Palestinian MK Zoabi: Voting in Israeli elections is part of the struggle, 21-1-2013

The Arab League has called on Palestinian citizens of Israel to vote in Tuesday’s parliamentary elections. The unprecedented move by the multi-national Arab group, which in the past supported the Saudi Peace Initiative with Israel, comes as a voter turnout among the Palestinian citizens of Israel – roughly 20% of the Israeli population – is expected to drop yet again.

 
Palestinian citizens wearily eye Israeli elections, 18-1-2013 Jonathan Cook
 
- Polls suggest that on 22 January, Israel’s Jewish majority will elect the most right-wing Knesset in Israel’s history, returning prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power in a coalition packed with ultra-nationalists. For Israel’s Palestinian citizens, comprising nearly a fifth of the total population, the dilemma has been how to respond to this all-but-inevitable outcome. 

 
- On the issue of the Arab parties, they have found support from Israel’s domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, which has warned that the Palestinian minority’s demands for equal rights — encapsulated in its program for a “state of all its citizens” — constitutes subversion and that Israel should act in accordance with the principle of a “democracy defending itself” (“Democracy for Jews only,” Haaretz, 30 May 2007).

- Jamal said: “Plenty of the members of the center-left parties have no real love of the Arab parties but still they understand that they need these parties strong to reduce Netanyahu’s power.” Two weeks before polling day, the center-left parties made what looked suspiciously like a desperate, last-minute gesture towards Palestinian citizens to encourage them to vote. They signed a covenant committing to end inequality between Jews and Arabs within 10 years.
 

Denying Palestinian Rights is the Core Issue in the Israeli Elections, Rashid Shahin 6-1-2013

- For the Palestinians, especially in the occupied territories, Israeli elections always mean an acceleration of actions against them; it means more violations of human rights, collective punishment, more arrests, land confiscation and other unjust measures. In general, it is an unpleasant event.

- There is not much difference between the left and right parties in Israel; both are calling for more land confiscation and more settlement building.

EAJG over Israëlische verkiezingen
Partijen die gaan voor het beëindigen van de bezetting zullen naar verwachting maar een beperkt aantal zetels halen. Slechts 4 partijen zijn tegen de bouw van en in nederzettingen: Hatnua, Meretz, Hadash en Balad, Ra’am Taal.

Meer BDS, dus.