In recent times we have seen a rise in the number of marches organized by extreme right-wing Jewish groups in Arab towns. In past months rightist activists have staged demonstrations in Umm el-Fahem, Rahat and Yaffa, during which they shouted racist chants against Arabs. These demonstrations led to counter demonstrations that were met with a violent response from the police and injuries to Arab demonstrators.

These events raise a number of questions, such as: What is the appropriate response by Arabs to these provocations? Should they ask the police to ban the right-wing demonstrations? Should they approach the judiciary to limit the right of the extreme political right to freedom of expression?

These questions put us in a difficult dilemma. These demonstrations promote racism towards Arab citizens and accelerate the process of delegitimizing them as citizens, but the legal struggle to limit the right of the right-wing to demonstrate may lead - at a practical and pragmatic level - to an infringement of the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression of Arab citizens, as a minority group.

In our view, these issues raise pragmatic questions and not questions about the values themselves.