On Monday 15 July 2013, the Arab Palestinian minority in Israel held a general strike in protest against the Prawer Plan, a proposed law, which threatens to displace up to 70,000 Bedouin citizens of Israel from their homes and lands in the Naqab/Negev desert. The Knesset recently passed the law in first reading by a vote of 43 to 40, following the government’s approval of the law. Peaceful demonstrations and rallies were held in several towns and villages throughout Israel, including Nazareth, Beersheba, Jaffa and Sakhnin. Additional demonstrations in support of this day of protest were held in the occupied Palestinian territory, in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israeli law enforcement authorities including riot police and border police responded violently to the protests, using mounted police, tear gas and beatings. Excessive force by police was reported in two cities in Israel: Beersheba and Sakhnin. At least three protestors from Sakhnin and one from Beersheba were hospitalised as a result. Israeli media reported that tear gas fired by police in Sakhnin set nearby fields on fire. Excessive force by Israeli military was also reported in several villages and towns in the West Bank, where demonstrations were dispersed by force.
Several violent arrests were reported. Fourteen people were arrested in Sakhnin, including Ms. Fathiyya Hussein, the office manager of Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. Hussein and her two sons, aged 24 and 17, were participating peacefully in the demonstration when security forces beat and then arrested them. Ms. Hussein was released on 17 July with her youngest son, while her other son, Mohannad Hussein, remains in detention. Security forces also arrested 15 demonstrators in Beer Sheva, including two women. On 16 July, riot police prevented supporters of the detainees from attending their hearings in court. One detainee remains in custody pending charges.
The undersigned organisations condemn these recent acts of state violence against legitimate protest. As the legislation known as the Prawer Plan progresses into law, we fear an escalation in violence by Israeli law enforcement authorities toward the Arab Bedouin community in particular, and the Arab minority in general. Recent media reports, according to which Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations may be renewed based on the definition of Israel as a ‘Jewish State’ in a two-state solution, underline the precariousness of the existence of Israel’s Arab minority. We also fear an increase in racist legislation designed to discriminate, exclude, and displace Israel’s Arab Palestinian citizens from their ancestral homes.
We call on the EU to express grave concern regarding Israeli policies and to vehemently oppose the discriminatory Prawer Plan, which threatens the delicate fabric of relations between Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel and the state of Israel.
For more information see:
Adalah – Prawer-Begin: The Protests, the Plan, the Alternative
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=4c0bb759968fd1dcd47869809&id=babe1a5155&e=a9f8615206
Human Rights Watch – Israel: Excessive Force Against Protesters
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/18/israel-excessive-force-against-protesters