On the Policy of 'Separating the Daily from the General'...

Many voices are rising to say that the duty of Arab public representatives is to achieve accomplishments in daily life, and it is not necessarily their responsibility to address larger issues that they have no influence over. They refer to the Arab-Israeli conflict and Arab-Arab conflicts. Some ask indignantly: "If Israel refuses to listen to the voice of the entire world, can we, the minority living under its sovereignty, have any impact on its decisions and policies?".

Everyone wants to solve housing problems and construction area issues in Arab villages, yet instead of resolving these, a more severe problem has emerged in recent years: crime, which has become the biggest threat facing our entire community, with a high percentage of youth considering emigration to anywhere in the world.

What some fail to realize, who insist on focusing only on the "daily", is that this daily life is at the core of the larger politics they do not want to engage with.

The Minister Kahan's boast of demolishing 5,000 housing units in the Negev and unleashing crime is an inseparable part of the profound and grand policy of this government, which operates on all fronts and considers Palestinian Arabs in Israel to be just another front, albeit with different methods of treatment.

The blockade of our villages and the rise of crime are part of a policy aimed at combating our entire people, and are not merely due to neglect by local authorities, poor engineering planning, or this or that member's preoccupation with general politics in the Knesset, nor due to a negligent or racist representative in any particular region.
It is at the heart of a policy aimed at silent displacement.

What is happening with attacks on Arab bus drivers, demolition orders exceeding anything witnessed thus far, and political arrests for the most trivial reasons and flimsy excuses of Arab youth, is not transient, but reflects a significant and fundamental shift towards the fascist right, which views Arabs—even those attempting to approach power—as a greater threat than others.

The unified stance of Arabs in approaching the Knesset will positively impact their daily lives and will grant them greater power to influence decisions here and there related to their "daily lives".

When the Minister of National Security boasts about overseeing the demolition of five thousand Arab homes in the Negev since taking office, he is clearly revealing his intentions and what he is thinking, and this demolition will not stop at the Negev.

Those who expect Ben Gvir's police to stop murder crimes are mistaken, for what is occurring is part of a policy, not a result of unplanned neglect. Ben Gvir seeks to realize his Kahanist dream, reaching the pinnacle of the power structure, paving the way by appearing as the sole savior from the internal Arab danger, not just the external one.

Through organized crime, Arabs become preoccupied with their own issues, leading to widespread frustration among their younger generations, with the hope that this would spark significant waves of emigration. There are alarming numbers in every town about the count of young people and even Arab families that have emigrated or plan to emigrate, and surveys indicate that about 30% of Arabs are considering emigration.

The Joint List means that we should leave behind our infighting and small conflicts to face the larger danger that will not spare anyone. There is no targeted exception for any part of our people, regardless of their location, thoughts, or political actions.

In the absence of a Joint List, voter turnout will plummet, and mutual attacks will erupt on social media in attempts at justification, further deteriorating our overall situation.

There is no doubt that any future government in Israel will not accept being held hostage by Arab representatives; they will ally in every possible manner across various spectra and form a government that does not rely on Arabs.

This is natural and real, yet the existence of a Joint List is not aimed at entering or supporting a coalition, but rather to establish a significant and united parliamentary bloc capable of leveraging its power to achieve daily gains that the people desire, or to thwart decisions harmful to Arabs.

And so that no one would absolve the authorities of their racist and criminal approach and say: "You have not unified, and your concern was only about the number of seats".

The feeling of unity is a significant achievement in itself, boosting morale in the face of escalating crime and racial discrimination day by day. There are intellectual and tactical disagreements, and some wish for this party or that one to disappear from the arena, but our largest disagreements shrink in comparison to the glaring, significant dangers lurking over all of us.