PM: Israeli Arabs have suffered discrimination

Arab leaders urge Olmert to change decision not to try officials over October 2000 riots.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Olmert 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Olmert 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday afternoon met with Shawki Hatib, chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and with several Arab MKs after leaders of the Arab sector filed a petition calling on the prime minister to reexamine the decision of Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz regarding the October 2000 riots. Mazuz decided not to try any of the officials involved in the riots in northern Israel, in which 13 Arab citizens were killed. Olmert said that he couldn't and did not intend to change the decision made by Mazuz. However, the prime minister said there was no doubt that there has been discrimination against the Arab population in Israel. "I have decided that I must change this situation. The October 2000 events became a significant milestone in the relations between Arabs and Jews in the state of Israel. You came here today to ask me to look into the attorney-general's decisions. I will not do that - I do not have the authority to do it, but I do have the right to share your pain and sorrow, a right that I will not give up," he said. Olmert said he thought the Israeli people shared the pain of the Arab families over losing their loved ones during the October riots. "The State of Israel is a Jewish state, but it is also democratic. This means that every citizen, even if he is not Jewish, needs to feel that he belongs here," the prime minister said at the meeting.