An Israeli Arab intifada?

An Israeli Arab intifada? Haneen Zoabi, the firebrand Arab MK, recently warned of a third Palestinian intifada, declaring that this time the uprising will come from right within Israel.

Zoabi is about 10 years late. Jewish-Arab relations hit a dangerous nadir in October 2000, when Arab citizens across the country took to the streets, some violently, in solidarity with the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza. The second intifada was launched by Yasser Arafat just weeks after he rebuffed a generous offer from prime minister Ehud Barak to resolve the conflict when they met at Camp David with US president Bill Clinton.

The sudden outpouring of rage caught the government and police off guard.

Arab citizens threw stones and Molotov cocktails, blocked roads and threatened Jews – all tactics used by Palestinians across the Green Line. Yet, it was the killing of 12 Arab citizens by police that sent shock waves throughout the country.

Recognizing the severity of the situation, and its impact on the always delicate Jewish-Arab relationship, the Barak government created the Or Commission to examine the causes of the uprising and how the government and police responded. The Or Commission report is an historical accounting of the discriminatory treatment of the Arab minority. It stressed the government should make investing in improving the conditions of Arab communities a priority.