WATCH: Finally, an Israeli politician demanding Arab-Jewish unity

Mairav Zonszein By Mairav Zonszein January 10, 2013 | Edit

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post sharing my personal grappling with the question of whether to vote or not in the election in 12 days. I’m still not sure if I will end up voting, as it feels to me in principal like conceding to Israel’s farcical democracy and a direct affront to all the disenfranchised Palestinians who live under the same governmental roof.

But if I do vote, I know who I will vote for: Da’am, the Arab-Jewish workers’ party. I’m not going to elaborate much more, at least not in this post (you can read their platform here), because I think the message in the video below by the party’s chairwoman, Asma Agbaria Zahalka – a Palestinian citizen of Israel from Jaffa – says it all. It is such a simple message, but for 2013 Israel, it is a revolutionary one. A message that you don’t hear from any politicians in Israel, Arab or Jewish, certainly not in such an assertive, unabashed, matter-of-fact-manner.

And as for the argument that there are no politicians out there with any charisma, that can out-charm, or out-talk Netanyahu, I think  he’s met his match.

I just want to note that I happened upon this video the first time on a local TV channel that was playing in a supermarket in Jaffa, with subtitles in Arabic.

*The views expressed here are my own and do not represent 972mag or any other entity. 972mag.com does not endorse any specific political party.

Mairav Zonszein

Mairav Zonszein is a journalist and editor who writes about Israel-Palestine and its role in U.S. politics. Her publications include The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Intercept, VICE News, Foreign Policy and many more.

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