(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Thousands of Arab citizens of Israel have been demonstrating to express their rejection of the idea in the U.S. peace plan of placing them under the sovereignty of a Palestinian state. The main reason Arabs in Israel are afraid of becoming Palestinian citizens is because they know that the Palestinian state will be anything but democratic. They see how Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza are subject to human rights violations on a daily basis. In Israel, Arab citizens participate in the general elections and have their own representatives in the Knesset. In the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians haven't held elections since January 2006. Palestinians have not had a functioning parliament since 2007, when Hamas violently seized control of Gaza after overthrowing Abbas' PA regime. Hardly a day passes without the Arab citizens of Israel hearing about the harsh conditions the Palestinians face under the PA and Hamas. Palestinian journalists, human rights activists, political activists and university students are targeted by the PA and Hamas on a regular basis. The Arab Israelis' protests are seen as a message to the world that they prefer to continue living in Israel and not under another Arab dictatorship.
2020-02-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive