Opinion | It’s Always the Time to Talk About the Occupation

Palestinians stage a demonstration to protest after nine Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday.Credit: Ali Jadallah / ANADOLU AGENCY /

"As they say, democracy for everyone, or for no one."

Jews say to me, “Who do you think will be hurt most by this revolution? Us? It will clearly be the minorities. And when they say “minorities,” they don’t mean redheads, but rather Arabs. As if I didn’t know that any deterioration of the situation – which is already terrible – will mainly affect Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian subjects of the Israeli occupation.

Nevertheless, I find myself bewildered by what is happening. For some reason, I have trouble finding the words to express my feelings and opinions about the judicial coup, or perhaps I should say the coup against our system of government. This isn’t apathy, nor is it some form of radicalism. It seems to me that it’s mainly a matter of despair and distrust that, as far as I can tell, are shared by most of Israel’s Arab citizens.

Consequently, the patronizing speech we hear again and again from every side – “This isn’t the time to be self-indulgent, any moment now you won’t be able even to say ‘occupation,’ or to work at Haaretz” – doesn’t change my physical state. It’s hard for me to bring myself to stand at a demonstration alongside 130,000 people who say “This isn’t the time to talk about the occupation.” Guys, any time is the time to talk about the occupation.

Do I want to help people like that save democracy? Can I stand in solidarity with people who sing “My country’s face has changed” while they are waving a flag that to me symbolizes personal devastation?

They tell me there were people at the demonstration who waved Palestinian flags and held up signs against the occupation. True, there were a few hundred demonstrators like that. But they were reprimanded, and their flags and posters were destroyed. “This isn’t the time for that flag,” they were told. Yet if the largest pro-democracy demonstration that has taken place here in years isn’t the time to wave the flag of the people who need it the most, should I attend such a demonstration?

How can I put this simply? To me, it feels too Jewish to fight for a Jewish democracy and save the High Court of Justice. I should save the High Court? The one that has upheld the state’s expropriation of our lands since 1948 and approved settlements? That has upheld almost every measure Israeli governments have ever taken against the Palestinians in the West Bank over the years? The court that upheld the nation-state law?

I believe there is a place for Arab-Jewish partnership in this country. But a partnership that doesn’t put the occupation and apartheid and civic equality at the top of its agenda is not a genuine partnership. As they say, democracy for everyone, or for no one.

I saw an ad on Facebook last week that said “At the next demonstration, we’re making room for Arabs.” No, thank you. I don’t want them to make room for me, I want them to demand civic equality for everyone. The right has made a clear choice: It wants to be Jewish, it doesn’t want to be democratic. But the left doesn’t want to choose; it wants to be both, and so it is not winning, and it remains a minority.

The day that the people who are fighting for democracy recognize that there can be no democracy without democracy for all, we will be there. For this to happen, it seems to me that the democrats will have to develop minority consciousness and begin getting used to the idea. Nevertheless, after all the bells and whistles, the 130,000 people who demonstrated in Tel Aviv on January 21 would barely be enough to pass the electoral threshold.