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Nov. 19, 2002

Arabs apathetic about Labor primary

By David Rudge

The Labor Party primaries in the Arab sector were marked more with apathy than excitement on Tuesday morning.

With more than 14,500 registered members out of a total of 110,405, the Arab vote was considered an important factor in deciding who will head the party.

By mid-afternoon, however, voter turnout was still low, reaching only 10 percent of the 1,060 eligible voters in Baka al-Gharbiya where Labor has an active and flourishing branch.

In Mash'had, near Nazareth, party officials said the turnout was nearly 20%, around the same as that nationally at that time.

The officials attributed the relatively low poll early in the day to two main factors the influence of the month-long Ramadan fast and the fact that people were working normally, as well as reduced interest in what is seen as an internal vote.

Nevertheless, supporters of both leading candidates, incumbent leader MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna, said they expected the final voter turnout to be between 40-50%.

A low turnout was seen as being advantageous to Ben-Eliezer whose supporters have established a well-oiled machine which swung into operation prior to the opening of the polling booths.

"The lower the vote in the Arab sector and generally, the better it will be for Fuad," said Galeb Majadly, as he stood in line at the Baka al-Gharbiya polling booth to cast his vote. Majadly, who is secretary of the Arab sector in the Labor Party and was recently chosen to head party's election campaign in the Arab community, made no bones about supporting Ben-Eliezer in the leadership race, saying he was the best candidate for the job.

Majadly is also running for the place, reserved for an Arab candidate, on Labor's Knesset list and is hoping to replace veteran MK Nawaf Masalha.

He said there had been some movement early in the morning, but no pressure on the polling booths in the Triangle region or the Arab sector generally. "The primaries are considered an internal affair and therefore of secondary importance. The fact that the voting coincides with Ramadan also has an effect," said Majadly.

"People have been working all day and are tired and there are those who don't want to bother with such things on such a holy holiday.

"From our point of view, however, it will probably be good if there is a low vote overall and not just in the Arab sector," he said.

Sameach Abu-Mukh, head of the Mitzna campaign in Baka al-Gharbiya expressed the hope that voters would turn up at the polling booths after breaking the fast and resting for a short while.

"If we manage to achieve parity with the Fuad camp it will be good, because Fuad supporters have a well-oiled machine in the Arab sector and those who vote will do so after being pointed in the right direction," said Abu-Mukh.

"Those who vote for Mitzna would do so for ideological reasons and their own belief in his path rather than because of the organization, therefore the higher the turnout the better.

"Despite the fact that he has only been a candidate for less than three months, he has built up a groundswell of support in the Arab sector. I keep hearing from people that Mitzna has put the color back in their cheeks and provided them with a real alternative.

"It is not really enough time for a new actor on the stage, but he has already had an influence and that in itself is something.

"I would like to hope that there will be a bigger turnout and that this will also be reflected in the vote for the Knesset elections because the more Arabs who participate in the democratic process, the more they are integrated into Israeli society," said Abu-Mukh.

Hussein Suleiman, head of Mash'had local council and a Ben-Eliezer supporter concurred with the views of his counterparts over the reasons for the relatively low turnout. Nevertheless, like them, he expected the final figure to be around 50% which, he said, would be "very good under the circumstances."

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