"Eye on Jerusalem" discusses the participation of Arab parties in the Israeli elections

The report added that a large number of Palestinian voters from within the 1948 territories demonstrated in front of the Israeli Supreme Court to express their categorical rejection of attempts to strike Arab parties from the ballot, expressing their conviction that the far-right's attempts to exclude the Arab voice from the Knesset reflect a systematic racist policy aimed at marginalizing the role of Palestinians in decision-making.

They described what is happening as "the greatest image of fascism," according to what was said by Palestinian Julia Abu Ayesh.

The head of the Joint List bloc, Dr. Ahmad Tibi, said that the far-right believes that striking Arab parties leads to a setback in the Arab voter turnout, as the failure of the Arab voter to reach the ballot boxes indirectly serves the right wing.

He added that the list submitted a petition to the Supreme Court, which overturned all disqualification decisions, except for the one related to the head of the National Democratic Assembly (Balad) party, Sami Abu Shehadeh, despite it being an unjust decision, noting that the response to this was a call to head to the ballot boxes in order to get rid of this authoritarian government and remove it from power, and that the Arab voter could make a historic decision in this regard.

In turn, the head of the National Democratic Assembly party, Sami Abu Shehadeh, said that the current election campaign is fateful and existential, and is considered the most important election for Palestinians, given the many challenges they face.

He explained that those who filed the request to disqualify his candidacy are the extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who were previously convicted of committing terrorist crimes, including planting bombs in Palestinian cars in 1992 and killing an elderly Palestinian in the same year, adding that they are facing dozens of indictments related to incitement, racism, and terrorism.

Abu Shehadeh expressed his astonishment that such people are filing a request to disqualify a person who has been struggling for freedom, justice, and equality for more than three decades, without giving him a chance to defend himself, explaining that the one who led the campaign to cancel the requests is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the help of his extremist minister Ben-Gvir, as they filed five disqualification requests against the Joint List, the United Arab List (Ra'am), Sami Abu Shehadeh, the Balad party, and Ofer Cassif.

The Jewish society in Israel is divided into two equal camps regarding the elections, as the Knesset consists of 120 seats; Netanyahu's camp has about 50 seats, while the other camp has almost the same number, which makes the Arab camp the deciding factor in settling this battle.

Abu Shehadeh pointed out that the wave of disqualifications against Arab parties will escalate during the coming week due to their strong influence in deciding the battle for forming the government, noting that there is competition for right-wing votes among right-wing parties, centered around which party is the most right-wing, violent, racist, bloody, and dangerous to the Middle East.

He expressed his hope to get rid of this "fascist" government in the elections, in light of the presence of a few thousand Jewish voters who support the Arab lists, justice, and peace.

Abu Shehadeh confirmed that Netanyahu will return as Prime Minister if he succeeds in striking the Arab parties from the election lists, because opinion polls indicate that the Arab parties may win 15 seats, which makes them the decision-makers for the Netanyahu and Eizenkot camps in obtaining the 61 seats required to form the government alone.

Regarding the impact of these elections and the rhetoric they carry towards Jerusalem and the holy sites, Abu Shehadeh said that the competition in these elections between Israeli parties is a competition between right-wing parties over "who is more right-wing," noting in this regard that the most dangerous party regarding the issue of Jerusalem is the (Zehut) party led by the extremist Feiglin, who allied with the Religious Zionism party led by the extremist Smotrich, as Feiglin says explicitly and clearly that his main goal is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the alleged temple in its place, which is a basic clause in the program of this extremist party, pointing out that a strong Arab voter turnout may reduce the chances of this far-right party succeeding in the elections.

He added that all far-right parties call for continued attacks on and violations of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to attacking churches, Christian clergy, and nuns in Jerusalem and abroad, which have escalated significantly under the current right-wing government that builds its ideology on racism and "Jewish supremacy."

He stressed the necessity of the participation of Arabs within the 1948 territories in these elections, despite the state of frustration prevailing among them and the harassment they are subjected to on a daily basis by Jewish extremists, especially since their participation could lead to the overthrow of the current extremist government, which leads terrorism against the Palestinian people in all Palestinian territories.

Abu Shehadeh concluded that things will not be "rosy" if Netanyahu leaves the government, but his departure gives an opportunity to reduce the suffering of the Palestinians and what they are subjected to in terms of killing, abuse in Israeli prisons, demolition of their homes, and other crimes they are exposed to continuously and increasingly.