Occupied Jerusalem- The Israeli authorities, hours after the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle launched by Hamas on the “Gaza envelope” settlements on October 7, 2023, rushed to declare a state of general emergency in the country, targeting the 1948 Palestinians to terrorize and intimidate them.
With the beginning of the aggression against Gaza, demonstrations took place in several areas inside Palestine denouncing the massacres of the Israeli army, but soon the Israeli security services – represented by the police and the General Security Service “Shin Bet” – imposed an iron grip on the Palestinians inside, and launched an intense persecution campaign, against the backdrop of participation in Attending demonstrations or writing posts on social media, accused of supporting the resistance.
In this report, Tel Aviv Tribune Net sheds light on the reality of the Palestinians of 1948 in light of the war on Gaza, and the policies adopted by the Israeli security establishment against them, through an interview with the head of the National Assembly (an Arab party) Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of the Supreme Follow-up Committee for the Arab People at Home and the head of the Committee Freedoms, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, and what was documented by the Adalah Human Rights Center – represented by its director, lawyer Hassan Jabareen – of political and security violence, arrests, and suppression of freedoms.
What reality did Israel impose on the Palestinians of 1948 after the outbreak of the war on Gaza?
The Israeli security services have tightened their grip on the internal Palestinians under emergency regulations, through repression, abuse, persecution, persecution, criminalization of political action, arrests, detention, and investigation by the intelligence services, and trials that included hundreds, as well as imposing severe penalties with actual imprisonment for long years on dozens, according to the Adalah Center’s monitoring. The jurist.
Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib says that the Israeli establishment, through its general behavior, was certain that the Palestinian interior was an integral part of the Palestinian people, and therefore the Israeli behavior – in accordance with these convictions – was to tighten the security grip through repression, prosecutions, investigations, arrests, and gagging.
From the point of view of the head of the National Assembly, Sami Abu Shehadeh, the Palestinian interior stood once again – as it did in previous challenges and events – before the test of the relationship between the citizen and the state (Israel), which has viewed the Palestinians of 1948 and dealt with them since the beginning of the war on the basis that they are enemies and not citizens.
During a year of the war, 10 Palestinians from 1948 were martyred by bullets from the Israeli security services, alleging that they were involved in carrying out armed operations or stabbing Israelis. A Palestinian prisoner who had been arrested during the war was also martyred under the pretext of “identifying with the Palestinian resistance,” while the Israeli authorities continue to The bodies of 8 martyrs were detained.
What is the reality of the arrest and investigation campaigns to which the Palestinians of 1948 were subjected?
Since the “Al-Aqsa Flood”, hundreds of 1948 Palestinians have been subjected to investigation by the police and security services under warning, while the arrest of 170 people was recorded and the Israeli courts issued severe penalties against them with actual imprisonment for long years, and imposed heavy fines of tens of thousands of dollars on 74 others, on charges of supporting Resistance or “identification” with it, and dozens of administrative detention orders (arrest without indictment) were issued.
The Israeli police have suppressed all forms of expression inside the Palestinian territories since the beginning of the war, and this was reflected on the ground by the police violently dispersing protests organized by Palestinians against the war on Gaza, arresting the demonstrators, and bringing some of them to trial.
The Israel Bar Association took disciplinary measures against 48 Palestinian lawyers for alleged violations related to social media posts opposing the war.
Was political and security violence limited to the police and security services?
The escalation against the Palestinians of 1948 stemmed from viewing them as enemies, and these practices were not limited to the official institution, according to Abu Shehadeh. Rather, the hostile behavior spread to various Israeli political parties and movements, as well as various civil institutions, government ministries, even universities, hospitals, and the court system.
Israeli universities began to deal with tens of thousands of Palestinian students from 1948 with apprehension, and expelled dozens of them because of their solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli hospitals also dismissed dozens of Arab medical personnel for the same reason.
Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib says, “Convictions have strengthened among many Israeli circles that conditions are ripe for repeating the 1948 scenario,” that is, the Nakba and the displacement of the Palestinians, despite the fact that the Palestinians of 1948, their leaders, parties, associations, and movements, are exercising their rights by legal and peaceful means.
What is the impact of the escalation of Israeli repression against the Palestinians of 1948?
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli authorities have aimed to terrorize and intimidate, and prevent demonstrations and solidarity with Gaza. They have gone too far in methods of revenge, persecution, and even accountability for feelings, but – according to Al-Khatib – “they have not succeeded in separating the Palestinians of 1948 from the Palestinian people, in light of the bloody war that continues.” practiced against him.”
From Abu Shehadeh’s point of view, Israeli repressive practices have escalated, and have also been accompanied by manifestations of hostility from Israeli society, which has begun to act as if “Israel is like an army with a state, and not the other way around.”
He adds that despite this, the convictions of the Palestinians of 1948 were strengthened to adhere to national and patriotic identity, and not to compromise on their principled, moral and humanitarian positions towards Gaza, despite the high prices they are still paying.
How did the Israeli establishment take revenge on the Palestinians of 1948?
The Israeli establishment deliberately spread violence and crime among the Palestinians of 1948. “It wanted to take revenge on us,” according to Al-Khatib, “but not with more martyrs shot by the Israeli security services, but rather with the method of killing each other.”
Al-Khatib pointed out that violence and crime are the most dangerous weapons used by Israel against the Palestinians inside, in order to distract them from the Palestinian issue, Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, and what is happening in Gaza. He stated that “since the beginning of this year, there have been more than 170 Palestinians killed who are victims of crime.”
In addition to that, Israel – according to Sami Abu Shehadeh – deliberately took away civil rights and carried out retaliation and field trials against the Palestinians, through dismissal from work, exclusion from academic education, in addition to administrative detention and suppression of freedoms, amidst widespread racism and incitement against them, and even attacks and harassment by Jews over Arab citizens simply for their presence in the public sphere.
How does the Palestinian interior confront Israeli policies?
Al-Khatib says, “There is no doubt that these Israeli policies had repercussions of intimidation and intimidation, as a result of persecution and the prevention of solidarity, demonstrations, and popular marches. However, this was not achieved, even if some of its manifestations emerged,” he says.
Al-Khatib adds that the Palestinian interior has broken the barrier of fear despite the repressive Israeli practices, and “has not separated from its people, even though it still lives within the reality called Israel, but this does not mean submission, Israelization, and involvement in the Zionist project.”
In the face of these Israeli practices, the Palestinian interior tried to fortify itself, “and join hands to withstand and confront challenges, and preserve national, national and religious identity, away from all the poisonous projects practiced by Israel, and raise our voices loudly against the war,” Al-Khatib said.
In addition, Abu Shehadeh talked about practical steps, such as establishing popular committees and emergency committees in Arab villages and towns, as part of the procedures and independent organization of the 1948 Palestinians during the war, whose mission is to prepare society “and prepare for the worst.”
He pointed out that there is an active movement of politicians and intellectuals from the 1948 Palestinians, seeking to review the nature of the relationship between Arab citizens and Israel, and to draft a document that carries a future vision and includes ideas, projects and work programs to confront these challenges.