Israeli Arab lawmakers and social media users mocked Ehud Barak, head of the newly formed Democratic Israel party, after he apologized on Tuesday for the deaths of Arab rioters in events that took place during October 2000.
Barak, a former prime minister and IDF chief of staff, apologized for the events that took place during his term as prime minister. Intense riots erupted in the Arab cities and towns, mostly in northern Israel in October 2000 and grew extremely violent. Clashes between rioters and the Israeli police ended with the deaths of 13 Arab demonstrators.
The apology is part of Barak’s effort to create a left-wing bloc ahead of the September elections and came as a response to a demand by Israeli-Arab Member of Knesset (MK) Issawi Frej from the extreme-left wing Meretz party to do so.
However, Barak’s apology was rejected.
MK Eiman Odeh, head of the Hadash-Raam party, dismissed the apology and said that the October 2000 events left behind a vast schism and that a real apology entails an admission of the crime, repentance, a change of behavior and the victims’ acceptance of the apology.
“The apology was meant for Barak’s campaign purposes,” Odeh stated, calling on Israel to “officially recognize its historic crimes and to rectify the historic injustices and implement our legitimate rights.”
Amantnes Shehadeh, of the Balad party, rejected the apology as an empty gesture which was aimed and collecting votes among the Israeli Arabs voters.
“Anyone who truly apologizes for his actions must act against the ongoing historic injustices against the Palestinian people, and act to put those responsible on trial,” he said.
However, Frej, who prompted Barak to apologize, responded that “Barak’s statement today taking responsibility for the October 2000 events is a good start.”
“Barak opened a door for dialogue with the Arab society, and our responsibility is to help him open the door and not to shut it. I thought it would be right for Meretz to create a joint list with the Labor party, but [Labor head] Amir Peretz chose to go with the right, and we now must exhaust every possibility to create a strong center-left bloc,” he added.
The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel said that Barak apologized only after his media advisors told him to do so, with the objective of penetrating the Arab public, and he should be blocked from doing so.
The Adallah rights organizations dismissed Barak’s gesture as worthless because no one was being charged for the shootings, and especially not those who gave the order to use live ammunition instead of rubber bullets.
Israeli Arabs took to social media to mock Barak and demanded that he be tried at an international court.
The majority rejected his apology as an empty ploy, that result of his elections campaign, which they said cannot cover up his involvement in alleged war crimes.
Other interpreted Barak’s gesture as a testament to the Arab public’s growing political power.
One user wrote that Germany apologized to Israel for the Holocaust only because of the Jewish state’s dominance, and Barak’s apology should be viewed in the same venue, as a give-and-take move.
A few encouraged the Israeli public to engage in such rhetoric and claimed that Israeli politicians who forgo the “Zionist arrogance” should be welcomed.
The Amad news site in Arabic published Barak’s apology but chose to use a photo in which Barak is seen with his face masked as he enters the home of billionaire Jeffery Epstein, who is currently being charged with pedophilia and human trafficking, an incident in which Barak has been implicated as well.