ZOA: FM Lieberman’s concern about Israeli Arab loyalty is understandable

A new poll has shown that as many as 40.5 percent of Israeli Arabs deny the occurrence of the Nazi genocide of six million European Jews while only about that percentage – 41 percent – say they accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish democratic state. The poll conducted by Haifa University’s Professor Sami Samoocha, Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Haifa, also found that 41 percent of Arab-Israeli respondents took part in some kind of protest activity last year, while only 28 percent did so six years ago. The finding on Holocaust denial represents an increase from a March 2007 poll, also conducted by Professor Smoocha, which found 33 percent of Israeli Arabs did not believe the Holocaust happened.(Sharon Roffe-Ofir, ‘40% of Israeli Arabs: Holocaust never happened,’ Yediot Ahronot, May 17, 2009).

The Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas is himself a Holocaust denier, having written his Ph.D. thesis in 1982 at Moscow’s Oriental College in which he openly denied the Holocaust. He then followed this with a 1984 book, The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and the Zionist Movement, where he stated “only a few hundred thousand Jews” died during the Holocaust, and that the gas chambers were not used to kill people. Abbas also wrote that a partnership was established between Hitler’s Nazis and its leadership of the Zionist movement, with the Zionists leading a broad campaign of incitement against Jews in Nazi Germany to arouse the Nazi government’s hatred of them, and expand the mass extermination. This was allegedly done by Jews, according to Abbas, to create sympathy for the creation of Israel. The impact of such Holocaust denial, which is mainstream in the Middle East, can be found in this latest poll.

Other recent indications of increasing Israeli Arab disloyalty to Israel and non-acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state:

·        In March 2008, members of the National Democratic Assembly (Balad) Party, an Arab parliamentary list represented in the Knesset, were shown on a video screened on Israel’s TV One in the Arab village of Arrabe chanting in Arabic “Our Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] – we want an attack from you” and “Oh [PLFP chief Ahmed] Sadaat we want weapons to build.” (‘Israeli Arabs call for terror attacks against Israel at Land Day protest,’ Independent Media Review Analysis, March 30, 2008).

·        According to a March 2007 report by Israel’s General Secret Service (GSS – Shin Bet), in 2005, 17 terror cells involving 22 Israeli Arabs was uncovered by Israeli security services. In 2006, a further 21 Israeli-Arab terror cells were uncovered, involving 24 Arab citizens. The GSS described parts of the Israeli Arab sector as a ‘genuine long-range danger to the Jewish character and very existence of the State of Israel.’

·        A January 2006 survey has found that Israeli Arabs willing to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) decreased significantly following the second Lebanon war, falling from an already low figure of 42% of the Arab population in 2006 to an even lower 26.5% in 2007 (Yediot Ahronot, January 17, 2007).

·        In December 2006, the Mossawa Center the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, an Arab advocacy group, produced a paper, ‘Constitution Based on Equality for All’ which calls for overturning the Law of Return which allows for automatic citizenship for Jews who immigrate to Israel. (Independent Media Review & Analysis, December 6, 2006).

·        Similarly, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee also released a document in December 2006 entitled, ‘The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel,’ stipulating that Israeli Arabs will demand that during the next two decades Israel become a binational state alongside an independent Palestinian state (Haaretz, December 6, 2006).

·        In March 2007, Israel’s General Secret Service (GSS – Shin Bet) produced an internal document which showed that in 2006, 21 Israeli-Arab terror cells were uncovered, involving 24 Arab citizens. In 2005, the numbers were 17 terror cells involving 22 Arabs. Some 40% of the Israeli Arabs involved in terrorism originated in Judea and Samaria but were permitted to come to pre-’67 Israel and receive Israeli residency after marrying Israeli-Arabs. They are then permitted to travel freely throughout the country.

A sample of troubling statements by Israeli Arab members of Knesset:

·        Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al Party): Tibi, who serves as the Knesset’s Deputy Speaker, attended a conference in Doha, Qatar, where he announced that he came as a representative of ‘Palestine.’ This apparently even shocked Kadima Minister, Majalli Whbee, who said, “It’s time for Ahmad Tibi to decide which country he represents… he cannot be a member of one nation’s parliament while representing another at international conventions.” Tibi also condemned Israel in his address at Doha, saying that “Israel discriminates against Arab citizens and has established an apartheid state in the occupied territories where Arabs have different roads and different laws” (Barak Ravid, ‘Livni accuses MK Tibi of trying to sabotage two-state solution,’ Haaretz, April 15, 2008).

·        Raleb Majadele (Labor):”Of course I would not sing [‘Hatikvah’] the anthem in its current form” (Amnon Meranda, ‘Majadele refuses to sing national anthem,’ Yediot Ahronot, April 17, 2007). Majadele has also declared that Israel lacks sovereignty in Jerusalem: “I say clearly: Al-Aksa, Al-Haram al-Sharif [as the Temple Mount is called by Muslims – ed.], cannot be under the authority of Israeli law … if there is a contradiction between the law and my deep faith as a Muslim, I announce that I will know what to choose.” (Gil Ronen, ‘Majadle Justifies Destruction of Temple Remains,’ Israel National News, November 14, 2007).

·        Ibrahim Sarsour (United Arab List-Ta’al Party): Called for “Muslims and Arabs” to “liberate Jerusalem” while calling on Israeli Arabs to “act together to become a torrent on the road to liberation … Just as the Muslims once liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders, so must we today believe that we can liberate Jerusalem. It is not an impossible dream” (Sheera Claire Frenkel, ‘MK Sarsour calls Muslims to free J’lem,’ Jerusalem Post, March 18, 2007)

·        Taleb a-Sanaa (United Arab List-Ta’al Party): “The international community should positively consider boycotting Israel, which is endangering the stability of the region” (‘MK a-Sanaa calls to boycott Israel,’ Jerusalem Post, March 20, 2007).

·        Azmi Bishara (Balad): Has praised Syria for its “struggle to liberate occupied Arab land, its resistance against occupation and its defense of the legitimacy of such resistance” (Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2006); stated that “We are Syria’s ally” and supported its efforts to free “occupied Arab land” (Haaretz, September 10, 2006); condemned “Israel’s barbaric onslaughts” against Lebanon and urged Hizballah’s Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah to “continue his fight” (Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2006) and warned Syria of likely “preemptive Israeli strikes” (Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2006), something of which he might well have knowledge as a result of his presence in the Knesset.

·        Jamal Zahalka (Balad): “For us Syria is no enemy … [we support] solidarity with Syria, especially after Israel’s savage aggression against Lebanon” (Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2006); “We don’t see Syria as an enemy state” (Haaretz, September 10, 2006)

·        Wasal Taha (Balad): terrorist groups should “concentrate their efforts on attacking and abducting Israeli soldiers” (Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2006).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “The impact of Holocaust denial in the Arab world – which reaches Israeli Arabs through Arabic-language newspapers, television and internet – is readily apparent in this latest poll. It is unfortunate that Israel has never refused to negotiate with a Holocaust denier like Abbas. Failure to place Abbas beyond the pale represents a failure to indict one of its promoters and to draw a line in the sand signifying its unacceptability in international discourse.

“With these polls and these recent statements by Israeli Arab Knesset Members, one is forced to question the loyalty of a substantial portion of Israeli Arabs to the State of Israel. In view of the very troubling data presented here, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s concerns regarding the loyalty of Israeli Arabs to the country are understandable and legitimate.

“The evidence that has emerged in recent years regarding the increasing disloyalty and hatred of Israel and Jews by Israeli Arabs is deeply worrying and something which few people seem willing to address. The evidence is so alarming that it is not surprising that Israel’s General Secret Service (GSS – Shin Bet) produced two years ago an internal document that holds that Israel’s Arab population is a ‘genuine long-range danger to the Jewish character and very existence of the State of Israel.’ That paper cited worrisome data in various spheres, including increasing Israeli-Arab solidarity and identification with terrorist elements, including the Lebanese Islamist terrorist group Hizballah and the Hamas government in the Palestinian Authority (PA). The essential accuracy of that paper is evident in the recent prominence of Israeli Arabs taking it upon themselves to carry out terror attacks on their fellow Jewish citizens.

“Unless the cult of jihad is confronted by the Israeli government, this problem can only be expected to grow over time. These are issues that the ZOA has raised before and will continue to raise until action is taken on them.”