NGOs Call Cameras At Arab Polling Places A Breach Of Right To Commit Fraud

“Here the state squelches an important non-violent avenue of expression for Palestinian resistance.”

Umm El-Fahm, August 20 – Activists decried the Israeli authorities’ intention to install equipment at voting stations in advance of next month’s parliamentary elections to prevent false balloting, calling the move a racist endeavor that violates the right of the country’s largest ethnic minority to engage in such fakery.

A group of advocacy organizations including Adva, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and Amnesty International gathered today (Tuesday) to protest a ruling by the Election Commission that approved a police plan to introduce cameras at polling stations to help forestall voter fraud. Several dozen activists assembled at a high school where a polling station will be located on September 18, to rail against the discriminatory policy that they claim undermines Arab Israelis’ democratic right to stuff ballot boxes, vote multiple times under assumed identities, or otherwise compromise the integrity of the democratic process.

“This might be technically legal, and it’s the police’s job to uphold the law,” argued ACRI protester Gizanut Rakka, “but it’s wrong to hold Arab citizens to the same standard as everyone else because that violates the traditional Islamic sensibility of Islamic supremacy. Also, ethnic minorities should have the right to do as they please without interference from the majority because racism.”

“We are here to stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brethren and allies,” declared New Israel Fund representative Gayis Hamshi, whose organization underwrote efforts to organize the protest, invoking Palestinian nationality even though only a small minority of Israeli Arabs identify as “Palestinian.” “No one may abridge the Palestinian right to resist occupation by whatever means, including voting as many times as they feel like it.”

“Anti-Palestinian extremists keep talking about Palestinian violence, but here the state squelches an important non-violent avenue of expression for Palestinian resistance,” he continued. “This is just more-pandering to the far right by Netanyahu and his fascist allies.”

A spokesman for Israel Police explained that the enforcement effort will target polling stations in locales with an established reputation for fraud attempts. “It’s a simple question of efficient allocation of resources,” observed Deputy Commissioner Gidi Facepalm. “Budgetary restrictions necessitate choosing the places with the most impact for our efforts. Of course we would like to insert ourselves into as many Israelis’ lives as much as possible – that’s just what we do. But for now we’ll have to settle for simply enforcing the law and deterring its violation where that has proven to be a recurring problem.”

Facepalm voiced doubt that the police budget will suffice for an expanded endeavor at more stations when the next elections occur in several months after yet another failure among the elected parties to form a coalition.

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