The New Arab :
Israeli police have arrested at least 250 Palestinian citizens of Israel within the last two days, while activists say attacks by Jewish Israelis against the community go unpunished.
According to the Palestinian Authority’s news agency Wafa, Israeli forces arrested 250 Palestinian citizens of Israel on Monday and Tuesday, in a campaign of detentions that is still ongoing.
Hassan Jabreen, the head of Adalah, a legal centre for the protection of Palestinian citizens of Israel, told local news outlet Arab 48 that the Israeli police have been “terrorising” citizens via the campaign that comes from “purely political” motivations with no legal basis.
In Wadi Ara and Kafr Manda, Israeli police arrested dozens of youths and raided homes. Arrests also took place in Negev and Umm Al-Fahm.
Israeli intelligence forces also arrested Moein Al-Asam, a Negev based artist, after he sang an ode to Jerusalem and Gaza and praised “Palestinian resistance.” He was interrogated for two hours. The majority of the arrests took place in Lod where nearly 140 young men were detained.
Meanwhile, a Haaretz photographer filmed dozens of Jewish Israelis attacking a Palestinian citizen of Israel in the Tel Aviv district of Bat Yam, when an attempted lynching took place.
Two weeks ago, around 20 people were filmed beating Said Mousa, with some of the attackers taking part in interviews afterward.
According to the Israeli daily, only six were arrested despite the attackers being easily identifiable on video.
Palestinian citizens of Israel make up 20 percent of the Israeli population and face systematic discrimination. They complain of being treated as second-class citizens in comparison to their Jewish counterparts.
Large segments of the Israeli public see Palestinian citizens as a demographic threat to Israel’s Jewry, with discrimination entrenched across housing, public services, education and employment.
Recently, far-right mobs have attacked Palestinian civilians and properties while shouting “Death to Arabs.”
Palestinian citizens of Israel are often at odds with the Israeli police – an institution they believe is taking a passive role in stopping a gun violence epidemic within their marginalised community.
Palestinian gun violence in Israel accounts for over 60 percent of all murder victims nationwide. There are more than 400,000 illegal weapons among Palestinians in Israel, despite the population being just over two million.
This means one in five Palestinian citizens of Israel is armed, with little work being done to stop gun crime.
