The opening of the Knesset’s summer session last month has renewed a perennial debate among Palestinian citizens of Israel: whether or not there is anything to be gained from electing Arabs to serve in Israel’s parliament.
For Palestinian members of Knesset, the resumption of parliamentary business could not have come at a more challenging time. There has been almost wall-to-wall support among their Jewish counterparts for the Israeli army’s massacres in Gaza over the last eight months. Government ministers are competing over who can make the most racist statements. A McCarthyist crackdown on free speech since October 7 has seen hundreds of Palestinian citizens arrested for as little as “liking” a post on social media. All the while, the state’s inaction has led to record levels of violent crime afflicting Arab communities. ….more
