Arab-Israeli MKs brand proposed travel ban 'racist'

Wednesday October 31, 2007 19:09 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

A number of Arab-Israeli members of the Knesset have spoken out against a proposed new law that would ban them from traveling to most Arab nations.

Israeli Knesset (archive)

Israeli considers a great many Arab states as 'hostile, and a new law currently under consideration by the Israeli Knesset would ban anyone who visits one of these nations from holding legislative office in the Knesset.

A plenum in the Knesset approved a preliminary reading of the bill on Wednesday.

The Arab-Israeli minority in the Knesset were vocal dissenters to the quorum. MK Ahmed Tibi stated, "The Knesset is steeped in racism. Corrupt members of Knesset want a Knesset without Arabs. If I am invited to Arab countries, I will go regardless of the law. I am sure that a person who violates an unjustified law, or whose conscience is not completely clear, and is willing to pay the price and be imprisoned in order to raise public awareness regarding the injustice in the law, then that person is showing his respect to the most supreme values."

MK Talab A-Sana said that "the bill is opposed to peace, the Arab public, and its representatives that are visiting Arab states. This is a dark bill that constitutes political persecution, and shows what a substandard level the Knesset has reached."

Right-wing MK Esterina Tartman, who proposed the bill, stated, "as in most of the proper Western states, Israel too must remove the right to vote from citizens who visit enemy states without authorization and support our enemies in violation of the laws of the state. It's time that Israel opens its eyes. Enough of Arab Knesset members spitting in our faces and us saying it's raining."

Arabs in the Knesset were quick to respond to Tartman's accusations, with several branding the MK as a racist.

"This is a despicable step of approving racist laws in the Knesset which reached a peak with its approval of this law with the agreement of the coalition. To all the inciters and racists we say: If you place before us the choice of cutting us off from our history, and being in the Knesset – we'll leave the Knesset to you, and all the racists can choke," MK Mohammad Barakeh stated.

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