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The Arab Minority in Israel and the 17th Knesset Elections: Beginning of a New Era?

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Symposium on “The Arab Minority in Israel and the 17th Knesset Elections: Beginning of a New Era?”

On June 14, 2006, The Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation held a symposium to discuss the results and implications of the last Knesset Elections on Arab Politics in Israel.

The first session was headed by Dr. Lars Hänsel, Konrad Adenauer Foundation representative in Israel. In his opening remarks, Prof. Shimon Shamir, former member of the Or Commission, discussed the question of discrimination against the Arab citizens of Israel. He argued that many of the Arab sector’s problems are not treated appropriately because of government neglect and a policy of denial towards the Arab sector’s needs.

Dr. Elie Rekhess, director of the Adenauer Program, gave an overview of the Knesset elections in the Arab sector. The lowest turnout since the first Knesset elections in the Arab sector notwithstanding (56.3%), said Rekhess, the Arab parties retained their relative power and even grew stronger: from 8 seats in the 16th Knesset (2003) to 10 seats in the 17th Knesset (2006). Rekhess said that one possible explanation to this phenomenon was the low turnout rate in the Jewish sector (63.2%). He emphasized that had the Jewish turnout to the ballots been slightly higher, one or more of the Arab parties might not have passed the threshold.

In the second session, Dr. Amal Jamal, from the Department of Political Science in Tel-Aviv University, discussed the dilemmas of the Arab leadership in the elections. He said that though the Arab public expresses his disappointment from the Arab leadership, one should not over-criticize the Arab MKs for their poor achievements because, he argued, they are constrained within the limited space which the Israeli democracy allows them to operate in.

Prof. Aziz Haidar, from the Van-Leer Institute in Jerusalem, analyzed the issue of elections boycott in the Arab sector. Reviewing a period of ten years (1996-2006), he pointed out to four motives which lead to boycotting the elections: first, ideological reasons, as in the case of the northern faction of the Islamic movement and radical elements, represented by “Sons of the Village” movement; second, boycott as a result of a search for alternative frameworks outside the parliamentary arena; the third, boycott for tactical reasons; and the fourth, boycott as a protest against the Arab parties and Arab political leadership in Israel.

Dr. Khalil Rinnawi from the Academic Division in the College of Management dealt with the role of the Arab media in the Elections camping. He distinguished between political media, which serves as public relations apparatus for a specific political party, and a commercial-independent one. He claimed that the problem with the commercial Arabic press is that it also serves as a public relation apparatus in favor of the Arab parties in Israel, instead of being an objective press which criticizes these parties.

Prof. Yoav Peled from the Department of Political Science in Tel-Aviv University lectured on the disqualification of parties, concentrating on the public-political dimension. Historically, he argued, there were two reasons for disqualifying parties: the first, parties which did not recognize Israel as both Jewish and Democratic state, as was the case with “Al-Ard” group in the mid 1960s; and the second, support of Palestinian struggle, as was the case in the 2003 elecitons campaign with the National Democratic Alliance headed by Dr. Azmi Bishara.

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a symposium on:

The Arab Minority in Israel and the

17th Knesset Elections: Beginning of a New Era?

The symposium will take place on Wednesday, June 14,

2006, at the Malka Brender “Hall of Justice”,

Trubowitz Building of Law, Tel Aviv University

Hebrew-English simultaneous translation will be available

The Program

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14:00–15:00 First Session

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Chairperson: Dr. Lars Hänsel (Konrad Adenauer Foundation Representative in Israel)

Opening remakes: Prof. Shimon Shamir (Tel Aviv University)

Introductory lecture: Dr. Elie Rekhess (Tel Aviv University)

The 17th Knesset Elections in the Arab Sector – An Overview

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15:00–15:30 Coffee Break

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15:30–17:30 Second Session

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Chairperson: Dr. Elie Rekhess (Tel Aviv University)

Lecturers: Dr. Amal Jamal (Tel Aviv University)

Dilemmas of Arab Leadership in the Elections

Prof. Aziz Haidar (The Truman Institute and the Van-Leer Institure, Jerusalem)

Elections Boycott in the Arab Sector: A Perspective of a Decade (1996-2006)

Dr. Khalil Rinnawi (Academic Studies Division, The College of Management)

The Arabs in Israel: The Choice of Media in the Elections

Prof. Yoav Peled (Tel Aviv University)

Disqualification of Parties – the Public-Political Dimension

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Venue

Malka Brender “Hall of Justice”, Trubowitz Building of Law, Tel Aviv University

Contact

Dr. Lars Hänsel

Dr

Head of the Department Europe and North America

Lars.Haensel@kas.de +49 30 26996-3526

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The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, The Tel-Aviv University