Knesset Must Explain Why MK Zoabi’s Rights Were Stripped

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 14:28 Tania Kepler for the Alternative Information Center (AIC)

The Israeli High Court ruled on Tuesday, 26 April, that the Knesset must explain why the rights of Knesset Member Hanin Zuabi were stripped following her participation in last year’s Freedom Flotilla to Gaza.

The Knesset voted in July 2010 to strip of MK Zoabi of key parliamentary privileges as punishment for her involvement in the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy, in which nine international activists were killed by Israeli naval forces, dozens wounded and hundreds detained and deported.

Thirty-four lawmakers voted in favor of stripping Zuabi’s privileges and 16 voted against. As a result, she no longer has the privilege to exit the country, the privilege to carry a diplomatic passport, and the privilege to have the Knesset cover litigation fees of an MK if she is put on trial.

The High Court has given the Knesset 30 days to submit an explanation for their actions.

“You are punishing me out of vengeance,” Zuabi told fellow Knesset members on the day they stripped her right. “When you threaten the Arab MKs and the Arabs’ protectors, you threaten democracy and co-existence between Jews and Arabs.”

Zoabi first made history in February 2009, becoming the first Palestinian woman elected to a Palestinian party in the Knesset. Her party is the National Democratic Assembly (al-Tajamu), and before Zoabi, only two other Palestinian women had seats in the Knesset (within Zionist political factions).

She participated in the Flotilla with three other Palestinian citizens of Israel. Following the incident and upon her release from the boat, Zoabi held a press conference in which she recounted moments on the boat. She said those aboard did not have violent aims.

“Our goal was to break the siege. We had no plans for a confrontation. Israel carried out a provocative military operation. Israel is used to doing as it pleases with the Palestinians. The main problem is not the ship, but the siege,” she said. “We also demand that a UN inquiry commission probe the Israeli claims. This is an international issue, because the passengers were from different nations.”

However, immediately following Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla, Interior Minister Eli Yishai petitioned Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to revoke the citizenship of Zoabi (the Supreme Court previously ruled that an interior minister cannot revoke a person’s citizenship without the written authorization of the attorney general).

“I do not see my citizenship or anyone else’s as a privilege that may be denied in light of carrying out a publicly controversial action,” Zoabi in a letter to Weinstein.  “Even more so, in my participation in the flotilla, I fulfilled my civil obligation to oppose the inhumane and illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.”