Last update - 00:00 21/09/2006
Arab monitoring committee chair to resign amid rifts in panel
By Yoav Stern, Jack Khoury and Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondents
The chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee of Israel on Thursday announced his resignation at the committee's headquarters in Nazareth.
Shuweiki Hatib, a member of the Hadash party and head of the village council of Yafiyeh, has served as the committee's chairman since July 2001.
Committee sources said his resignation stems from the feeling that Arab political parties outside of the committee's supervision were becoming more successful than those operating within it. The resignation is expected to take effect in a month and a half.
Member parties and movements rejected the resignation request and decided that the issue would be discussed at a special meeting to be convened at a later date.
Hadash Chairman Mohammed Barakeh suggested freezing the request until the committee's next meeting, saying it ought to discuss the reasons for the resignation.
Within the committee, a dispute has divided members over the structure the panel should take.
On one side are the more right-wing Arab parties, led by Balad and the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, and the left-wing faction led by Hadash. The former group is seeking to implement a system of direct elections, while the latter views the committee's purpose as one of coordination only.
The committee secretariat is scheduled to convene Thursday afternoon. Among the issues to be discussed is the commemoration of the six-year anniversary of the events of October 2000, in which police killed 13 Israeli Arabs rioting in support of the Second Intifada.
Hadash representatives said the general feeling among the committee members is against announcing a general strike on the anniversary of the riots, and in favor instead of a single, central demonstration.
Barka told committee members "not to forget Israel's cruel offensive against the sons of our Palestinian nation, which continues today and is the primary reason for the events of October."
Meanwhile, Balad Chairman Azmi Bishara and MK Wasal Taha are being investigated in Petah Tikva for their trip July 12 to Syria.
In their defense, the MKs claim to be protected by immunity, since the trip was part of their political activity as described in the party's platform.