Israel’s Arab Communities Protest Rising Murder Rates (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Palestinian citizens of Israel make up just 20% of the country's population, and yet last year they accounted for more than 80% of all murder victims. That imbalance is driving nationwide protests in recent weeks, because while the violence is largely being perpetrated by Arab organized crime groups, protesters say it's government inaction that's adding fuel to the fire. And here's why. Israel's police solved 65% of murder cases when the victim was Jewish, but when the victim was Arab, that number plummeted to just 15%. If your son was a Jewish citizen of Israel, do you believe within an hour? You're asking me if my son was Jewish, how long it would take? One hour, that's all. Qassem Awad had been waiting far more than an hour for justice. His son was murdered more than a year ago. Dr. Abdullah Awad was treating patients inside a clinic in northern Israel when a masked gunman came in and shot him. His father says there's no reason why his son would be a target. Why until now do we not have any information? We have nothing. The police came the first few days and said they would follow up, but they never did. At this protest in the Arab town of Sakhnin, there is anger at Palestinian organized crime. But above all, at Israel's right-wing government. Among the chants that we've been hearing at this demonstration have been against Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Minister of National Security, who so many here hold responsible for the inaction, they say, of Israel's police force, a policy that they say is deliberately aimed at increasing crime among Arab communities in Israel. Ben-Gvir rejects any responsibility, instead blaming local Arab leaders for turning a blind eye to crime. But murders in Arab society have skyrocketed on his watch, more than doubling since he took office in December 2022.