Adalah and National Committee of Arab Mayors: Statements by MK Yaacov Katz about Arab Bedouin Constitute Racial Incitement and Warrant Criminal Investigation
On 3 January 2011, Adalah and the National Committee of Arab Mayors (NCAM) issued an urgent letter to the Israeli Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, demanding that he open a criminal investigation into Member of Knesset (MK) Yaacov Katz for racial incitement. MK Katz made the statements in question during a meeting held in the Knesset last week to discuss the formation of a "lobby against infiltration" into Israel. The letter was sent by Adalah Attorney Orna Kohn on behalf of Ramez Jeraisi, the Chairman of the NCAM and the Mayor of Nazareth, and in Adalah's own name.
During the meeting, MK Katz, who represents right-wing political party the National Union, stated that all Bedouin found to be present within forty or fifty kilometers of the Israeli-Egyptian borders and to collaborate with the Bedouin on the other side of the border should be arrested and put in cages, and their belongings confiscated. He further stated that all Bedouin who head convoys of asylum seekers – which he referred to as "convoys of infiltrators" – should be "brought down with a bullet to the head".
In the letter, Attorney Kohn argued that there is no doubt that MK Katz's statements were made publicly and in the presence of the media, and not when he was emotionally distraught, but rather were deliberate and premeditated. The statements constitute racial incitement of the first degree, which is a criminal offence under the Israeli Penal Code, and warrant a criminal investigation.
Adalah further contended that MK Katz's statements are all the more dangerous given the current populist climate in Israel, which has seen an extreme rise in racism. Thus there is an urgent need to investigate in this case, as MK Katz is a public official.
Mr. Ramez Jeraisi stated that MK Katz's statements go beyond mere words, since they include a call to action. He added that a criminal investigation into MK Katz would not merely serve to deter him and others and penalize him, but also to help preserve what remains of the rule of law, justice and rights in the country.
