Arab Israelis Want to Live in Israel, Not Palestine https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-zionism/2020/02/arab-israelis-want-to-live-in-israel-not-palestine/

February 6, 2020 | Khaled Abu Toameh
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While the response to the rollout of the U.S. peace plan has been muted in Gaza and the West Bank, many Arab Israelis have protested against, or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction with, one particular provision which would shift an area known as “the Triangle” to Palestinian control. With a total population of about 250,000, the Triangle contains several Arab villages that have been under Israeli control since the 1949 armistice. According to the White House proposal, the Triangle would be exchanged for Jewish-populated territory in the West Bank. But, writes Khaled Abu Toameh, the residents of the Triangle would prefer to live in Israel:

The main reason Arabs in Israel are afraid of becoming Palestinian citizens is because they know that the Palestinian state will be anything but democratic. . . . In Israel, Arab citizens participate in the general elections and have their own representatives in the Knesset. In the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Palestinians have been deprived of free and fair elections since January 2006. . . . Arab citizens of Israel are [even more] worried about having to live in a Palestinian state that suppresses public freedoms, including freedom of speech and the media.

The Arab Israelis’ protests are . . . a message to the world that they prefer to continue living in Israel and not under another Arab dictatorship. . . . What the Arab citizens of Israel need [to do] now is to elect new leaders who will promote coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and not engage in anti-Israel rhetoric and actions.

Some of the leaders of the Arab citizens of Israel, particularly a number of Knesset members, have been acting against the interests of their constituents. It is almost as if these purported leaders represent the Palestinian Authority and Hamas instead of the Arab Israelis who voted for them with the hope that they would work to solve problems confronting their communities, such as unemployment.

The Arab citizens of Israel need real leaders who properly represent them in the Knesset and build—not destroy—bridges with Jews. Let the protests on the streets of Arab Israeli communities against becoming part of a Palestinian state serve as a fair warning to Israeli Arab leaders: stand by your people, or get out of the way.

Read more on Gatestone: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15516/arab-israelis-peace-plan