Israeli protesters have been demonstrating against the Netanyahu government’s controversial efforts to radically overhaul the judicial system for nearly three months. And while the protests regularly bring out more than 100,000 people to the streets across Israel, few Arab faces have appeared among the demonstrators.

The protests cause some minor annoyances, like traffic delays, to Palestinians living in East Jerusalem.

But the greater threat to these East Jerusalem Palestinians are the proposed changes to Israel’s judiciary system. The changes, referred to as “reforms,” would limit the Supreme Court’s powers to rule against the legislative and executive branches, effectively giving the Knesset the power to override Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority.

I believe that such changes would be dangerous to East Jerusalem Palestinians, especially when right-wing governments – like the current one led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – are in power and oppose giving Palestinians more rights.

As a political science scholar with a regional focus on the Middle East, I have spent a significant time with East Jerusalem Palestinians asking what they think about judicial reform plans and the protests against it.

Our discussions show that East Jerusalem Palestinians feel an an overarching sense of indifference and resignation to whatever will happen.

“That is the Israelis’ fight, not mine,” or “What does it matter what happens? Nothing will help with anything anyway,” were the most common reactions that East Jerusalem Palestinians had to the protests when I spoke with them in March 2023.