In the past four years, Haneen Zoabi has been threatened, spat at, manhandled, accused of being a terrorist and subjected to attempts to expel or disqualify her from the Israeli parliament. The vilification of the feisty Israeli-Arab politician comes mainly as a result of her participation in the flotilla of ships attempting to breach the blockade of Gaza in 2010.

But in the next few days, she faces a different battle, this time within her own community: to persuade Arab citizens of Israel to exercise their right to vote. Polls predict that possibly fewer than half of Israeli-Arabs will vote in the elections in Israel next Tuesday, a far smaller proportion than the Jewish population, which is expected to see a turnout of around 70%.

Of the non-voters, the vast majority cite reasons of "apathy and disappointment". "[They say]: 'We can change nothing, we don't want to be involved in politics,'" says Zoabi, a member of parliament for the Israeli-Arab party Balad. A much smaller minority "don't vote as an ideological boycott".

She listens to what all sides have to say, whether they intend to vote or not. But she believes, at present, there is no serious political alternative to participating in Israeli elections.

"A boycott now is an act of weakness, not an act of active struggle. We would be out of politics. We need to develop another political struggle, for example civil disobedience, while also using our voice inside the Knesset [parliament]." Challenge, she says, is sometimes more effective from the inside than the outside.

At the same time, some criticise her for not solving problems faced by Israeli-Arabs, such as unemployment, crime, poor housing and entrenched discrimination. "They think I'm [prime minister] Binyamin Netanayhu, they think I'm the government," she says wryly, acknowledging her limited power to effect change.

Neither Zoabi nor any other representative of an Israeli-Arab party is likely to come anywhere close to government in the foreseeable future. Although Israeli-Arabs make up 20% of the country's population, no Arab party has ever been part of the ruling coalition.

Even so, Zoabi is expected to be re-elected next week for her second term as a member of the Knesset. The past four years, her first term, have taught her to react more coolly, she says: "But I am not less passionate, not less determined. I'm not optimistic or pessimistic, I just know that we must continue to struggle because there is no other way.

"Here in Israel, a 'good' Arab – those whom they don't hate, those whom they accept – is a very humiliated Arab. If you want to feel as a human being, you must be a 'bad' Arab."

An effervescent 43-year-old, Zoabi is undoubtedly a "bad" Arab in the eyes of the Israeli establishment and much of the public. Her participation in the 2010 "freedom flotilla" to Gaza, which ended in Israeli commandos shooting dead nine Turkish activists on board the Mavi Marmara, led to her being accused of treason and terrorism. She was stripped of her parliamentary privileges and assigned special protection following death threats. An attempt to bring criminal charges against her failed. Last month, the central elections committee disqualified her as a candidate, citing her flotilla participation, a decision later overturned by the supreme court.

"My main 'crime' was to try to break the siege on Gaza, and to struggle against the occupation. The minute you challenge something relating to the rights of Palestinians and the policies of Israel and the army, you are a threat," she says.

But she did not fully anticipate the political repercussions. Few people wanted to hear her account, she says. "We face a kind of society which has a lot of hatred towards Palestinians, a lot of ideological fear. In order to justify your violence and aggression, you must convince yourself that they are terrorists."

Political parties on the Israeli left offered no support, she says. Meretz, the most leftwing party, "made sure not to open their mouths. They care more about legitimacy within their own society".

Zoabi describes the regime governing Israel and the Palestinian territories as apartheid. "If the definition of apartheid is to preserve privileges for one people at the expense of another people, in terms of land, resources, citizenship laws – then this is apartheid. There are differences between South Africa and Israel. But apartheid is how to control, how to keep the dominance. Even if apartheid is a narrow definition of segregation, you can still find a lot of apartheid policies in Israel – roads, land confiscation, checkpoints."

She cites the 2011 Admissions Committee Law, which allows small communities in Israel built on state land to reject applicants who "do not suit the lifestyle and social fabric of the community". It denies Arab citizens the right to live on the majority of the land in Israel, she says. "This is an apartheid law."

Zoabi, who comes from a Muslim family, is the first woman to sit as a representative of an Arab party in the Israeli parliament. Explaining how she navigates the complex circles of her life, she says: "I'm not married, I still live with my parents because I don't like to live alone, but I go out, I meet my friends at restaurants, and no one can criticise me. This is a kind of partial freedom, because there are borders – and I know the borders. There are limits, but I don't see my society as either conservative or liberal. And it's changing all the time.

"Part of my vision is to have a modern, liberal, secular society. For me, that's not less important than fighting against Israeli racism. The issues of equality and injustice between men and women are as important as issues of equality between Jews and Arabs. I want my freedom as a woman – I cannot say no to inequality with Jews but yes to inequality with men. Dignity is very important to human values, and part of that is my dignity as a woman."