Weakened by split, Israel's Arab parties must work the field
After years of campaigning on social media and in TV studios, Arab politicians are now rallying for support in Israel.
Israel's Arab Balad party launched its election campaign Sept. 24 with a gathering of supporters and activists in the town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye that claimed over 1,000 attendees. The same day, the Hadash-Ta’al alliance held a gathering of its own in the town of Tamra in the north, with several hundred activists and supporters in attendance.
The two events were followed by smaller gatherings this week, including ones held by Balad chair Sami Abu Shahadeh in the towns of Shfaram and Tamra and by Knesset member Aida Touma Suleiman of Hadash-Ta’al in Taibe.
Created in 2015 to unite all the Arab parties, the Joint List rarely held large public gatherings and made do with social media ads and news interviews. The Sept. 15 split within the party has changed the game. At the Sept. 24 event, Sami Abu Shahadeh told the audience he could not remember a gathering this big in at least a decade.
A Balad activist told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “We are planning to hold another five or six big events in various Arab towns. The choice of Baqa al-Gharbiyye as the site of the first election rally was intended to support the number-four candidate on the list, Dr. Walid Kaadan, who lives there, and because it is one of the main party strongholds.”
