Approximately a thousand Arab Israelis marched in the Arab town of Umm el-Fahm on Monday evening chanting slogans such as "With spirit and blood we will liberate you, o Palestine," "Israel is the mother of terror," "Israel is a terror state" and even "Stop the Zionazi" in protest of the IDF's Operation Hot Winter in the Gaza Strip over the weekend.
Arab Israelis march in Umm el-Fahm in protest of IDF operation in Gaza.
Photo: Channel 1
Several of the participants were masked and many of them carried Palestinian and Syrian flags. Arab MKs there blasted Israel for the Gaza operation.
Balad Chairman MK Jamal Zahalka said that the Arab community was infuriated with the government for perpetrating "war crimes" in Gaza.
"We must put an end to the insanity of [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak," he said. "If they continue to refuse a cease-fire it must be forced upon them to spare the blood of the innocent."
Hadash Chairman MK Muhammad Barakei claimed that "the demonstration is in protest of an operation that has presumably ended and in protest of the catastrophic plans of the prime minister and the defense minister.
"The Arab public will not remain silent," Barakei warned. "This is just one in a string of demonstrations that have been held across the country since Friday. We are sensing that there is unrest within the Arab-Palestinian community in Israel."
