MK Archives - The Jerusalem Fund

Knesset Suspends Three Israeli-Arab Lawmakers Over Visits With Families of Slain Terrorists

February 15, 2016February 10, 2016 by Lucian Dieterman

The Knesset Ethics Committee suspended three Arab lawmakers on Monday, following a public uproar over their meeting with the families of slain Palestinian terrorists. MKs Haneen Zoabi and Basel Ghattas were suspended for four months, and MK Jamal Zahalka was suspended for two months. All the lawmakers are from the Joint Arab List’s Balad faction. The lawmakers will be barred from attending the Knesset plenum the end of the winter session, but will still be able to vote.

Ayman Odeh, a top Palestinian Israeli leader, is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

February 15, 2016December 14, 2015 by Lucian Dieterman

The new prominence of Ayman Odeh, the dynamic and popular Palestinian Israeli political leader, means that the apologists for Israel can no longer even pretend that there are no significant non-violent movements for justice there. Odeh is the 40-year-old head of the Joint List, the coalition of Arab parties which won 13 seats in last March’s elections, making it the third-largest political group in the Knesset. He is on a busy 2-week tour of the United States, and he made a point of visiting the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s home congregation, where he was introduced from the pulpit to a standing ovation.