Poverty & Humiliation, Main Factors of Intifada in the West Bank

MK Eli Alalouf said that if the poverty rate in the Arab sector were lower, "we’d see fewer Arabs participating in protests."

MK Eli Alalouf Photo courtesy: ynetnews.com

(TEL AVIV) - A member of the Israeli Knesset said that the severity of poverty in the Arab sector and in the West Bank is the main reason for widespread protests in the occupied territories.

MK Eli Alalouf (Kulanu), chairman of the Knesset Labor, Health and Welfare Committee, said that "some of the protest and revolt from the Arab population they have been seeing in recent weeks is an outgrowth of poverty and humiliation.

"Nearly 50 percent of the Arab population in this country lives in poverty, and not enough is being done about this concerned issue."

At a special session for the “Day of Poverty,” Alalouf said he was "sure that if the poverty rate in the Arab sector were lower, we’d see fewer Arabs participating in protests.”

He also said that "the percentage of the population living below the poverty line is about twice as high among Arabs in Israel as it is among Jews and humiliation of Muslims at Al-Aqsa Mosque has become common in all social interactions and Netanyahu further fueling those issues."

He said, "The Netanyahu government failed to establish stability and security in this country and the region.

"If the government cannot solve people's problems and not pay attention to public concerns, it must welcome insecurity, violence and even war, and we have shown that we are unable to manage the conflict even against Hamas."