A noisy argument broke out Monday morning between Arab and right-wing Knesset members during a discussion of the "Nakba law" at the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
The bill discussed, which is a softened version
of the original "Nakba law",
revokes government funding for institutions encouraging activities marking 'catastrophe' of Israel's
establishment.
| Opinion |
|
| A dirty little secret / Moshe Dann |
|
Every time someone writes, speaks of ‘Palestinians’ a myth is reinforced |
| Full story |
|
|
|
MK Dov Khenin (Hadash)
said during the discussion, "The laws democracy must defend itself against are being advanced here. This is a dangerous law." MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu)
replied. "I don't want the State to feed the snake and feed it so that it bites the State."
During the stormy discussion, the participants raised their voices more than once. MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al)
strongly criticized the bill, saying "we must not ignore the contexts that the law's initiators, who come from the Israeli fascist party… It explicitly talks about the Arabs in the State of Israel. This is a thought police law. Orwell, the Big Brother."
MK Rotem replied, "Stop the demagogy. This law does not talk about thoughts… You are not loyal to the State of Israel."
MKs Tibi and El-Sana. Stormy discussion (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
"Why is the finance minister responsible for this law?" Tibi asked. "Put the police commissioner, the thought police… Or put (Foreign Minister Avigdor) Lieberman
to decide which bodies the Arabs may support and which not. Be a man, say this is what you want. Democracy is not only the majority's right to rule and oppress. It is mainly the minority's right to be different and equal, and you and your party will never understand this."
Rotem responded, "It can be different and equal, but it must be loyal. You must understand this… You are not loyal to the State of Israel as a Jewish state." Tibi said, "I am against Zionism," to which the Yisrael Beiteinu MK replied, "If you don't like it here so much…"
"I want to change the situation," Tibi said. Rotem replied, "Hamas
in Gaza wants you," to which Tibi responded, "The last person to arrive leaves first and should turn off the light at Ben-Gurion Airport."
Rotem continued, "I am the landlord here, I live here… I was born here before you and don't you send me away, because I will send you away much faster." Tibi accused, "You are an occupier." Rotem responded, "I am the landlord, not an occupier."
MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) interrupted them by saying, "The occupation is illegal according to international law." Rotem replied, "We will not let you throw us in the sea. You have tried to destroy us, but you won't succeed and we will stay here. Look at what you did in 1973… You are trying to expel the Jews from here. You won't succeed."
"You are the ones expelling us," El-Sana said. "We are here to say whether you like it or not," Rotem replied. "You are oppressing occupiers," said El-Sana, "settling and whining." Tibi barged in, "Let's wait and see who has more patience. You even stole our zaatar (Middle Eastern mixture of spices)," he added with a smile.
According to the bill, an institution funded by the State will not spend any money on activities which deny the existence of the State of Israel or its democratic nature, support an armed struggle or act of terror, incite to racism, violence or terror, and impairing the dignity of the State's flag or the State's symbol.
MK Khenin explained why he believes the bill is inappropriate. "This law is a very, very far-reaching law. It appears to be a moderated version of the same 'Nakba law' which sparked a public discourse, but in practice that's not what it is. I believe this law is more dangerous than the 'Nakba law' in its original version.
"We determine that the State of Israel will not fund a public body if it fails to meet certain political standards. What will be the nature of the political standards? It will change from one Knesset to another. The committee is about to agree on the principle which states that political lawmakers will determine who the State supports financially and who it doesn't," he said, adding that this was a case of political censorship.
MK El-Sana slammed the Yisrael Beiteinu party. "I believe and understand that the party is in a state of distress. In their entire campaign was led against what is called citizenship and loyalty, and empty slogans. Now they wish to justify their existence by coming up with bills that are a threat to democracy. This law is aimed at fighting opinions and ideas… Tomorrow it will reach dreams. We must form a police which will prosecute them for their own opinions and dreams."
MK Rotem interrupted him once again, saying that "this law talks about actions, not about thoughts. What you think in your own home is of no interest to me. There is not one word against Arabs in the law."
RSS
