Local Arab authorities consider the Interior Ministry's proposal to be discrimination against them. It is considering announcing a general strike if development plans for the Arab sector are not implemented
Yesterday, the heads of the Arab local authorities decided to fight against the Ministry of Interior's proposed reform plans and discrimination against them relative to Jewish local authorities. The local authorities will demonstrate on Tuesday in front of the Interior Ministry in Jerusalem , and the Arab local authorities committee will consider announcing a general strike in Arab local authorities immediately after Sukkoth. They will erect a protest tent in front of the Ministry of Interior in Jerusalem if the Ministry does not meet their demands.
At the top of the changes demanded by the committee is the Ministry of Interior's demand that Arab municipalities increase their tax revenues, upon which the ministry has made budgetary assistance conditional. However, due to the difficult socioeconomic situation in the Arab sector, local mayors do not believe they can raise the levels demanded by the ministry.
After an emergency session called in Nazareth, committee head Shawqi al-Khatib said that the problem is not only that the Interior Ministry's reform plan does not offer real solutions to the crisis, but that it will ultimately lead to the complete collapse of local authorities, particularly Arab local authorities.
Al-Khatib says that the dire situation in Arab local authorities is a result of the Ministry of Interior's sharp cuts in funds to balance local budgets since 2002, as well as the government's disregard for the implementation of the development plan in the Arab sector. The committee is demanding that the development plan be immediately implemented in the Arab sector and that budget grants be reinstated to their previous levels in order to enable Arab local authorities to implement reform. |