When I see that the aggressiveness of the right-wing Israeli government pushes the Palestinians into religious radicalization, that the value of Arab citizens lives is less than that of the Jewish ones, and that they even become a greater danger when they “stream” to the ballot-boxes, that this same government sows fear and terror in the bellies of Israeli children and grownups, whose cul-de-sac is getting darker by the day, and when I hear the defense minister promising the Palestinians to live under oppression and occupation forever and ever, under the shadow of the settlers terror, when Arabs are burned in their homes at night and their murderers are not found, when the opposition suggests a rough treatment against the Palestinians – I understand that there is no leadership in Israel.
When I see the ongoing security coordination with the occupation for the meagre pennies collected by the corrupt Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and that Hamas is hiding behind the youngsters pushing them to the fence and sacrificing them to cover up for their security coordination with Israel – I understand that there is no leadership in Palestine.
When I see the irresponsible behavior of the Arab leadership and parties in Israel dealing with the grave situation, and their surrender to the ISIS program of the caliphate in Jerusalem, and their support for the Arab dictators Assad and Sisi, and for the gulf princes headed by Qatar – I understand that there is no leadership to the Arabs in Israel.
The struggle against the occupation policy, the racism and the poverty, is my way, and Arabs and Jews are my partners, and at the end of the tunnel I see liberty, democracy and social justice to the people and the individual – Palestinian and Israeli. This is an invitation to build a sane alternative that will represent society, stop the blood bath, and will lead us to the haven of rest that we all deserve.

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While waiting for the route 25 bus in north Tel Aviv, I pondered whether to pull out an Arabic newspaper. Would it be better to read the Hebrew text in order to reduce the tension, I wondered, so that the elderly lady he lady next to me wouldn’t be frightened? After all, what does is an Arab woman to doing in this beautiful, serene part of Tel Aviv? There are no malls or Super-Pharm branches for her to work at. The kind of traditional thoughts that go through the mind of a trespasser, preparing herself for the moment when she is caught, knowing what to say. And despite desperately wanting to read the annoying interview published in the local Arabic newspaper, the Hebrew text won.

Finally the bus arrived. I got on, took a seat, and before pulling out the newspaper out of the bag, I stopped again to consider, is it worth it? Would it make people swap their seats? Pull their bags into their laps? Do they know at this moment I am an Arab? Not sure, there have been some who said that I actually look like a Yemenite Jew. Suddenly the thought strikes me, what would have happened if I were a black African woman? What is certain is that I would have been saved those doubts. My identity would scream out and ooze out of me, because the identity of the black person is in being a black person, nothing more. Beyond the exterior colour, that person does not exist as a human being. So there is no prospect that such a person would surprise you. It’s good, it’s not threatening. And lo and behold, it was a liberating thought. I decided that from now on, I’m black, and being that I have every right to pull out the black people’s newspaper and read it. That is the legitimate thing which is expected.

I delved into the interview but I got dragged out again by shouting, screaming really, coming from the back of the bus. What happened? Everyone was yelling. An old man, of a Mizrahi appearance, had slapped a 17-18 year old boy who looked like a sweet nerd, and pushed him violently from his seat. And it was not as if there was a lack of seats available. The sweety rose, and the vulgar so-and-so took his place. I really felt sorry for the boy, he looked like he was on the verge of crying. You could tell that he managed to control himself because he is a man. Almost instantly I found out what kind of man he wants to be. Out of nowhere a young beautiful redhead appeared, and started a conversation with the boy. In fluent English She apologised, and said she had never before seen such an occurrence. Things like that do not happen in Israel. She calmed him down and welcomed the new immigrant from Texas. And the conversation went on and on, about this and that, until I just about had a headache. I could not concentrate on the interview for which I had almost risked making a scene on the bus and scaring away its passengers. Then came the interesting question, where do you want to serve? In the Special Forces, he answered, in the Duvdevan unit [which operates mainly on the West Bank.]

I did not know what to do with compassion I felt for him a few minutes earlier. What do I do with it and to where do I consign it. And the more I looked at him the more I saw the face of a kid, a baby really, so sweet and innocent. Someone who does not know that people in Israel fight each other if not worse, and who doesn’t know that we are not all polite and apologetic redheads who speak fluent English. She wished him luck and went off while he became even more embarrassed and alien than before, continuing to sit and listen to music and play the iPhone like any other kid.

Two minutes later that vulgar so-and-so got up from his seat and prepared to alight at Allenby Street. He stood right in front of my face. I had just received a phone call from my husband, should I take it or not? At that moment that was the question. If he is willing to beat up an American who immigrates to Israel in order to die and kill for it, what would he do to me? And before I went through too many scary scenarios, I took the call. In the fluent Arabic of this curly black woman I said: “I’m delayed at work, there is a chance that you can cook?” And the vulgar so-and-so, shot a few glances at my direction, smiled and almost laughed. Well, I remember, Arabic is probably much easier for him.

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Moshe Silman inviting truck drivers to join the social protest, July 2012

The late Moshe Silman’s act of self-immolation rattled the entire country. Both the media and social protest activists have put out heartfelt pleas to try to dissuade others from following suit. But it seems that these calls have gone unheeded. Akiva Mafa’I’s attempted suicide by fire [He has since died – Ed.] joined dozens of other suicide threats that have been repeated in the last few days. It is reasonable to assume that we will see more attempts.

What happened to people in Israel that suddenly made them choose to follow the path laid out by Tunisian Tarek Bouazizi? Is the situation in Israel as ghastly as it is in Tunisia? After all, we do have a system of income support and disability benefits. People here do not die of hunger – and we do have a democratic government which permits less drastic forms of protest. Why, despite all that, did Silman choose to act in such an extreme way that brought forth such a wave of widespread public empathy?

The answer is that Silman understood what Bouazizi had understood. The state shows no respect for its citizens; its insensitive, impersonal and inhuman bureaucracy is indifferent to their problems. The result is a sense of humiliation, which at one point gets translated into a terrible act of desperation. Degradation and despair are universal feelings, which bear no relation to nationality, religion, color or gender. Nor are they related to the income level and political and economic situation of this country or another. In this way Israel has become comparable to Tunisia – it too makes many of its citizens feel humiliated. The combination of degradation and despair together with a troubled mental frame of mind can quickly lead to the extreme act of suicide.

Silman’s death and his suicide-note provide a serious indictment of the state. The indictment’s title ought to be: You failed! The State of the Jews is no longer a safe place for Jews, as was promised to them, for it has been sold out to the rich, and its citizens have been abandoned. It has abandoned those who served it, and even those who have become disabled in wars that were fought for its safety.

What is a new discovery for Jews has been a permanent reality for many of the country’s Arab citizens. Silman’s story is similar to many of the Arab population who have opted to become self-employed, in order to escape the drudgery of contract work for the minimum wage at a remote location, or risking their lives in the building trade. They soon fall victim to the authorities – the National Insurance Institute, the Tax Office, the banks etc. Procedures such as confiscation of property, suspension of driving licenses, and restrictions on financial conduct are used against them as a matter of course. They are forced to exist on the grey market’s loans, in a desperate attempt to maintain a minimal standard of living for their families.

We have not had any “Silmans” in the Arab community. Unlike their Jewish counterparts, Arab citizens have no expectations from the state, which by its self-definition tells them that it is not theirs. If we take the economic hardship and throw in racial incitement, adding national service, then it’s a reasonable assumption that we shall have an explosive mixture on our hands which could blow up any time soon.

An even more explosive situation is lurking just beyond the separation wall. The Palestinians will not continue to sit much longer on the fence, or more to the point behind it. The Occupation and discrimination impose an enormous social and economic price. Unemployment within the areas administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA) has crossed the 50 per cent mark. Poverty prevails even among those who work. Recently the PA has shown the signs of the financial strain that it is under, paying only 60 per cent of employees’ salaries. Donor countries will cease to finance the Authority: the Arab states have already failed to fulfill their financial commitments to the PA, and Europe is in deep crisis. All parties also acknowledge that there is no point in continuing to invest in the PA without a horizon for peace.

The Palestinian Spring is beginning to heat up, and there are clear signs that can be seen in the refugee camps in Syria. The time has expired for the Palestinian leadership in its myriad factions. Young people who want to participate in shaping their lives and future have already begun to take up their role within the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

Israel cannot continue on its merry way. The ruling by Judge Edmund Levy’s commission that there is no Occupation and that the settlement enterprise can continue; Ehud Barak’s decision to demolish 20 Arab villages; the decision to spend 30 million shekels on the Migron settlement – these merry days are well and truly over.

If the PA collapses, Israel will have to resume direct rule, once again assuming responsibility for financing the Occupation out of its own budget, all while struggling with a third Intifada, which many believe is inevitable – it’s only a matter of time and a suitable spark.

Just as Silman revealed the economic failure, a Palestinian uprising will expose the failure of the political system. To prevent major catastrophes, the social protest may need to offer an alternative economic, social and political program to Binyamin Netanyahu’s rule. At the very least the movement needs to demand the removal of the failed Netanyahu government, which is leading Israeli society into oblivion. After Silman, everyone understands that we are not only dealing with the prices of apartments and cottage cheese, but with human lives as well.

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