Were it not for the civilians who used their smartphone cameras to document the May 22 beating of Maysam Abu Alqian by Israeli border policemen across from city hall in Tel Aviv, this story would probably not have made headlines and probably not even have been covered by the media. According to Gadi Gvaryahu, chairman of Tag Meir, an organization that works against racism in Israel, events reflecting hatred of Arabs by Jews are any everyday occurrence. These include verbal violence, minor physical abuse and in certain cases even a wild and vicious attack of the kind experienced by Abu Alqian simply for being an Arab. Members of Tag Meir also believe racism and incitement against Arabs on social media have become a viral phenomenon in Israeli society, which is why nationalistically motivated attacks on the streets against Arabs are almost routine.

Tag Meir Forum is an umbrella of some 50 Israeli organizations that identify with the goal of fighting these trends. This week a lobby was launched in the Knesset at the instigation of Tag Meir, which concluded that the multiple incidents of violence against Arabs must prompt parliament to combat this dangerous phenomenon threatening Israeli society.

All 120 Knesset members were invited to the May 24 launch event, but not a single government minister showed up. Only two lawmakers from parties that make up the ruling coalition attended — Merav Ben-Ari and Rachel Azaria of the center-right Kulanu Party. Yuval Rabin, the son of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, also attended, delivering a speech that linked the current government’s lack of vision on the diplomatic front and the many hate crimes against Israeli Arabs.

The Tag Meir Forum classifies the border policemen attack as a hate crime. Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova of the Zionist Camp, who wrote the Justice Department’s internal affairs department demanding that the policemen be disciplined, also argued that “the video footage and eyewitness accounts leave no room for doubt — although the assault was carried out by policemen, in plain view, it was a hate crime. The man was attacked only because he was an Arab.”