On last Tuesday, June 24, during wars in Gaza and Iran, the Knesset House Committee began the process of expelling MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash). Why? He protected free speech and called for the end of war and occupation. But in a so called “Israel democracy” a political speech by a Hadash MK is grounds for dismissal. Dr Hassan Jabareen of Adalah—The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, who is serving as Odeh’s legal counsel and is arguing as such.
Att. Jabareen, condemned the process as fundamentally flawed and unlawful, noting that the MKs’ refusal to follow the legal advisor’s ruling violated Odeh’s rights and rendered the entire procedure illegitimate. He emphasized that Odeh’s speech is fully legal and protected. The proceedings confirmed what has been clear from the outset of this process: the expulsion attempt is a dangerous, inciteful escalation in the ongoing political assault against Hadash and Arab Palestinian lawmakers in Israel.
Zazim–Community Action, put out a public petition supporting Odeh, pointed out that this impeachment could have significant downstream effects. Expelling him from the Knesset could delegitimize Arab and leftist political participation in Israel more broadly, tamp down the Arab and democratic vote in the next election, and further silence an already silenced community. The petition received more than 5,170 signatures for Jewish and Arab citizens.
Also, the think tank Zulat for Equality and Human Rights was quoted in Haaretz calling the hearings “unacceptable, dangerous, and ridiculous,” warning that this is “a campaign of incitement against the Arab community” writ large.
According to the New Israel Found, “Ayman Odeh and the movement he’s built stands for something that we at NIF have long believed in Jewish-Arab partnership. Partnership is the cornerstone of a true democracy, of the very idea of equality before the law, and the antidote to Jewish supremacy. As former Executive Director of Breaking the Silence Avner Gvaryahu wrote, “Odeh proves that it is possible to be a proud Palestinian Arab and still work for a better Israeli society for everyone.” He continued, “Jewish-Arab partnership is not just a matter of social justice or a historical correction. It is the basis of any genuine vision of change in the Middle East. If we continue to live in the reality of separation, suspicion and dominance of one group over another, we will continue to walk in the same circles of violence and oppression. Partnership offers another way—a way through, in which the national conflict does not have to define every relationship between Jews and Arabs.”
Therefore, repelling Ayman Odeh from the public sphere is not only an expulsion of an Arab citizen from the Knesset, but also a continued expulsion of the ideas of the left. This is a clear message from the fascist government that the politics of partnership is undesirable, that the public space is only for those willing to remain silent about the occupation and war. It’s part of a broader process of narrowing democratic spaces and revoking the legitimacy of critical votes.
Last week, during a session of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Co-Chairperson of the Political Group United European Left and member of the Cypriot delegation, George Loucaides, condemned the ongoing proceedings brought before the Knesset with the aim of expelling MK Ayman Odeh
In a teleconference held during the Committee meeting with the participation of Israeli MKs Merav Ben Ari (Yesh Atid) and far-right Boaz Bismuth (Likud), representatives of the Knesset in the PACE, he called on them to take action to end the process of expelling Odeh. He also stressed that the attempt to expel him constitutes a “punitive reaction to his public and courageous calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for an end to the Israeli occupation and for the achievement of a two-state political solution between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Silencing an elected member of the Israeli parliament because of his political views, the Cypriot MP stressed, is a flagrant violation of freedom of expression and democratic principles. “At the same time, he continued, it sends a particularly worrying message to the Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel that their parliamentary representation is conditional, their voices are ignored, and their rights are under constant threat and violation.” In conclusion, MPE Loucaides called on all members of the Knesset to reject the proposal to expel Mr. Odeh, defending the inalienable right of all Knesset members, Jewish and Arab, to freedom of speech without fear of expulsion or criminalization of their opinions.
According to J Street, “the political home and voice for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans”, MK Odeh “is a leader of deep principles. He believes in a future where both Palestinians and Israelis can live in dignity and peace – and that is something we should all support. This move to expel him from the Knesset is straight out of the far right’s authoritarian playbook.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32789
