The "Joint List" Beyond the Knesset...

Most discussions regarding the "Joint List" revolve around participation in elections or boycotting them, or they concern the search for the identity of its supporters against those who hinder its idea. Therefore, discussions involving party leaders and important actors – not just this time – tend to take a polemical direction that leapfrogs over what is essential. It is customary for such debates to take on a regional character that narrows the scope of discussion or does not address the core of the issue, which we believe is the question of representing Palestinians in Israel at this stage. Representation here is not limited to parliamentary membership and the number of Palestinian seats within it.

The first and second generations after the Nakba experienced the importance of unity on their own skins, their freedoms, and their rights, yet they could not achieve it. There are reasons for this, among which is that for decades, a safety net existed enabling politics to be possible and effective without complete unity, knowing that the front, as a framework, in some way embodies the idea of unifying ranks and expanding representation. There was a strong and influential Palestinian center represented in the PLO and its affiliates. There was a clear Palestinian national project, at least since 1988. Behind it all lay the promise of establishing two states – an idea that fueled politics and provided it with a framework and legitimacy in the region and among us. Finally, Israeli politics evolved in the wake of openness and liberalization, culminating in the 1990s with the enactment of laws regarding freedom of action, human dignity, and individual liberty. The assassination of Rabin (November 1995) marked a "foundational point" from which Israeli politics turned to what we have now. This means that the conditions allowed for political pluralism within a Palestinian narrative and "case" under which almost everyone gathered. That is to say, "unity" was a unity of position or a general direction that compensated for organizational unity. This is the general context in which Palestinian politics in Israel moved and expressed the identity and aspirations of Palestinians on the ground.

Now that the political condition has fundamentally changed since Rabin's assassination and drastically surged since the Nation-State Law (2018), all considerations of representation and political order for Palestinians in Israel have also changed radically with the loss of the "safety nets" that were previously available to Palestinians in Israel, especially amidst the negotiation processes and the Oslo agreements and their aftermath. This period produced the idea of moving from parliamentary political participation – the legislative authority – to participation in the governmental coalition – the executive authority. This is a considerably enticing idea, especially for a community that has been deprived of it for decades, and has even been unjustly marginalized and excluded.

I understand that some of our actors and politicians still live in that phase and within the atmosphere of that idea. Meanwhile, the political reality, including the concept of the state and the Jewish community itself, the legal and constitutional reality, and the entire political discourse, has moved on from that phase without regret. The reality is predominantly right-wing, extending to the annihilation in Gaza. The Israeli discourse, which has seen years in which it begged Palestinians to participate in Knesset elections, has now become an overt colonial discourse seeking to strip us of the right to run and elect, considering us enemies, and attempting to entirely erase us as Palestinians from every place where it can, including the Knesset, politics, and the public sphere. Jewish elites, within the framework of control and containment policies, classified us along the axis of "moderates" and "extremists," relying on what has been called the "carrot and stick" approach in their daily dealings. Today, however, in the face of hegemony, arrogance, and violent racial incitement, they are able to incite all of us without exception and get rid of the aforementioned classifications, as there is no distinction between one Palestinian and another, between "unified," "assembly," and "front" and Arabs of Zionist parties – we all stand in the same position, and the stick has been prepared for everyone without exception. This alone should slap hard the faces of Arabs who believe they are "other" and "on top of the feather," and who may become the first prey for the cop and the stick and the prepared laws!

In such a reality – defined by its colonial characteristics – the representation of the indigenous people – the Palestinians – in facing the settler on their land and in their lives acquires different meanings. This is a phase of serious existential anxiety if we understand what is happening in terms of annihilation in Gaza, what is happening in terms of displacement in the West Bank, and the unleashed criminal families in our towns. In such existential worry, we must think about organized and effective representation, not merely to participate in elections – which is an important goal in its own right – but in what far exceeds that. Firstly, to affirm the solidarity and support of the people. In times of crisis, it is on the elite to promote and practice unity to bolster the spirits of the people in their daily lives, reinforcing self-confidence and the possibility of successfully facing the adversity with minimal losses. Unity and qualitative organization based on identity is a highly effective political and moral resource in the hands of communities like ours – Palestinians in Israel. As for culture, as a community and spirit of community, it is even a more effective resource than some may believe.

If persecution and oppression target you for being Palestinian, Arab, or non-Jewish, it targets you as the other, without delving into your identity, tendencies, or political affiliation. If it seeks to target you and find ways to harm you and your rights because you are among the original inhabitants of the land – does anyone benefit from denying their identity, their history, their people, their place, and their rights? The more the community clings to its identity, narrative, demands, and rights in such situations, the more it preserves itself and earns the respect of its oppressors. The more it humbles itself and bows its head, kissing the hand of the occupation coordinator and his rabbis and begs for permission from him, the more it is trampled on along with its rights.

Building representation based on identity, not on escaping from it, on narrative – the Palestinian narrative – not on combating it as some among us do without shame, would constitute an alternative political mechanism to the mechanisms we used previously and believed would not be taken from us.

Ask all Arab Knesset members about the effectiveness of parliamentary work in light of a dominant right-wing bloc and a guilty right-wing opposition; what are the prospects for influence and change? They will tell you that the margin of work has shrunk to the point where presence in the Knesset is almost limited to expressing the Palestinian voice entirely or partially from the podium or social media. To say, we are very close – more than most of us imagine – to being expelled from the "paradise/hell" of the Knesset, and losing our right, like our brothers under occupation, to vote and be candidates – all without exception – what will we do then? Wouldn't it be better for political frameworks to have a joint leadership that embodies some form of collective will, politically, intellectually, and morally, whether we were in the Knesset or not? In the absence of "safety nets" of any kind, it is imperative to think and work outside the ordinary. But not towards submission and acceptance of living in humiliation and degradation, as some subjugated want, but towards the opposite direction characterized by empowerment and developing a form of capability through broader, deeper representation in "Joint" or "Follow-up" or any other form.

Voting is a low-cost political act for individuals. It is not a demonstration that can be suppressed by soldiers with iron and fire. Therefore, practical politics requires us to undertake this work as long as it is available and possible. It is an opportunity to elect a leadership that constitutes a collective will in a way. Most importantly, it serves as the representative authority for nearly two million Palestinians who can very much influence the reality they live in, starting from intensifying their presence in the parliament as a platform of politics, and strengthen their presence further outside the Knesset against Israeli society and international forums. Not to mention the moral virtues of such an act for the people, which has affirmed for forty years, in every poll, their desire to see unity manifested in a large and powerful unified list. Moreover, investigating people's responses to the polling questions will reveal that this will reflects a longing for mutual solidarity, self-support, and enhancing capabilities, more than a dazzling presence of a Palestinian deputy in the Knesset. Broad representation – quantitatively – is inherently a moral and essential – qualitative – representation.