Last night, 70,000 Israeli Arabs arrived to take part in the Aqsa in Danger rally, organized by the northern wing of the Islamist movement in the soccer stadium in Umm al-Fahm. This year's rally—held for the ninth straight year—met without the movement's leader, Raed Salah, who is on trial with other members of the movement for security crimes.
During the conference, Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib, Salah's deputy, announced a general strike in the Arab sector for October 1. In a speech, al-Khatib said that the movement will not agree to any plea deal with the prosecution for their leader. “We believe in his innocence, and we will do our best to get Salah out of prison, innocent,” he said. Israeli radio reported that the rally, the banner of which was Freedom for All Prisoners, ended with the reading of a letter from Sheikh Salah, in which he said that the ranks must be unified in order to resist what is happening in Gaza and support the Palestinian prisoners' strike. Salah also called on leaders of the Arab world to wake up to the sad state of affairs that Arabs and Muslims are facing in Afghanistan , Iraq , and the Palestinian territories. “Don't let the American beast occupy more land,” he said.
The mufti of Jerusalem , Akrama Sabri, participated in the conference, along with the representative of the Orthodox church in Jerusalem , Atallah Hanna, as well as representatives of the Druze from the Golan Heights .
Reader responses to the article
We should take away their citizenship and give the Triangle back to Arafat—They are not Israelis.
Do you understand now who they are and where they belong?
In the first phase we should do the following: 1) Take away their right to vote for the Jewish parliament; 2) Abolish the Islamist movement; and 3) There are many Arab countries for those that don't like it—Tzvika.
If the world doesn't burn Islam and all the leftists along with it—It will explode.
I used to be friendly to the Arabs I met, but today I'm disgusted by them all—We should weed them out from among us!
Are they citizens? Ha-ha. They're a fifth column—Enemies living among us!
They are more dangerous than the Palestinians and we should act against them immediately! They are not afraid of the police; they demonstrate for the release of Palestinian murderers; and they emulate Sheikh Yassin and his gang. This is very clear, and don't expect to happen what happened with the Palestinians! Verbal violence is one of the most dangerous forms of violence—Haloum.
The Triangle
Insolent. Ever person who participated in this rally should be photographed and all their social benefits abolished. Then we'll see how many of them participate—Itzik.
What happened only supports the general opinion that we must settle them behind the wall. Someone needs to understand, and fast, what we are seeing before us. This situation will lead us to another war in which Israeli Arabs and the Bedouins will once again demand that we divide what we have left. That is why we must settle this conflict. The Muslims must be there and the Jews here. This dangerous group should not remain in the country. Let's throw all the Muslims to hell, and quickly. With every passing day and every passing year the situation grows more complex. In my opinion, some of the settlements should be evacuated and the homes given to the residents of Umm al-Fahm, then the Jews should take the homes of the Arabs in Umm al-Fahm—Yossi.
To the naïve among us
The time has come for the state of Israel to wake up. This problem cannot be solved in a way that will please everybody. There is no difference between Israeli Arabs and the Arabs of the Arab nations. All effort must be made to have them join neighboring countries. We cannot live with them in the same house and embrace them every day. It is enough that we be good neighbors and respect one another—Shaul. |