Paying for the Privilege

Alternatives Information Center — 2010-08-02T16:19:54Z

The Israeli Knesset voted on July 13th to strip of MK Haneen Zoubi of key parliamentary privileges as punishment for her involvement in the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy, in which Israeli naval forces killed nine international activists, wounded dozens and hundreds were detained and deported.

"You are punishing me out of vengeance," Zoubi told fellow Knesset members during the hearing. "When you threaten the Arab MKs and the Arabs' protectors, you threaten democracy and co-existence between Jews and Arabs."

MK Zoubi is losing privileges granted to Knesset Members: the privilege to exit the country, the privilege to carry a diplomatic passport, and the privilege to have the Knesset cover litigation fees of an MK if he or she is put on trial.

Thirty-four lawmakers voted in favour of stripping Zoubi's privileges and 16 voted against after a heated debate, according to the Israeli news daily Ha'aretz.

The Knesset's House Committee first met on 7 June to recommend revoking the privileges of MK Zoubi following her participation in the aid mission to Gaza, an act some in the Knesset deemed treasonous.

MK Yariv Levin of the right-wing Zionist party Likud, and chairman of the House Committee, told Zoabi, "You have no place in the Israeli Knesset, you are unworthy of holding an Israeli ID and you embarrass the citizens of Israel, the Knesset, the Arab population and your family.”

Zoubi made history in February 2009, becoming the first Palestinian woman elected to a Palestinian party in the Knesset. Her party is the National Democratic Assembly (al-Tajamu), and before Zoubi only two other Palestinian women had seats in the Knesset (within Zionist political factions).

Immediately following Israel's attack on the Freedom Flotilla, Interior Minister Eli Yishai petitioned Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to revoke the citizenship of Zoabi (the Supreme Court previously ruled that an interior minister cannot revoke a person's citizenship without the written authorization of the attorney general).

"MK Zoubi used her immunity as a cloak to protect her from the law, although she was undoubtedly aware of the activists' preparations for the attack against IDF troops," Yishai wrote in his letter to Judge Weinstein. "This is a premeditated act of treason, and there is documented proof of this."

Following Tuesday's decision, MK Zoubi spoke out saying, "It's not surprising that a country that strips the fundamental rights of its Arab citizens would revoke the privileges of a Knesset member who loyally represents her electorate."

"I have the right and the duty to fight for my rights and my values," she continued, adding that "my positions are often different from those of the Likud, Kadima and most of the MKs. That's why I don't represent Kadima, the Labor Party or the Likud, but those who voted for me and in my case I represent the consensus of the Arab MKs."
"You have no freedom of choice with regards to the rules of democracy," Zoubi told fellow MKs. "There are fixed rules that do not change at whim. You do not need to protect democracy, but to protect me for democracy's sake."

Zoubi has said she will seek legal and international aid, according to Ha'aretz, in order to "rein in the vengeful tendencies of the automatic majority in the Knesset."

To learn more about Haneen Zoubi, click here for her April 2009 interview with Alternatives International Journal.

The Alternative Information Center is a Jerusalem-based partner of Alternatives International.

The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is an internationally oriented, progressive, joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization. It is engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy, grassroots activism and critical analysis of the Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The AIC strives to promote full individual and collective social, economic, political and gender equality, freedom and democracy and a rejection of the ideology and praxis of separation.

Flotilla Raid

Alternatives Information Center — 2010-06-02T17:54:04Z

On the morning of 31 May 2010, the Israeli navy perpetrated a crime against humanity when it attacked the Freedom Flotilla, bound for Gaza, sailing in international waters. On the boats were 750 people from 40 different countries, among them 44 parliamentarians and politicians.

Based on the initial news after the attack, the number killed is 16 and at least 60 are wounded. All the victims are international activists who helped organize this campaign to end Israel's three year siege on Gaza.

This attack against the Freedom Flotilla is an astounding crime in meaning and dimension. It is an attack against unarmed civilian ships. This is a crime and an act of piracy in international waters. It is a clear breach of international laws and agreements. Despite Israel's redeployment from Gaza in 2005, it has continued to impose a comprehensive siege against the 1.5 million people living in Gaza.

The Israeli government would not have the courage to commit such a crime if the international community were brave enough to face Israel's continuous violations of international law, if it had the power and will to force Israel to end its siege and to stop its aggressive actions against the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian people, and if the same international community had the power to take action and enforce the necessary procedures to push Israel to end its
occupation and to implement international resolutions. But this very clear crime against the Freedom Flotilla, which led to international deaths and dozens of injured, comes under the cover and support of the Netanyahu government by the American administration and the EU, and silence from the Arab regimes.

Meanwhile, Israel continues its settlement policy in Jerusalem and its aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is the governments of the international community and their political cover which allow Israel to continue its action and aggression as a state above and beyond the law.

The Alternative Information Center (AIC) places complete responsibility with the Israeli government and we request that the international, legal, political and humanitarian bodies move immediately to condemn this crime and to hold Israel accountable for its harsh actions. We also request the immediate lifting of the siege on Gaza so supplies can enter without any conditions.

In this context the AIC also calls for civil society organizations in Israel to move immediately to express their refusal, disgust and condemnation for this crime.

Now is the moment for the international community to raise its voice against these aggressive policies, it is the moment to take immediate political and legal action to hold Israel to account for its crimes, it is the moment to lift the siege against Gaza, it is the moment to force Israel to implement international resolutions, to end the occupation and to recognize the international rights of the Palestinian people. If this does not happen more blood will be shed.

The Alternative Information Center is a Jerusalem-based partner of Alternatives International.

The AIC strives to promote full individual and collective social, economic, political and gender equality, freedom and democracy and a rejection of the ideology and praxis of separation.