Knesset Member Talab El-Sana, chairman of the United Arab List-Ta’al party, announced Monday that he is joining a team of attorneys defending Hamas ministersand members of parliament detained by the IDF following the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit.
El-Sana told Ynet “I plan on representing only the ministers and parliament members, as I believe the arrests were political. If Hamas would have accepted Israel’s demands, there is no doubt that these arrests would never have occurred. This is blatant political persecution.”
According to the MK, he decided to join the defense team just recently after considering the matter for weeks. He said he would go over the material ahead of Tuesday’s hearing at the Ofer military base detention facility.
“I have already contacted the Hamas parliament members and my first conversation with them will be held tomorrow (Tuesday),” El-Sana added.
The Arab MK said the arrests stemmed from the Israeli government’s ‘helplessness.’
“The claims according to which the parliamentarians are terror group members are false, as these same parliament members participated in the Palestinian elections with Israel’s consent,” he said. “Their arrest was carried out by a powerless Israeli government that had lost its cool. This attitude will bring Iran to Gaza and Jordan, at which time there will also be calls to establish commissions of inquiry.”
El-Sana added: “I am not saying that Israel’s demands were not legitimate, but its means are wrong. A country cannot act like the mob. With its actions Israel is placing itself on par with Shalit’s kidnappers.”