The chairman of the Joint List, MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash), is among the top 100 “leading global thinkers” of 2015 published annually, now for the seventh year, by the magazine Foreign Policy. “Middle East peace talks may be all but dead, but Ayman Odeh still dreams of resolving the world’s most intractable conflict,” wrote the magazine.

Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List addressing the Knesset (Photo: Al Ittihad)

From Tuesday, December 1, Odeh is undertaking an unprecedented mission to the United States, where he will hold meetings scheduled at the White House, State Department, and the United Nations, as well as in newsrooms of important media outlets like The New York Times and the Washington Post. Odeh will also meet with political activists and representatives from the Palestinian and Jewish communities, intellectuals, as well as prominent civil rights leaders at the Atlanta church of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

“I’m going in order to talk about institutionalized discrimination and about 100,000 Arab-Bedouin citizens who live without water and electricity in the unrecognized villages of the Negev while this government continues to pour billions into the settlements. No halfhearted apology will make up for the fact that Netanyahu’s government is based on racist incitement against Arabs and contempt for what remains of the democratic space,” said Odeh.

“The prevailing tone in the world towards Israel and Palestine is one of despair and hopelessness… We don’t have the privilege of despairing. Tough times like now prove that the conflict can’t be managed, but it can be solved, and that’s the only way that there will be independence and security for both peoples here.”

“A month ago, Netanyahu tried in polished English to hide the fact that his government is based on racial incitement against Arab citizens – and his continued incitement and hatred,” said Odeh. “The only apology that we are going to accept is a complete change in policy that will lead to full equality for Israel’s Arab citizens.”