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February 2, 2001/Shevet 8, 5761, Vol. 53, No.18
Arabs threaten Feb. 6 vote boycott
GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - For the first time in Israel's history, most Arab voters appear ready to boycott the upcoming elections, a protest that may play a large role in determining the country's next prime minister.
Generally considered a safe vote for the Labor Party, Israel's nearly one-million-strong Arab population - a sixth of the country's population - has played a pivotal role in past Israeli elections, which sometimes are decided by fractions of a percent.
When Israel goes to the polls on Feb. 6, however, it appears likely voters will stay home, disillusioned with both Prime Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Ariel Sharon and increasingly radicalized in their attitude toward the Jewish state.
The roots of the problem are complex, lying both in Israel's historical discrimination against the Arab minority and unresolved issues of Palestinian identity that have cast doubt on Israeli Arabs' loyalty to the state.
The issue came to a head in late September with the outbreak of the "Al-Aksa Intifada" in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and within Israel proper. Israeli Arabs joined in the first days of violence, rioting in the streets of their cities and towns, attacking passing Jewish cars, setting forest fires throughout the Galilee and attempting to burn down neighboring Jewish communities.
Thirteen Israeli Arabs were killed in the ensuing clashes with police, and community leaders accused the state of reacting with an excessive force born of racism. The government has appointed a commission of inquiry to examine police actions, but the standoff deepened the Arab community's sense of victimization.
Their quandary is heightened by Palestinian accusations that the Israeli response to the past four months of violence - such as assassination squads targeting leading Palestinian militants - makes Barak a "war criminal."
"When the Palestinian Authority describes Barak as a war criminal, this is a problem for us," said Mohammad Amara of Bar-Ilan University. "How can we vote for someone who is considered a war criminal by the Palestinians?"
Of course, many Arabs also consider Barak's opponent, Ariel Sharon, a war criminal for leading Israel into the Lebanon War in 1982 and for failing to prevent Israel's Lebanese Christian allies from massacring Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
Having convinced themselves that the choice is between two evils, many Israeli Arabs are trying to decide whether to stay at home on election day or cast a blank ballot, which will not be counted.
That's bad news for Barak. With Sharon holding a double-digit lead in opinion polls, Barak's only chance of victory may be a sudden change of heart among the Arab public.
Last week, however, leaders of the Arab community meeting in Umm al-Fahm decided, nearly unanimously, to boycott the elections. This marked perhaps the first time the community has reached a wide consensus on a national issue.
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