MK Ahmad Tibi
Photo: Erez Ehrlichman
Targeting the Arabs
Legislation that prevents MKs from visiting enemy states is an anti-Arab law
A barrage of anti-Arab bills is flooding the 17th Knesset. Every rightist faction and Knesset member want an anti-Arab law named after them, and preferably a law that targets Arab Knesset members. This is a “hot” issue; a worthwhile move ahead of the next elections.
Opposing View
Esterina Tartman
Arab MKs who pose danger to Israel do not deserve to serve in parliament
Methodically and consistently, the Right is attempting to tarnish the image of the entire Arab public, including its leadership, via draconian, McCarthyian, and ridiculous bills that easily become laws in the State of Israel.
The latest one is the law proposed by MKs Esterina Tartman and Zevulun Orlev, aimed at preventing those visiting “enemy states” (Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia) from running for the Knesset! Just like that.
The law is based on the assumption that anyone who visits one of these countries is automatically considered to be supporting the armed struggle against Israel. Yet is there something more ridiculous than this assumption? Is there something more transparent than the intention behind this bill, which is to empty the Knesset of Arab MKs?
Two personal examples: Less than three years ago I traveled to Lebanon for several hours to offer my condolences to the Hariri family following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Recently, I traveled to Yemen in order to meet the president there and deliver a lecture at the university. Should such visits take place after the law is passed, they will immediately be considered a means of support for the armed struggle against Israel (Perhaps because, along with the Arab journalists who accompanied me, we met with members of Yemen’s Jewish community?)
I refused many invitations
Similarly, anyone who travels to Syria to meet family members he hasn’t seen for 40 years, or those who meet with Syria’s foreign minister or who travel to Beirut to take part in a popular talk show will be treated the same way. Those are not visits that are meant to undermine the State of Israel or heaven forbid to infuriate people for no reason. Those are visits based on humanitarian-family considerations on the one hand, and on diplomatic purposes in order to promote genuine peace on the other hand. In the past I already refused many invitations that weren’t right for me.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is dying to meet with Syrian President Assad, yet if Arab MKs do it in Damascus they will be kicked out of the Knesset almost automatically. An “enemy state” is naturally always an Arab state, where only Arab MKs or civilians travel to. Therefore, it is clear that this bill aims to target Arabs. The identity of those behind the law, their positions and motives, and the identity of the “victims” of this law leave no room for doubt. Perhaps it would be better to change the name of the legislation to “the law for expelling Arabs from the Knesset.”
Indeed, it is not easy to be an Arab citizen in Israel, but it is mostly difficult to be an Arab Knesset member. Yet despite the fact that Knesset membership is not the most noble aim, I am comforted by the fact that the Arab MKs who are about to be removed and dismissed are much more capable and impressive than the group of MKs who wish to keep us away from parliament.
Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi is the deputy Knesset speaker
