Suppressed Palestinian citizens of Israel rally in solidarity with Gaza

Ibrahim Abu Ahmad and Shahd Bishara, both Palestinian citizens of Israel, were finally allowed to march in Israel's majority Arab north against the brutal war in Gaza.

The demonstration on Friday in Shefa Amr was an important step for people who make up over 20 percent of the nation's population, and have felt silenced since the war erupted in October.

The relatively small demonstration, with a turnout of barely 100 people, including Jews from peace movements, marched under a banner saying "Only peace will bring security".

Watchdog groups had complained that Palestinian citizens of Israel had struggled to get official authorisation for anti-war protests, pointing to discrimination.

Following the onset of the war, Israel's police chief, Kobi Shabtai, declared a "zero tolerance" policy for protests in support of besieged Gaza, even threatening to send anti-war demonstrators to the besieged territory.

Shabtai said Israel cannot allow "all sorts of people to come and test us", in a clip posted online.

But on Friday, the marchers sang as they walked down the main street of Shefa Amr, a large town planted on a hill in the northern Galilee region that is home to a large portion of Israel's Arab minority.

Their banner was written in Hebrew and Arabic, and the demonstrators chanted "Peace, freedom, social justice!" but also "Freedom, freedom for Palestine".

Led by a police car, the parade passed along the Christian cemetery, greeted by the smiles of visibly surprised residents.

'Shared humanity'

Several hundred protesters turned out last week in the northern town of Majd-al-Krum, at the initiative of an Arab organisation to say "Stop the war!" an AFP news agency videographer saw.

In Shefa Amr on Friday, 160 kilometres from where fighting is raging in Gaza, Shahd Bishara was able to express what he called his "solidarity with the people of Gaza".

"Our humanity, our shared humanity, cannot accept the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," said the 30-year-old doctor. "And, of course, let's not forget the Israeli hostages."

"We couldn't share our solidarity with them because of the oppression and shutting up our mouths," he added.

"We understand the pain of our people, the Palestinians, and the pain of our Israeli friends," Palestinian-Israeli peace activist Hyam Tannous said in a speech in Hebrew.

"We are concerned about the future of both peoples," she added.

Ibrahim Abu Ahmad, 31, said: "We are the solution to the conflict. People have not realised this so far. We are the only ones who are both Palestinians and Israelis."

He calls himself "Israeli Palestinian" and refuses the expression "Israeli Arab" used in Israel, a term that "eliminates a crucial element of who we are".

"The problem is currently that the term Palestinian is portrayed as a political statement, not as peoplehood," he added.

Israeli genocide in Gaza

Despite marchers getting authorisation to take to the streets, watchdogs cautioned over troubling pressure on Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Arab non-profit group "Mossawa" — which means equality in Arabic — reported an increase in human rights violations since the war: arrests, discrimination at work and harassment at school, as well as prohibited demonstrations.

Mossawa Director Jafar Farah said cases have shown signs of declining after the NGO recorded around 20 arrests per day in the early weeks after the war started.

It is now far less, he said, although full statistics weren't immediately available.

Israel has killed more than 32,600 and wounded over 75,000 others in besieged Gaza amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

About 85 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. A leading UN rights expert concluded in her find that Tel Aviv is committing genocide of besieged Palestinians in Gaza.