ISRAEL: Ultranationalist Jewish groups holds protest in Arab Israeli city

Record ID: 397465

  • Title: ISRAEL: Ultranationalist Jewish groups holds protest in Arab Israeli city
  • Date: 15th July 2012
  • Summary: NAZARETH, ISRAEL (JULY 15, 2012) (REUTERS) VIEW OF POLICEMEN AND BORDER POLICEMEN NEAR A GROUP OF ULTRANATIONALIST JEWS PROTESTING IN DEMAND OF ISRAELI ARABS SHARING THE NATIONAL BURDEN ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES CLOSE OF SIGN READING 'WITHOUT DUTIES, THERE ARE NO RIGHTS' MAN HOLDING SIGN READING (ISRAELI ARAB LAWMAKER HANIN) 'ZOABI IS A TERRORIST' ISRAELI RIGHT WING LAWMAKE
  • Embargoed: 30th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8QCIVCY3XM8J6C6PFJ79909S9
  • Story Text: More than a 1,000 Israeli policemen were deployed in and around the Arab city of Nazareth to secure a protest of ultranationalist Jews, demonstrating in what they say is a demand of Israeli Arabs to share the national burden.
    Some 80 protesters, according to Police Spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld, were driven to Nazareth's outskirts, where they were allowed to chant 'Without duties there are no rights' and 'The land of Israel is ours'.
    Israeli Arab lawmaker Jamal Zahalka arrived at the distanced site to confront the protesters which he called racists, as policemen led him away from the demonstrating group.
    ""They are racist. We have the right to protest but protests by racist people is a criminal act, they should be put in jail. There is a law against racism. They should not be here," Zahalka told reporters at the site.
    Baruch Marzel, an ultra nationalistic activist who often organises and takes part in protests and marches through Israeli-Arab communities, said that Sunday's demonstration was aimed at posing a legitimate demand of the Israeli Arab community.
    "We came here to tell the Arabs of Israel: the party is finished, it's over. You have to give. You want rights? You have to give what you have to give to the country," Marzel said.
    In 2011, a group led my Marzel and lawmaker Michael Ben Ari marched in the mixed Arab and jewish city of Jaffa, in protest of the strengthening of the Islamic movement in the city.
    In 2010, Israeli police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse Arabs who were protesting against a rally by the same group of ultranationalist Jews in the Israeli-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. Similar marches also took place in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan last April, and in the Bedouin town of Rahat in 2009.
    Sunday's protest, however, ended without significant events, said Police Spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld.
    "The Israeli police are here in Nazareth in order to prevent any disturbances from taking place. More than 80 right-wing activists are at the entrance of the city here. There are more than 1,200 police officers, border police, undercover units and mounted police officers that are preventing any incidents from taking place around the city," he told Reuters.
    In the centre of Nazareth, a small group of Arab men staged a counter protest, waving Palestinian flags and calling on Marzel and his group to leave their city.
    In recent weeks, Israeli public debate revolves around demands to cancel military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab Israelis.
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest coalition ally stepped up threats on Wednesday (July 11) to quit Israel's government over the issue of widening the population participating in the military and civil service missions.
    Military service is a highly emotive issue in Israel, where most men and women start a two- or three-year service at the age of 18 and many are subsequently called up for reserve duty into their 40s. Many Israelis are angry that thousands of ultra-Orthodox citizens are exempted from military service every year to pursue religious study. Some have complained that most Israeli Arab citizens are also exempt from military duty.
    Israeli Arabs comprise about a fifth of the population, and many oppose any attempt to make them do military service, though some join the army voluntarily. Many are related to Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories and neighbouring Arab countries Military service is a rite of passage for many Israelis, who view the army as a core element of national identity and the essential bulwark against the country's Arab and Islamic adversaries since its founding in 1948.
    But secular Israelis have long complained that their ultra-Orthodox compatriots have never shared the burden of national defence.
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