For Shame: Zoabi Under Attack
The bravest politician in the world has once again come under verbal and physical attack at the hands of racist right-wing thugs, at a panel at Ramat Gan College yesterday.
The assailants violently interrupted the panel [Hanin] Zoabi was speaking on, before physically getting on the stage and pouring cola on her head. Moatti [Zoabi's media advisor and spokesperson for the Joint Arab List] was reportedly hit in the head with a flagpole outside the building while Zoabi’s staff members attempted to evacuate the MK. Moatti was taken to the emergency room and reportedly suffered a light concussion.
In the lead-up to the panel, Israeli politician Baruch Marzel (a Kahanist) had posted threats to Zoabi on his Facebook, including the message "Zoabi I'm coming for you," calling on his supporters to attend. Marzel has been campaigning on the slogan "I will wipe Zoabi’s smile off her face." Although police were notified of a threat to Zoabi's safety, security at the event was lax. After the attack, Marzel posted a picture of the drenched MK with the message "We kept our promise."
MK Zoabi is frequently subjected to violent and racist incitement, and this is not the first time she has been assaulted as a Member of the Knesset. MK Zoabi was aboard the Gaza Flotilla from Turkey when it was attacked by the IDF and tried to acquire medical attention for two of her comrades as they bled to death. In the Knesset, Zoabi has been assaulted and interrupted and has received countless death threats. One of the most high profile of those death threats was from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, following Zoabi's refusal to call the Palestinians who had kidnapped and murdered three Israeli boys "terrorists". "The fate of the kidnappers and the fate of Zoabi," Lieberman said, "ought to be the same." It should be noted that it is Zoabi, not Lieberman, who has been charged with incitement and nearly stripped from her political position for her views.
Speaking to the press yesterday after being attacked, MK Zoabi was unequivocal. "I am a Palestinian citizen, and I am a citizen of this country. We are not going anywhere. We will continue fighting for equality and democracy. This is my homeland."