Nine Arab citizens of Israel tell Haaretz why they took to the streets even before the escalation

“Our stage is the street.” “Expressing our solidarity with the residents of Sheikh Jarrah is for me a national obligation, a human and universal one.” “We cannot remain silent any longer.”

Before the escalation in the Gaza Strip and the violent events that swept into Israel, thousands of Israeli citizens took to the streets in recent weeks, participating in legal, nonviolent demonstrations in mixed Arab-Jewish cities, Arab towns and at major intersections. In interviews with Haaretz, they lay out the diverse reasons that brought them out into the streets, explaining against whom and what they are protesting.