Northern community wants to keep Arabs out

Residents of a town in northern Israel cause controversy by saying they want to keep Arabs out of the ecological Galilee community they are establishing nearby.

According to a report by Hamakom, the residents, who live in Gan Ner, on the slopes of the Gilboa, object to a local Arab doctor’s decision to purchase land in nearby Nurit, a newly-founded community populated by Gan Ner residents.

The controversy erupts after one of the members of the community draws the attention of the other members to the fact that the doctor, Ali Zoabi, who works in Gan Ner, had purchased the land.

On Gan Ner’s Facebook page, he shares a photo of the physician’s son waving a Palestinian flag in front of the Eiffel Tower.

“Do you know him? There’s no way you don’t,” the man writes. At first, the other members of the community react with confusion. But when the original poster reveals the boy’s identity, many echo his sentiments, with one member even suggesting that the teen may have spray-painted a swastika at the entrance to Gan Ner.

“Let him go back to Gaza,” says one member, while another suggests Zoabi should not be allowed to treat children. Others, however, praise the doctor and urge the community not to judge him or his 13-year-old son over a photo posted “probably without giving it too much thought.”

“We must strive to preserve the coexistence on the Gilboa,” says a resident.