Arab reactions mixed over Zoabi outburst
Following Balad MK Hanin Zoabi's outburst at the Knesset, whereby she called the IDF soldiers who took over the Mavi Marmara 'murderers,' many members of Israel's Arab sector have expressed displeasure at the MK's performance
Many members of the Israeli-Arab community have expressed their disgust of MK Hanin Zoabi (Joint Arab List) after she called the soldiers who took over the Mavi Marmara "murderers"
during a Knesset plenum.
Fadi Mansour is a social activist in the Joint Arab list from Tira, and he said that "I'm not at all pleased with Zoabi's actions. She acts in a maner which really disappoints the Arab sector sometimes. If I were in her place, I wouldn't have responded in that way – there are people in the government who are just waiting to pounce on behavior like that. None of the yelling done by the Arab MKs helps us at all, it only harms us.
Both private citizens and Israeli-Arab political activists are resentful of the way Zoabi is handling her job, and wonder how what she says can possibly benefit the Israeli-Arab sector.
Mohammed Tabat, a resident of the city of Taybe, said that "I'm sorry to say that Zoabi sometimes goes to far in her opposition. We don’t want leaders in the Knesset who just yell and don't promote other things (important to our sector- ed). We're sick of her behavior. I've begun to feel that everything she does is a performance. At the end of the day, the Arab citizens are the ones who pay the price. I support her being involved in politics, but not at the price of the Israeli-Arab community."
Hanin Zoabi calls IDF soldiers murderers (ערוץ הכנסת)
Mansur continued, saying "if one were to poll the Arab community on Arab MKs, I don't think Zoabi would fare as well as she has in the past. Israeli-Arabs are more interested in how to provide a better life for themselves and to improve society. I'm sorry to say that no (Arab MK) is doing this. Zoabi is looking for attention, especially after not receiving a good position in the internal Balad elections a month ago.
A resident of Nazareth, Zoabi's hometown, also expressed her disapproval of the Balad MK. "In my opinion, a lot of the Arab MKs need to leave their positions. Most of the time, they talk about politics as if Israeli-Arabs don't exist at all. The yelling and political arguing with racists only serves to waste our time. We need budget allocations to promote projects (in the sector). We don't want to lose our rights to budgetary allocations because of yelling and curses."
MK Hanin Zoabi (Photo: Knesset Channel
"We're proud of Zoabi"
However, there are still those in the Arab sector who very much support Zoabi. One political activist said "we are proud that Zoabi represents us in the Knesset. What she is doing is something which many politicians don't have the courage to do. She is in the right place, and the government doesn't have the right to mitigate her actions as someone who was elected by the public."Zoabi got ninth place in the Balad council elections held a month ago. MK Jamal Zahalka got fifth place, and MK Basel Ghattas came in 23rd place. Hibba Yibek, Zoabi's competition during the previous Knesset elections, came in fourth place.
Balad officials have said that "these results show that a lot of the party activists want a leadership change. These results may also point to a paradigm shift in the party and in the leadership, and the current leaders may be replaced during the next Knesset elections."
