Keep Ayman Odeh in the Knesset
When I was in high school in the 1980s, I enjoyed watching debates on the Senate floor on live TV. But as a resident of Washington, DC, I didn’t have senators or a representative of my own.
Since then, I’ve moved around a lot and have always been especially thankful for the right to vote — in congressional elections in Connecticut, parliamentary elections in Canada, and most recently, elections for the Knesset here in Israel.
Over the course of my political evolution, I have voted for a very wide range of parties. Religious and secular, right, left, and center. Sometimes, I’ve been proud of the parties and Knesset members I voted for. At other times, I’ve been deeply ashamed.
Most recently, I’ve been voting for Hadash, a left-wing predominantly Arab party headed by Ayman Odeh. I don’t agree with every single element in their platform or every statement by each of their MKs. But overall, I’ve been proud of my vote. I can count on my representatives in the Knesset to support justice and equality and civil rights, to strive for peace, to champion coexistence, and to recognize the humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians.
MK Odeh is known as a humane and moderate leader who is sensitive to the pain of both nations and seeks freedom for all. In that spirit, in January, he tweeted:
I am happy for the release of the hostages and prisoners. Now we must free both peoples from the yoke of occupation. We were all born free.
Based on that single tweet, the Knesset is scheduled to vote on Monday (expected) to expel Ayman Odeh.
Were some of the Palestinian prisoners released in the hostage deals terrorists? Yes, some of them committed horrific attacks against civilians. A few of them murdered or facilitated the murder of people I knew, and whose loss remains painful years later.
But most of the prisoners released in these deals were guilty of less extreme crimes. Many were minors. Many were held under “administrative detention,” often for an extended time with no charges and no trial. Furthermore, conditions in Israeli prisons have been documented as cruel and inhumane, to the point that previously healthy prisoners have died in custody.
Even for those who disagree strongly with Odeh’s statement, it is difficult to categorize it as incitement or support for terror. And even if you choose to read it in that light, a single tweet simply doesn’t constitute legal grounds for expelling a Knesset member.
To the members of Knesset who care about democracy: Please do not vote to expel my representative from the Knesset! More important, do not vote to expel the representative of tens of thousands of Arab-Israeli citizens who chose to participate actively in our democracy and cast a vote. Do not send a message to Hadash voters that our voices do not matter, especially when ours is a voice that chooses to champion coexistence, democracy, and freedom.
