Tibi says Arab Israelis being persecuted for Gaza sympathies in wake of October 7
Veteran MK charges Israel police only enforcing hate speech laws against Arabs, says he has received thousands of threats since start of war
AFP — Arab Israelis are being targeted and persecuted for expressing sympathy with Gaza, Ahmad Tibi, a leading Arab lawmaker charged, saying that his community has also seen a spike in threats against it since the outbreak of war on October 7.
The conflict has put pressure on Israel’s Arab minority, which makes up about 20 percent of the country’s citizenry, and whose members say they face escalating hate crimes and unjust police action.
“After October 7, hundreds of Arab citizens were hunted down, chased by the Israeli police for writing a post or a story empathizing with the children of Gaza or saying no to the war,” Tibi, the 65-year-old leader of the Arab faction Ta’al, told AFP in an interview on Tuesday.
“It was, and still is, tough days for Palestinian citizens of Israel.”
Adalah, an organization advocating for Arab minority rights in Israel, said community members who expressed sympathy for Gazan civilians have been unfairly punished.
Figures from the group showed that 401 people — most of them Arabs — had been detained between October 7 and March 27 on speech-related offenses that the police said were “incitement to terrorism.”
In the same period, there was a total of 667 suspects for speech-related offenses — with only 13 Jewish Israeli citizens compared with 590 Arabs.
“The crackdown on freedom of speech has created a situation in which Palestinian citizens… can neither protest nor freely voice their opinions,” Adalah said in a report after October 7.
Anti-Arab rhetoric
In his office, framed pictures show Tibi posing with famous figures like Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In front of Ahmad Tibi’s desk is the Arabic slogan, “The more beautiful days are those we did not yet live,” which the parliamentarian says is a poignant reminder for his people as they face increased scrutiny after the Hamas terror group’s October 7 attack.
The thousands-strong onslaught killed nearly 1,200 people and saw over 250 taken hostage, most of them civilians.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed over 37,000 people, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry. The toll, which cannot be verified, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, of whom Israel says it has killed about 15,000 in the Strip, as well as some 1,000 inside Israel on October 7.
Tibi says he and other Arab citizens of Israel were against the civilian deaths on October 7.
“We said here and everywhere that we are against targeting civilians… in the south of Israel — any child, any woman,” he said.
“Meanwhile, we are talking about more than 15,000 Palestinian children killed in Gaza.”
He pointed to incidents in some schools, where Jewish students have called for the removal of Arab classmates who faced disciplinary procedures for incitement, even if some were later acquitted.
But the lawmaker — who says he has lost 13 Gaza relatives to Israeli bombings — believes anti-Arab rhetoric is not getting the same reaction.
At one college protest in central Israel following October 7, students shouted “Death to Arabs!” and tried to break down doors.
In November, right-wing Israelis protested against a Jerusalem shop employing Arabs.
“All those on the Jewish side who called to deport Arab citizens, to kill all Arabs, to destroy all of Gaza… no one was arrested,” Tibi said.
Israel’s government points to Arab roles in courts, hospitals and parliament as a sign of their acceptance in society.
But in 2018 Israel angered Arabs by adopting a law defining the country as the “nation-state of the Jewish people”, and Tibi only sees inequality getting worse.
“After October 7, it was ethnocracy, only for Jews,” he said.
‘We will remain’
Tibi himself said he faced the ire of Jewish Israelis after October 7.
“I received not tens, but hundreds of threats by ordinary Israelis. When there is a war… everyone is considered to be a legitimate target.”
Asked if he fears being attacked, he replied: “No, but I am cautious.”
The one-time adviser to late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right ally National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for the worsening treatment of Arabs.
“He’s a terrorist, according to the Israeli law,” he said of Ben Gvir, a settler convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization over his ties to a banned Jewish extremist group.
Ben Gvir has in turn called Tibi a terrorist and advocated for his removal from parliament over his pro-Palestinian statements.
“The general atmosphere in Israel… it’s almost fascist,” said Tibi.
But, between dramatic hand gestures, Tibi says he still has hope Jews and Arabs can rebuild bridges.
“I am realistic, but I am optimistic always, because I am on the right side of history,” he said.
If the Gaza war ends, he says “democracy is the only way” to solve the crisis, with a Palestinian state that offers full rights.
“It is a natural right for Palestinians,” he said.
Switching to Arabic, Tibi had a combative message for his people and their opponents.
“We face attempts at intimidation. We have withstood in the past, and we will withstand this wave of fascism and racism,” he said.
“We were here, and we will remain here.”
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report
