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Tibi with supporters after the elections
Photo: Nidal Abu Sara
Lieberman - 'More dangerous than Haider'
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin

UK-based paper calls for boycott of Lieberman

'Al-Quds Al-Arabi' joins call issued by MK Ahmad Tibi to boycott any government that includes Avigdor Lieberman among its ranks. 'Lieberman is far more dangerous than Haider and the leaders of Nazi parties in Europe,' says Tibi

United Arab List- Ta'al Chairman MK Ahmad Tibi's call for the international community to boycott any Israeli government that included Yisrael Beitenu Chairman, Avigdor Lieberman received the backing of the London-based 'Al-Quds Al-Arabi' newspaper on Saturday.

 

The paper ran an editorial urging the world to refuse to deal with the Israeli government if it included Lieberman among its ranks.

 

Although no coalition has been formed yet following the elections, various figures in the Arab world have been quick to slam the possibility of Lieberman joining any future government.

 

"The international community and the West must state that they will boycott any government that includes Lieberman and the 'Yisrael Beitenu' party," MK TIbi told a Tunisian newspaper on Thursday.

However, Tibi said, "we anticipate that the international community will welcome such a government. I am convinced that racism is a disgraceful thing in the world, but when that racism is enacted by Israel against Arabs, it is welcomed."

 

Tibi's call did not fall on deaf ears, and the Arab-language UK paper known for its anti-Israel stance launched its campaign for the cause.

 

"The leader of the extreme-right 'Yisrael Beitenu' is acting like the pretty girl everyone is chasing. In winning 15 mandates in the recent elections he has become the key player in the coalition talks, and it has made the primary parties willing to answer all of his demands to convince him to join the government they will form," the paper wrote.

 

Tibi's boycott call, the editorial says, must extend beyond Arab nations and include the West as well.

 

'Lieberman is just like Haider'

Tibi, whose own party won four mandates, said: "Europe boycotted any government that had Hamas in it and put the movement on the terror organizations list even though it has never acted in violence outside the occupied Palestinian territories. It (Europe) is not demanding the expulsion of Jews from Palestine, as Lieberman is doing with the Arab residents who comprise a fifth of Israel's citizens.

 

"This is the place to recall that European nations also boycotted the leader of the right-wing Austrian party Jorg Haider when his party won the clean and free elections, because they saw him as a racist leader.

 

"Lieberman is far more dangerous than Haider and all the other leaders of Nazi parties in Europe. He is the one negating coexistence with any other race or religion and demanding the expulsion of citizens who have lived in this land for at least 5,000 years while he only came to that land from Russia less than 30 years ago."

 

The 'Al-Quds Al-Arabi' editorial also referred to Tibi's remarks that Lieberman's success in the elections is

testament to how racist Israeli society has become. "We add our voice to that of Dr. Ahmad Tibi and all the other Arab parties and leaders who share this position and call to stand up against the Israeli racist who promotes policies of ethnic cleansing against Arabs until the other Israeli leaders understand that this racism is unacceptable. No only to Arabs but to the entire world.

 

"Any stand against a government that includes Lieberman will have to be more aggressive than that against the racist regime in South Africa until it was overthrown. A firm stand against Lieberman will only be the start of a broader mission against the Israeli governments who carried out wars of mass annihilation against the Palestinian people," the paper said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.14.09, 19:48
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