A "Liberal" Intervention to Prevent a Unified Arab List!

Eric Hobsbawm firmly asserts that modern democracy is tailored to fit the measurements and boundaries of the modern nation-state. From the moment these borders became fluid and breached, confusion was cast upon democracy. It seems he was right in everything he wrote on this subject, especially regarding the breach by countries or entities with interests in the electoral rounds of other states, which undermines their integrity or effectiveness as democracy, in its simplest definitions, is defined as "rule by the people." This definition becomes invalid as long as the electoral will is governed by entities outside the state and outside the people.

I cite this in light of what I see as an egregious intervention by parties within Israeli society and Jewish communities in the upcoming electoral round, which we are beginning to feel in everything around us, particularly in the media. It is not that such interventions haven't occurred before, but this time it takes a more brazen form than before. Or to put it another way, as long as the victory of Israeli entities for the benefit of Palestinians in Israel and their narrative is a form of advocacy and partnership, then it remains reasonable and acceptable in political work within the framework of cooperation that benefits both parties. However, when it becomes an attempt with many forms to influence the direction of the Arab vote, or to support a single Arab list while suppressing other Arab lists, or to generally suppress the Arab voice, this is rejected and offensive intervention. At the very least, it stems from a colonial mentality and an attempt to renew the guardianship over the Palestinian citizen in Israel by exploiting their existential crisis: "If you do not cooperate with us, Ben Gvir is waiting for you." We point out below some of what is happening now concerning the distinction between partnership and cooperation, and blatant intervention.

Some activists from the Jewish community, mostly academics and civil society activists, are pushing Mansour Abbas to abandon his community within and his Palestinian people in order to run on a separate list so that the anti-Netanyahu camp can include him in the coalition post-elections. This is despite the fact that several of these individuals have expressed their refusal to cooperate with Mansour Abbas, who Netanyahu and his entourage have launched a campaign to label and undermine his legitimacy as "Muslim Brothers"! These individuals — whom we know personally — despite all the "democratic" and "liberal" façades they adopt, are insistent that Mansour Abbas should continue distancing himself from his "leprous" people or "potential terrorists" and "illegitimate" ones because they can market only him. In this, they revert to a time when the "academics" of the "Mapai" party divided Arabs into moderates and extremists, between Israeli Arabs and Arabs of the PLO! They think like fascist rightists in that there is no legitimacy for the Arab voice in general except for those who prove to be Palestinians without Palestinian identity or announce their complete departure from their people and society into Israel built upon the basis of a nationality law. Legitimacy to them is given to the Arab without Arabness and to the Palestinian without Palestine. However, they are more "gentle" and "polite" in their speech than the Likud and the open fascist right in rejecting Palestinian citizenship or their rights, whatever they may be. It is their habit to phrase it in much, much academic jargon and claims, which are then reiterated by some Arabs behind them.

In another aspect of this intervention, some go further in striving to thwart the formation of a unified Arab list — the "Joint List." We have known of this effort since the beginning of discussions about an impending election — which may occur or may be swallowed up by another war of extermination. Here, there is a prevailing belief within these circles that the anti-Netanyahu camp will obtain more seats and will alone be able to decide the electoral round against the current coalition. Therefore, it is more beneficial in such cases for the Arab voice to remain fragmented and weak — 11 seats instead of 15 or 16 in a united list — to keep the chances of this camp better in securing seats. An increase in the number of seats for a unified Arab list — 15 seats or more — is believed by them to come at the expense of both of the camps, opposing the government and the ruling coalition. This means increasing the qualitative weight of the Arab voice and its potential influence. This is a situation that one of the camps might circumvent by opening up the other and snatching a block from it to join its coalition. Yet, the probability that Arabs will reorganize themselves and build their entity after the war of extermination and dispossession is something that the Jewish elites from end to end do not want — see the racist propaganda of Gantz's party and the beginning of its drift towards the fascist right bloc! Oddly enough, some Arabs among us (including "activists", politicians, journalists, and personalities) are struggling to engage in this vile game that wants to maintain the divisions of our society and its wars in service of the Israeli elites. This service offers no more than personal gains, and not as rumored that it will bring budgets to the Arab society. This talk does not stand up to the reality of extermination, displacement, and daily oppression, especially in the Negev, the "stronghold" of the unified list and its main reservoir of votes!

In previous electoral rounds, there had been cooperation and coordination between entities in Israeli society and entities in Palestinian society in Israel on the eve of electoral rounds. The most notable form of cooperation was campaigns to raise voter turnout among Palestinian citizens. It was clear that such campaigns served their partners equally. However, today some Israelis want to monopolize the benefits of these partnerships or threaten to dissolve them if the Palestinian elites insist on forming a unified list. From here, we can understand the intensive marketing process that these circles are conducting for Mansour Abbas personally. Hence, also, Mansour Abbas's agreement with these factions at the expense of his people and society, even if at the price of attacking his colleagues in other Arab lists morning and night on every media platform that the handlers bring him to, and accusing them of every possible charge: that they are creating a hole in the ozone layer and that they are the cause of the racism of the racists and their ugliness.

What I have mentioned here is the simple saying about the blatant and egregious intervention of spheres within Israeli society in managing Palestinian society, while the difficult saying is directed at the Arab political forces that refuse this approach. What will you do?