Democratic Palestine : 2 (ص 6)
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- Democratic Palestine : 2 (ص 6)
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1948 Occupied Palestine
a
Arab Councils Threaten Strike
In January, Israeli
Prime Minister Shamir
invited all
Palestinian Arab mayors and heads of local councils to meet under
the pretext of discussing their problems. Out of a total of 55
councils, only 15 responded to the invitation. The majority decided
to boycott the meeting, protesting Shamir’s circumvention of the
elected regional committee of local Arab councils.
Shamir’s move came as the financial
crisis confronting the Arab municipali-
ties and local councils had reached a
peak. The historical discrimination
against Arab communities, as compared
to the generous funding accorded Jew-
ish ones, has been greatly aggravated by
the new austerity measures adopted by
the Likud government. The budget de-
ficit of the local Arab councils now ex-
ceeds 100 million shekels.
Shamir’s move also coincides with es-
calation of the Israeli authorities’ repres-
sion against the Palestinians of the Gali-
lee, Triangle and Naqab. More arrests
are taking place. More suppressive mea-
sures are imposed in order to force Pa-
lestinians to emigrate and to distort their
national identity. To counter the growth
of the progressive nationalist trend in
1948 occupied Palestine, the Israeli au-
thorities have enacted a concerted at-
tack against the municipal councils in
the Palestinian Arab cities and villages,
including harassment, new laws, in-
creased taxes, and other political and
economic pressure. This aims to weaken
the mayors and council heads and make
them appear incapable of running the
municipalities and meeting the popula-
tion’s needs, in order to reassert the he-
gemony of the Zionist parties.
In this context, Shamir took an un-
precedented measure by meeting with a
group of Palestinian Arab leaders. Beg-
in, in contrast, never visited the Arab
communities while in power. Though
professing “concern” for the Palestinian
population’s needs, the real intent of
Shamir’s initiative was: first, to split the
unity of the Palestinians under occupa-
tion; second, to weaken and hopefully
erase the progressive nationalist senti-
ment among them; third, to fuel tribal
and sectarian differences among Pales-
tinians, which would facilitate the im-
plementation of the racist ‘Israeli poli-
cies; and finally, to overstep the regional
committee of the councils.
Shamir’s initiative was designed as a
cover for the Israeli government’s furth-
er moves to tighten the rope, financially
speaking, on the local Arab councils.
6
The Ministry of Interior intends to delay
approving the councils’ budgets for the
1984 fiscal year. Instead of funding the
budget, the ministry will make monthly
payments based on last year’s budget,
without taking into account rising prices
and inflation, which has greatly affected
the councils’ budgets. Due to non-
approval of their budgets, the councils
are suffering a great shortage in specific
budgets. They are unable to meet the
minimum expenses for development
projects and services. Moreover, they
are unable to cover basic need in fields
such as education, which might lead to
the closure of schools. In the meantime,
the councils are being forced to take
bank loans, with interest to be paid from
their budget, in order to solve problems
that have been accumulating, such as
paying teachers’ salaries and purchasing
necessities. Obviously, this enforced
practice will only accumulate budget
problems in the future, leaving the
councils in an impossible situation.
The Ministry of Interior, if it approves
the budget at all, intends to make sever-
al cuts. Furthermore, there are clear in-
dications that the budget for develop-
ment, as well as government scholar-
ships, will be cancelled altogether. Inev-
itably, the standard of living of Palesti-
nian Arab residents will suffer.
The Shafa ‘Amr Conference, 1984
The Palestinian Arab mayors and
heads of local councils are eager to con-
front this financial policy, as part of
their long-standing defense of the rights
of the population. This year’s confer-
ence of the Regional Committee of Lo-
cal Arab Council Heads, which con-
vened in Shafa "Amr on February 8th,
accorded top attention to the budget
crisis facing their municipalities and vil-
lages. Thirty-eight council heads as-
sembled at this conference, which is
held every four years after local elec-
tions, to agree on future work. The con-
ference issued a document, entitled the
National Consensus Statement, which
outlined the political line and future
program for the Regional Committee.
This document reaffirmed that the
“Arab people in Israel are an insepara-
ble part of the Palestinian Arab people”.
Placing responsibility for the local
councils’ problems on the discriminato-
ry policy of the Israeli government, the
conference outlined specific steps
whereby the council heads will work for
improving conditions for their constitu-
ents. These steps include establishing
councils in Arab communities where
there are none, development and rene-
‘wal programs, and cancelling land con-
fiscation decisions. The Shafa ‘Amr
Conference also decided to call for a
warning strike unless the government
agrees to cover the councils’ budget de-
ficit and change its policy for allocating
funds generally.
This could be the signal for escalated
popular actions against the oppression
and racism practiced by the Israeli au-
thorities. It gives the Israeli government - هو جزء من
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