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Israeli Arab Lawmaker Denies Charge of Incitement
Israeli Arab lawmaker Abdul- Malik Dehamshe on Sunday denied accusations that he has played a role in inciting and provoking Israeli Arabs to riot, an official of his United Arab List party said.
Dehamshe made the denial during a five-hour interrogation at the police national headquarters in Jerusalem, the official said, adding that the lawmaker also rejected charges that he has disrupted police duties.
A police spokesman said earlier that the police have begun questioning Dehamshe due to his role "in connection with violations including incitement and the disruption and insult of police officers in the course of duty."
The spokesman said the investigation was ordered by Israeli Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein and State Attorney Edna Arbel September 24.
According to a Justice Ministry statement issued then, Rubinstein and Arbel charged Dehamshe with making a series of speeches since last April that they said may instigate violence.
In a related development, Rubinstein ordered his office on Sunday to investigate if another Israeli Arab member of the Knesset (Parliament), Mohammed Barakeh, also has violated laws.
Barakeh, a leading legislator of the Hadash party, reportedly told students of Bir Zeit University on Saturday that Israeli Arabs should not only support the ongoing struggles of Palestinian demonstrators against Israeli security forces, but should also take part in.
Rubinstein said that such remarks constituted incitement to violence and a violation of laws to prevent terror. If officials in his office confirmed the suspicion, he added, an inquiry will be opened against Barakeh.
In response, Barakeh said that his remarks had no differences with other speeches he made repeatedly in Israel, most often in the Knesset.
He also denied that he had urged Israeli Arabs to participate in the clashes between Israelis and Palestinians.
Barakeh has already been under investigation on charges of assault against a police officer and offending a state official in a demonstration in June 1999. Rubinstein had informed Barakeh 10 days ago that his office will indict him for the charges.
The two investigations highlighted the tense relations between Israeli Jews and Arabs amid the bloody clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the past five weeks, in which nearly 170 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,000 others wounded.
Over 1 million Israeli Arab citizens, nearly 20 percent of Israel's population, live in self-contained towns and villages and suffer from discriminating policies on job markets and community development in the Jewish-dominated society.
After Israeli-Palestinian clashes broke out, Israeli Arabs also went to streets to express support for their Palestinian brothers, which led to at least 13 deaths in early October.
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