June 5 2010 Press Release: I’lam Expresses Serious Alarm over Parliamentary Silencing of Arab MK Haneen Zoabi and of Increasing Persecution of Arab Leadership
I’lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel expresses serious alarm about the verbal, nearly physical, attack and silencing on the part of a number of Knesset parliamentarians of Arab MK and former I’lam Director, Haneen Zoabi on Wednesday June 2.
On May 31 2010, Haneen Zoabi was on board the Mavi Marmara when Israeli commandos took over the ship resulting in the deaths of nine activists on board. On June 2, following her release from police custody the day before, Haneen was delivering an address to the Knesset plenum, attempting to convey to the parliamentarians what she experienced on board the ship and the questions that she was subsequently forced to raise as a passenger, as a Palestinian citizen of Israel and a fellow Member of Knesset.
Instead of being allowed the space to freely tell the Knesset plenum of her experiences, that which should have been encouraged given multiple calls by the international community for an independent investigation by Israel into the issue, MK Zoabi was subjected to a series of verbal abuses as “traitor” and “terrorist” as well as a statement from one parliamentarian that the Israeli commandos acted with restraint in killing only nine.
MK Zoabi was asking questions such as why did Israel refuse journalists access to those passengers on board the Mavi Marmara, why did the government confiscate the cameras of journalists on board and why has it not released photos of the bodies? These are important questions that the Knesset is obligated to ask according to a UN presidential statement adopted by the Security Council (SC) as the SC called for a prompt and impartial investigation into the attack on this humanitarian aid ship that appears to have been conducted in violation of a number of rules and norms of international law.
In a press conference on June 1, Haneen Zoabi conveyed to the public what she experienced on board the ship during the Israeli attack. She asserted that Israeli forces began firing well before landing on deck, first from naval vessels, later from those descending from a helicopter onto the ship’s deck. She also recounted how she requested medical help from the Israeli forces for two persons seriously injured on board but that the forces did not respond, and the injured two bled to death. Following this first hand harrowing experience, she was effectively silenced from retelling it in the Knesset.
Since the attack in the Knesset, MK Danny Danon said the Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation had agreed to debate a bill to allow for removing acting MKs from their position if they were found to have committed incitement against the State of Israel, while a request had been submitted to the Central Elections Committee to block MK Zoabi from being able to run in any future Knesset election. Interior Minister Eli Yishai is seeking the Attorney General’s permission to revoke her parliamentary immunity in order for Haneen Zoabi to be stripped of her citizenship!
The treatment of MK Zoabi and the violation to her freedom of expression is a gross violation of the freedom of expression of her political constituency, a significant portion of the Palestinian community in Israel. The political persecution that followed with the slew of bills being proposed is a serious assault on the freedom of expression of Palestinian citizens of the state.
We at I’lam are gravely concerned about such repressive actions of the Israeli government and the increasingly precarious position of Palestinian citizens of Israel in relation to it. It seems that any siding with ‘Palestinians’ is criminal, even if to provide food, medical aid, wheelchairs and other humanitarian assistance that made up the cargo of the Freedom Flotilla.
The attack and silencing of MK Zoabi is not an isolated one. On June 3 Mohammed Kana’neh, General Secretary of the political party ‘Abnaa Il-Balad’ was banned according to a 1948 Emergency Regulation from leaving Israel for a month. This move comes on the heels of the arrest, detention and likely torture of Palestinian community activists and citizens, Ameer Makhoul and ‘Omar Sa’eed weeks prior.
I’lam Media Center sees such attacks on the Arab leadership and civil society actors as fundamental violations of basic human rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of movement and freedom of assembly. These attacks come to limit the spaces of deliberation and democratic participation in Israel, especially for Arab leaders to debate fundamental policy issues related to basic human rights, especially those related to the Arab community.
In light of calls from the international community for a prompt and independent investigation, I’lam is of the opinion that Haneen Zoabi is strongly placed to head the independent investigative committee, or at least be one of its principal members, be the committee of Israeli or international initiative. This is because she was both a participant in the Freedom Flotilla and has first hand knowledge of events on the ship and she is also an Israeli member of Knesset and therefore acts in official capacity in Israel.
The fact that Haneen Zoabi was not allowed to probe questions to a plenum that should in fact themselves be asking those questions and demanding answers, tells of how the Israeli government is responding to the Freedom Flotilla incident in a knee jerk manner in order to deflect all blame and avoid accountability.
The siege on Gaza has met with international condemnation and its lifting has been called upon multiple times by the United Nations and even most recently by the US following the Freedom Flotilla attack. Nevertheless, charges of “traitor” and “terrorist” are leveled at those who attempt to lift the siege as a matter of international humanitarian imperative. This forces us to question – what are the values of a system that in official parlance and action equates humanitarian assistance to Palestinians with terrorism? Are these values in keeping with the values of the international community and the principle of human dignity that is meant to inform international human rights law?
I’lam Media Center demands that the government immediately cease and rectify these acts of political persecution of the Palestinian Arab citizenry and to lift the siege on Gaza, in keeping with international law. It also calls upon the international community to weigh in during this crucial moment where the position of Palestinian citizens in Israel is growing increasingly precarious.
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