Petition demands condemnation of journalist Ayala Hasson's remarks on Bedouin women

Over 1,700 people signed a petition by Bedouin women's movement Al-Nashmiyat and Itach Ma'aki association, calling for condemnation and apology for remarks by journalist Ayala Hasson about Bedouin women voters in the Negev, which the petition calls discriminatory and racist.

An opinion piece by a Palestinian-Israeli feminist activist sharply attacks journalist Ayala Hasson, who in an interview on 'Galei Israel' described Bedouin women in the Negev going out to vote as women with veils, violent men, polygamy, and 'elderly' 26-year-olds. The author argues that Hasson turned the exercise of a basic democratic right into a collection of racist and chauvinistic stereotypes, and notes that the prime minister echoed a fake image of Bedouin women dressed in black at polling stations to scare Jewish voters. The article mentions that the British newspaper 'The Guardian' published a piece on the organization of Bedouin women ahead of the elections, and that voter turnout in several Bedouin localities tripled according to estimates by local activists. The author emphasizes that Palestinian women in Israel are gaining political power, demanding representation in decision-making centers, and daring to break the silence around sexual harassment. She calls for dismantling the racist perception that Palestinian women are incapable of being independent political subjects.