The Organization for Democratic Action (ODA) A Distinguished Political Current

The Organization for Democratic Action (ODA - or Da'am in Arabic) won 2150 votes in the recent Israeli elections. This was double the number we received in 1996, but it is far short of the nearly 50,000 we shall need in order to cross the threshold into the Knesset. Our achievements, however, should not be assessed in terms of numbers, but rather with regard to the goals we set for ourselves and the publicity we received as a young and different party. The truths that our candidates articulated stood in sharp contrast to the wheelings and dealings of the other Arab parties (see Challenge # 55). Our candidates spoke of what has to be done, instead of assuming, as our counterparts did, that nothing of moment can be done. We articulated the need to change reality against the politics of accepting reality. Our three top candidates, two of them Arab women, were young community leaders who take daily responsibility in the problems facing the Arab population: How to achieve housing? How to get a better education? How to secure our rights as workers? How to bring development to our communities?

In a campaign devoid of political messages, our platform stood out: We maintained that the Oslo accords cannot lead to a sovereign Palestinian state, nor to a just peace, and that the current Palestinian leadership has taken on the role of policing its citizens in order to fulfil Israeli needs. We warned that the demand to continue the Oslo process, as voiced by the Arab parties, does not amount to a genuine call for peace, but rather to a call for the ongoing subjugation of the Palestinians.

We argued that Ehud Barak's formula for the final-status agreement does not differ significantly from Benjamin Netanyahu's. (Both leave most settlements intact; both leave East Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty; both keep the Palestinian refugees out of the equation.) We warned that in order to circumvent Arab demands and avoid any "leftist" stigmas, Barak would invite the right wing into his coalition while excluding the Arabs. For these reasons we called on voters not to choose either of the Zionist candidates for PM. We were willing to support the non-Zionist candidate, Azmi Bishara, but we urged voters, in the event he dropped out (as he did), to cast a blank ballot.

Like the other parties, we were granted media time. We had eight appearances of 2.5 minutes each on the two main television channels, and ten programs of 2.5 minutes each on the radio. The broadcasts were the only ones with actual substance, a quality which raised the interest of the press. Our candidates were invited to talk shows as well as interviews in the Arabic weeklies. In this way the ODA entered the national political discourse.

Our predictions, unfortunately, have proved all too accurate. Barak has created a broad coalition of parties, including 75 MK's out of 120. Twenty-seven of these represent the right wing, which supported Netanyahu in the election. Twelve more come from the center. The Arabs, who formed his most solid electoral bloc, were not offered the chance to join. In contrast with the situation of the last Labor government, which depended on the support of the Arab parties - and had a written agreement with them - Barak has enough Knesset mandates without them.

We believe that a change will have to occur in the coming years. This change will be connected to a major reshuffling in the wider Palestinian and Arab arenas. An ethnic group of more than a million people, almost a fifth of the population, cannot forever be shunted to the sides. Nor will the Arab masses, outside of this country forever accept Israeli superiority. The ODA cannot, to be sure, invent a mass movement for change. This will happen only when people throw off their fear of reprisal. But we see it as our task to be there when the change occurs: to help guide it to results that can benefit the classes that have long been forgotten.