BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party Leader Walid Jumblatt urged Druze in Israel to vote for the Joint Arab List Thursday, ahead of parliamentary elections next week.
“The current situation necessitates that Arab Druze confirm their Arab identity and their national Palestinian heritage ... [Voting for] the Joint Arab List is an important step in taking their rights as equal citizens,” Jumblatt said in a statement.
“I direct this call to the Arab Druze in occupied Palestine who, along with their Palestinian brothers, are suffering from the occupation, oppression and injustice of the actions of Israel.”
Israelis head to polls on March 17.
“[Israel] wants to completely eliminate the Arab identity and [deny] all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” he contended.
1948 Palestinians, also known as Israeli Arabs, are Palestinians who remained on their lands in what became Israel after the 1948 war and elected to receive citizenship from the Israeli government.
They have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens in their own country.
The Joint Arab List includes four parties on a unified ticket for the first time, in a bid to become the third-largest bloc in the Knesset.
Jumblatt cited the new bloc as an important reason for Israeli Arabs to unite and vote, adding that it was important to counter the international community’s bias in favor of the occupation.
“This is a valuable opportunity to fortify Arab society and unify its vision regarding the Israeli-Palestinian struggle,” he said.
“Perhaps [this] can constitute the beginning of a radical change in your reality and your future,” Lebanon’s Druze leader added.
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