Sulha Against Arab Society

Rawia Handklo attacks the state's use of sulha as a tool for managing crime in Arab society instead of law enforcement. She argues that the state uses Arab culture as an excuse to abandon citizens, strengthening criminal and patriarchal mechanisms. She calls for uniform and egalitarian rule of law.

Rawia Handklo, an opinion writer for ynet, attacks the state's use of sulha as a tool for managing crime in Arab society instead of law enforcement. She argues that the concept of 'quiet' serves as a misleading metric, hiding who holds power and at what cost. Sulha, she says, can be a legitimate mediation process in community disputes, but not in place of criminal proceedings in cases of murder, shootings, and extortion. She accuses the state of deliberate obfuscation: an offense becomes a 'dispute,' the victim is asked to 'compromise,' and the state's failure is presented as 'cultural adaptation.' She cites Dr. Manar Hassan, who showed how the use of the concept of 'family honor' obscured the state's responsibility for the murder of women. Handklo claims that the state recognizes sulha mechanisms, including the establishment of an alternative sulha council in the Negev, thereby legitimizing criminal power holders and reinforcing a patriarchal order. She calls on the state to stop using Arab culture as an excuse for abandonment and to demand egalitarian institutions and uniform rule of law.