Joint Arab-Hebrew demonstration in Tel Aviv

The largest joint Palestinian-Israeli, Arab-Hebrew, Islamic-Christian-Jewish-Druze demonstration – and I do not say, as is the deliberate Zionist term, “Arab-Jewish” – took place in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, January 31, 2026. It was called for by: 1- The Follow-up Committee for the Palestinian Arab Community, which serves as the daily political leadership for Palestinians in the 1948 territories, headed by Dr. Jamal Zahalka, and 2- The Committee of Heads of Arab Local Councils in the 1948 territories, headed by Mazen Ghnaim, Mayor of Sakhnin. Both delivered speeches to the joint crowd participating in the “Black Flags” demonstration, in response to and rejection of the widespread violence and criminal acts, which are planned, programmed, and colluded with by political security agencies and the Israeli police, with the aim of confusing, weakening, and tearing apart the Palestinian Arab community in the 1948 territories, the people of Carmel, Galilee, the Triangle, the Negev, and the historical mixed coastal cities.
A massive demonstration attended by tens of thousands, described as the largest joint Arab-Hebrew demonstration to take place in Tel Aviv since the colonization of Palestine in 1948.
The joint Tel Aviv demonstration sent a message in two directions:
First, it demonstrated the unity of the Palestinian Arab community in the 1948 territories, and it eliminated and overcame the “Palestinian division” ailment. It also demonstrated the unity of suffering due to the racist behavior and national discrimination faced by the Palestinian Arab community in the 1948 territories. It presented a model of unified action by parties, parliament members, and Palestinian activists in the 1948 territories. As a result, a coalition formula was reached to contest parliamentary elections with a joint party electoral list from the four active parties: 1- The Islamic Movement, 2- The Democratic Front, 3- The National Democratic Assembly, 4- The Arab Movement for Change, which will reflect itself in an increase in those willing to go to the polls, and an increase in the parliamentary representation of Palestinians inside to 15 seats or perhaps more.
Second, it demonstrated the existence of a common ground for action between Arab political forces and progressive democratic Hebrew forces, between Palestinians and Israelis, between Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Druze. And on the occasion of mentioning the Druze, the head of the Druze community in Palestine, Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, called for the participation of Druze and Druze local councils in this protest against violence and criminal acts.
The existence of a Palestinian-Israeli, Arab-Hebrew partnership provides a climate and ground that can be built upon, strengthened, and documented by both parties: by Palestinians and Israelis, and by the Arab and Hebrew nationalities, and among the adherents of the Islamic, Christian, Jewish, and Druze religions, all together, against Zionism, occupation, racism, and their projects of expansionist, replacement occupation at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people, their homeland, their land, and their legitimate aspirations for equality, independence, and return.
The Saturday demonstration was described by Ibrahim Sarsour, the former head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 territories, who wrote to me:
“We are indeed facing a new stage, which requires our leaders to free themselves from all personal, factional, and partisan considerations and selfishness, and to prioritize the supreme interests of the Palestinian people, and to preserve this unprecedented popular cohesion, and to invest it in strengthening national unity, which is the safety valve in confronting all challenges and dangers.”
He wrote: “The miracle of Sakhnin on Thursday, January 22, 2026, which gave birth to the largest demonstration witnessed by our Palestinian Arab masses inside, is the same one that gave birth to the new ‘Joint List’ as a political project that may begin as technically pluralistic, but I am confident that it will quickly transform into a comprehensive and inclusive national project. It is the same one that gave birth to the Tel Aviv demonstration on January 31, 2026, which marks the beginning of a new decisive stage, and we must realize that in the lives of peoples there are turning points that constitute new beginnings that deeply separate a previous stage from a subsequent one.”
What Ibrahim Abdullah Sarsour said and wrote is what Jamal Zahalka, Mazen Ghnaim, Ayman Odeh, Sami Abu Shehadeh, Abbas Mansour, Ahmed Tibi, and Yousef Jabareen said, reinforcing what they did for their people, and for their aspirations for a better tomorrow, towards victory for equality, independence, and return.