movement’s leadership who vowed to continue its activities despite the ban. The demonstration was attended by Arab Knesset members from the Joint List, headed by MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash), former Hadash MK Mohammad Barakeh, and chairman of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Hamad Abu Daabs.
Former MK Barakeh, who spoke at the event, said: “Al-Aksa needs to be defended even if the Islamic movement is outlawed. Today’s demonstration was held to declare that the government’s decision to outlaw the Islamic Movement is unacceptable, and won’t be consented to by any Palestinian society in Israel.” Barakeh added: “Arab society will not allow the government to reject and isolate any of our political elements.” As chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, Barakeh also said that the protest was a message to the government that the Arab community is unified in its opposition to the decision and that it will continue to struggle against it.
“Anyone with eyes in their head knows that this is anti-democratic political persecution,” said Hadash MK Yousef Jabareen. “This is just another chapter in the de-legitimization campaign against the Arab public,” he said, claiming the move was part of what he described as the government’s ongoing discrimination against Arabs in Israel.
Following the government’s decision last week, the police and Shin Bet security service seized property belonging to the organization and shut down its offices. Closure injunctions were handed to 17 NGOs that are associated with it in Rahat, Jaffa, Nazareth and Umm el-Fahm.
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