US embassy cable - 04TELAVIV1772

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001772 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, IS, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, ISRAELI SOCIETY 
SUBJECT: ISRAELI-ARAB POLITICIANS DECLARE DAY OF MOURNING, 
ORGANIZE DEMONSTRATION AGAINST YASIN ASSASSINATION 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Norm Olsen for reason 1.4 (b) and (d 
). 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Israeli-Arab politicians rallied some 2,000 
demonstrators in Nazareth March 23 to protest the GOI's 
assassination of Hamas leader Yasin.  The Higher Arab 
Monitoring Committee, in conjunction with the more militant 
Islamic Movement, also declared March 23 a day of mourning. 
A Likud MK reportedly has asked the attorney general to bar 
the Nazareth event and to launch a criminal investigation 
against Arab MKs who express support for Yasin.  Embassy 
contacts believe that Israeli Arabs, while sincerely 
disturbed about Yasin's assassination, are being stirred up 
by Israeli-Arab leaders.  Police reportedly are concerned 
about spiraling Israeli-Arab violence in the days leading up 
to the March 30 "Land Day," the annual protest against land 
expropriation and general discriminatory treatment of Israeli 
Arabs.  End summary. 
 
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Israeli-Arab Politicians Unite to Protest Yasin Killing 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
2.  (C) Israeli-Arab politicians and Knesset members have 
uniformly condemned the GOI's assassination of Hamas leader 
Shaykh Ahmad Yasin and have cooperated in organizing a 
demonstration during the afternoon of March 23 in the largest 
Israeli-Arab city, Nazareth.  Early media reports estimate 
demonstration numbers around 2,000 persons.  Israel Radio 
reported that someone pushing a wheelchair bearing a picture 
of Yasin led the demonstration.  The Higher Arab Monitoring 
Committee (the Committee), which consists of Israeli-Arab 
political representatives, Knesset members, and Arab 
municipality heads, reportedly agreed to work with the more 
militant Islamic Movement, centered in Umm al-Fahm, to 
organize the demonstration in Nazareth.  According to Jafar 
Farah, director of the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab 
Citizens in Israel, Israeli-Arab politicians were pushing for 
the demonstration, something that many in the Israeli-Arab 
community, he believes, may not have strongly supported. 
Farah expressed concern that it may not be wise for Israeli 
Arabs to connect themselves with Hamas.  He added, however, 
that there certainly was "general frustration in the 
Israeli-Arab street."  Farah worried that Umm al-Fahm leaders 
could allow things to get out of control at the 
demonstration.  "They don't have much to lose," Farah said of 
the Umm al-Fahm leaders, "since their main leaders are in 
prison."  (Note: Farah was referring to jailed Islamic 
Movement Northern Branch leader Sheikh Ra'ad Salah and former 
mayor of Umm al-Fahm Suleiman Aghbaria.) 
 
3.  (C) Yair Ettinger, Ha'aretz reporter on Israeli-Arab 
issues, told poloff on March 23 that the rhetoric among 
Israeli-Arab politicians has grown more "militant" in 
response to Yasin's assassination.  MKs Talab el-Sana and 
Ahmed Tibi both said publicly that the GOI's actions against 
Yasin represented "insanity."  MK el-Sana reportedly canceled 
a March 22 meeting he had scheduled with PM Sharon.  Ettinger 
pointed out that all the Arab parties in the Knesset have 
united around the Yasin issue.  He stressed, however, that 
there has always been a gap between the more moderate 
Israeli-Arab community and its political leaders.  Yair 
questioned whether Israeli Arabs felt comfortable "standing 
side-by-side with Gaza to protest Yasin's death." 
 
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Likud MK Angered over Israeli-Arab Reaction 
------------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) Right-wing Likud MK Gilad Erdan reportedly 
petitioned Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on March 23 to bar 
the Nazareth demonstration and has called for a criminal 
investigation against the leader of the Committee and the 
Arab MKs participating in the demonstration, for expressing 
support for Yasin.  Ha'aretz reported on March 23 that in a 
letter to the AG, Erdan wrote that "the Arabs of Israel 
always claim they're second class citizens, and today some of 
them are acting as first-class enemies.  This phenomenon must 
be uprooted."  In response, The Mossawa Center reportedly 
called on Mazuz to try MKs who incite against Israeli Arabs. 
 
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Land Day Protest 
----------------- 
 
5.  (C) The Committee has also announced a general strike in 
the Israeli-Arab community to mark the annual "Land Day" on 
March 30.  "Land Day" rallies and strikes have been held 
annually to commemorate the March 30, 1976 killing of six 
Israeli Arabs who were protesting the expropriation of 
Arab-owned land in Israel.  Ettinger noted that last year's 
Land Day rallies did not draw many people, as Land Day 
occurred during the U.S. war with Iraq.  He predicted a 
larger turnout this year.  Police reportedly are concerned 
that the climate in the Israeli-Arab community is such that 
violence could erupt in the days ahead and especially on Land 
Day. 
 
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