The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab citizens of Israel ( he, ועדת המעקב העליונה של הציבור הערבי בישראל, ar, لجنة المتابعة العليا للجماهير العربية في إسرائيل, also, High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Affairs and High Follow-Up Committee for the Arab Masses in Israel) is an extra-parliamentary umbrella organization that represents

Arab citizens of Israel The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

at the national level. It is "the top representative body deliberating matters of general concern to the entire Arab community and making binding decisions." While it enjoys ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' recognition from the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, it lacks official or ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' recognition from the state for its activities in this capacity. The National Committee of the Heads of Arab Localities (NCALC), the sole non-partisan organization representing the Arab minority in Israel, constitutes the main party in the High Follow-Up Committee (or Follow-Up Committee; its shorthand forms).Payes, 2005, p. 112.

Overview

The High Follow-Up Committee was established sometime between 1982 and 1984, after the events of Land Day in 1976.Yaniv, 1993, pp. 121-122. Members are drawn from the Arab heads of local authorities and major Arab organisations and parties in Israel. Because they do not have to submit to direct election and reach decisions by consensus, often leading to paralysis, the committee has been criticized by the community for being unwieldy and ineffective.

Jonathan Cook Jonathan Cook (born 1965) is a British writer and a freelance journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, who writes about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He writes a regular column for '' The National'' of Abu Dhabi and Middle East Eye. Backgro ...

wrote in ''

Al-Ahram Weekly ''Al-Ahram Weekly'' is an English-language weekly broadsheet printed by the Al-Ahram Publishing House in Cairo, Egypt. History and profile ''Al Ahram Weekly'' was established in 1991 by the ''Al-Ahram'' newspaper, which also runs a French-langu ...

'' in 2006 that in recent years, there have been calls from Arab political factions for direct elections to be held for the positions in the High Follow-Up Committee, but that, "the Israeli government has intimated that it would consider an Arab 'parliament' as an attempt at

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

and react harshly." Many resolutions have been passed since the establishment of the committee. Notable among these are many declarations calling for the holding of

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

s to protest Israeli policies, and a number of these have been successfully observed.

Manifesto

The High Follow-Up Committee and NCALC published their first

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel is a joint document put together by prominent Arab citizens of Israel in December 2006, that calls for the state of Israel to shed its Jewish identity Jewish identity is the objective or sub ...

, in December 2006. The document calls for Israel to be transformed from a

Jewish state In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland of the Jewish people. Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as a polity to serve as the homeland for the Jewish people. It ...

that privileges its Jewish majority into "a state of all its citizens". It also calls for radical reforms to the national system of land allocation and development, which the authors charge is designed to exclude Palestinian citizens from influence.

Membership

The Chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee is

Mohammad Barakeh Mohammad Barakeh ( ar, محمد بركة, he, מוחמד ברכה; born 29 July 1955) is an Israeli Arab politician. A former leader of Hadash, he served as a member of the Knesset for the party between 1999 and 2015. Biography Born in Shefa-'A ...

References

Bibliography

* *

External links