During the Sderot conference of the Kay Academic College in Be'er Sheva, dozens of students left in protest a session that discussed Jewish-Arab relations in politics, after the chairman of the Abraham Initiatives organization for Jewish-Arab cooperation, attorney Basha'er Fahum-Jayousi, defined the Arab residents of Israel as "Palestinian residents who live in the land and suffer daily from the occupation."
She further added: "We have reached the point where we have the courage not only to speak up, but also to act accordingly.”
"If someone wishes to act against the sake of coexistence, do not complain to us. We must live here in peace, and peace begins where there is no occupation. The true essence of partnership is the recognition of the occupation and discrimination against the Palestinian people and me having a clear Palestinian identity."
“The fact that I am a member of the Knesset does not mean that I have to give up my identity. There is institutional discrimination against the Arab population that has led to a situation where the Arab community is placed at the bottom of several issues, for instance - education, road safety, crime, and more. We entered the coalition to reduce this discrimination while sustaining ‘knife stabbings’ from all directions for the coalition partnership. Ra'am managed to put the Arab society, its capabilities and its needs on the Israeli map.”
After that, over half of the room was cleared after a student asked about Bedouin crime and was silenced by the former chairman of Meretz MK Haim Oron.
The event was also attended by Rahat Mayor Fayez Abu Sahiban and MK Miki Zohar (Likud) and other officials.