ISRAEL/WEST BANK: ISRAELI ARABS VOW TO WITHDRAW THEIR ELECTORAL SUPPORT FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK

Record ID: 400163

  • Title: ISRAEL/WEST BANK: ISRAELI ARABS VOW TO WITHDRAW THEIR ELECTORAL SUPPORT FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK
  • Date: 2nd February 2001
  • Summary: NAZARETH, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) 1. SLV HUGE PALESTINIAN FLAG ERECTED ON HILL IN NAZARETH ABOVE PROTEST BY ISRAELI ARABS FAMILIES DURING VISIT BY ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK 0.03 2. SV BOY WAVING PALESTINIAN FLAG, WOMAN HOLDING PICTURES OF ISRAELI ARABS SHOT DEAD BY ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES LAST OCTOBER 0.09 3. LV ISRAELI ARAB PROTE
  • Embargoed: 17th February 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NAZARETH, ISRAEL/ JERUSALEM/ RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVAEJCQR5SRPD1GM0QJOXKSFYMPO
  • Story Text: Israeli Arabs, who helped Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
    Barak win an overwhelming political victory in May 1999, have
    vowed to withdraw their electoral support and abstain at the
    Israeli prime ministerial ballot on February 6.

    Their move is in protest over the police killing of 13
    Israeli Arabs at the start of the latest Palestinian uprising
    four months ago and Barak's perceived neglect of their needs.

    At the heart of the protest are families like those of
    Asel Aslih, a 17-year-old killed last October.



    Arab families have been demonstrating against a
    campaign visit to Nazareth by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
    Barak. Despite a huge Palestinian flag erected on the hill
    above the protesters, these are not Palestinians, they are
    Israeli Arabs who live in the
    largely Arab town of Nazareth in northern Israel.

    They are usually active voters. This election, they say,
    they will not be voting.

    They say Ehud Barak, is responsible for the violent
    reaction to pro-Palestinian demonstrations last October which
    lead to the deaths of 13 Arabs. Israeli security forces shot
    dead 13 Arab men and youths, including 17-year-old Asel Aslih,
    in last October's clashes.

    Arab citizens of Israel comprise about 18 percent of
    Israel's population of six million people and about 12. 3
    percent of the electorate.

    And while Barak might have won without their vote in 1999,
    he is unlikely to win without them 20 months later.

    Many Israeli Arab leaders have been telling constituents
    to boycott the February 6 elections or cast a blank ballot in
    protest at the killings and the way the government has
    responded to them.

    They also oppose what they have seen as Barak's inability
    to reach a peace accord with the Palestinians, and have
    criticised the handling of the Palestinian uprising in which
    more than 380 people have been killed.

    Analysts expect from 40 to 45 percent of Arab voters to go
    to the polls and 25 to 30 percent of the Israeli Arab
    electorate to actually mark their ballot properly.

    In the past, 95 percent of Arab voters have supported
    Barak's Labour Party.

    The clashes in Arab towns in Israel, in which police have
    said they came under fire themselves, brought to the surface
    decades of frustration over what many Arab citizens of the
    Jewish state see as government discrimination against them.

    But for the Ashlih family, the clashes were far more
    devastating. While Asel's mother Lamma joined in anti-Barak
    demonstrations, the family is still coming to terms with the
    death of their eldest son.

    In the family home, Asel's presence is felt throughout the
    house. His photographs are everywhere.

    In the dead teenagers room, the family has erected a
    shrine to the memory of their dead son. Asel's school clothes
    have been ironed and pressed, books are in order on the
    shelves.

    Asel's family says he was a member of the international
    youth group called the Seeds of Peace, which in Israel is
    aimed at bringing together Jewish and Arab teenagers.

    Asel's father insists that despite the death, Arabs and
    Israelis have to learn to live together. Hassan Aslih said
    soldiers beat and shot his son. Memories run deep, and it is
    these memories that prime ministerial contenders Ehud Barak
    and Ariel Sharon will have to contend with on February 6, 2001.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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