Islam Times - Arab Israeli voter turnout shrinks, survey says

Islam Times - The voter turnout among the Arab Israelis has declined over the past five elections in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as the level of distrust toward the Israeli political system is on the rise among the minority, a survey says.

The recent survey conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a German political establishment, and the Israeli social organization of Abraham Fund Initiatives showed that voting levels among the Arab minority who live in the Occupied Palestinian Territories dropped from 75 percent in the 1999 elections to 53.4 percent in 2009.

According to the survey, the percentage of the voting levels is likely to decline even further in the future.

“No Arab living in Israel should vote,” said Salman, 32, from the village of Beit Safafa near al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Salman further said that the Second Intifada served as a turning point in his attitude toward the Israeli regime.

Over 6,000 Palestinians died during their First Intifada between 1987 and 1993 and the second one in 2000s.

According to Abraham Fund Initiatives officials, falling rates of Arab voting could destabilize the Israeli society and cause “a socio-national rift that will be hard to mend in the future.”