extreme Islamist’s […] coming from out of Haifa […] unlawful pro-Palestinian demonstrations… That’s what Yona Yahav, so called “liberal” mayor of #Haifa, has to say about the Palestinian protests against the genocide in #Gaza. This lie on a lie on a lie is more then “just” an attempt to de-legitimize the protests, and standing behind the police repression. This is a racist denial of the right of the #Haifa #Palestinians to exist as community. There is a subtext to the claim “coming from out of Haifa”, a term that never comes up when talking about Jewish protesters (or bullies). That claim makes every Arab a subject to the question “is he from Haifa” ? The answer to that question can be found in the first paragraph, where Yahav tells a story about his childhood, standing with his mother, shedding a tear about the Arab neighbors who “chose” (his words) to leave. We all know that old #Zionist fantasy story and we all know that the [vast majority of] #Palestinian #refugees were denied from return. The current #Palestinian community of Haifa is built mostly from people who came to Haifa after 48 and made it their home. A home to a diverse and active Palestinian community and a center of cultural and political life, including ,apparently, demonstrations. Yahav attempts to draw a legitimate protest of Haifa (and other places) #Palestinians – as “foreign” and illegitimate. and by-product, to question the roots of the #Palestinian residents of #Haifa, who “came from other places” sometime in the past and are therefor not entitled to own Haifa as a center and exist in it politically.