Last update - 00:00 30/09/2006
Only hundreds show up to mark six years since October riots
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Only several hundred people attended a rally Saturday afternoon in the Galilee town of Sakhnin to mark the six-year anniversary of the October riots of 2000, in which 13 Israeli Arabs were killed by police fire while rallying in support of the Palestinian Intifada.
Memorial services were held in several communities, but nearly all received fewer participants than in previous years.
Arab political sources attributed the lower participation to the anniversary falling during the month of Ramadan, in which many Muslims fast.
Although radio station A-Shams decided not to broadcast the rally as in previous years, many ascribed the reduced turnout to lower public interest in the services.
The service began at 9:00 A.M., as a convoy of vehicles drove from the village of Jat to Sakhnin, passing the sites at which the protesters were killed and holding memorial services.
Except for a service in Nazareth, in nearly every ceremony only several dozen people were in attendance.
In the afternoon, the central rally was held in Sakhnin, led by public figures and members of the victims' families.
Arab political sources criticized the decision to spread the memorial services across an entire day and to hold the rally in the afternoon, shortly before the fast- breaking meal.
According to them, the structure of the memorial services was expressed "without consideration of the public," and demanded more from the public than it could give.
Leaders of Arab communities who spoke at the rally focused on the fact that although six years have passed since the protesters were killed, those responsible have still not been identified.
Shuweiki Hatib, chairman of the Higher Follow-up Committee for Arabs Citizens of Israel, told the crowd, "the events of October are a mark of Cain on...Israeli society and public awareness."
He said the Arab public would continue to oppose Israeli policy, which he claimed is trying to "subjugate the struggle" of the Arab public.
"On this path, we won't be able to continue to exist on our land," he said.
MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) said, "It is bothersome that six years after the events, as we and the families are still shouting, when we already know who are the murderers, no one has paid the price."
Tibi said the failure to bring those involved contributes to police discrimination against Arabs.
Hadash party Chairman Mohammed Barakeh said that since the riots, nothing has changed.
"Then, as now, we face an offensive against the Palestinian people and silencing of the Arab public in Israel - its rights and its very existence," he said. "If someone within the establishment believes that denying this assault will place a question mark on our existence, he is mistaken."
MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) said Saturday, "Six years later, we're still demanding truth and justice, a full disclosure of the facts and punishment of those responsible for killing our sons."
Zahalka said that failure to indict those responsible constitutes a "green light" for police to continue killing Arabs..
He added that since October 2000, more than 20 Arab citizens have died from police fire.