Immediately cancel the request to impeach MK Ayman Odeh

The "All Its Citizens" party strongly condemns the decision of the Knesset committee - headed by MK Ofir Katz - to hold an official meeting today, Tuesday, to discuss the request to permanently expel MK Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Hadash-Ta'al list, from the Knesset. This follows a tweet that Odeh posted more than five months ago, in which he expressed joy over the release of prisoners and hostages together, and called for the liberation of both peoples from the disaster of the occupation. This human tweet, according to the logic of the ruling right-wing coalition, is a crime that justifies the expulsion of an elected MK, and is not considered part of the right to freedom of expression. In contrast, tweets, statements, and calls by MKs from the right, in the spirit of racism and fascism, are considered legitimate within the framework of freedom of expression.

This step was taken despite the fact that the Knesset Speaker himself requested to freeze all meetings not related to the war. However, the Knesset chose only one exception: MK Ayman Odeh.

In another unprecedented political escalation, the Knesset Ethics Committee decided on Monday, June 23, to punish MK Ayman Odeh by suspending him from Knesset work for two weeks and imposing a fine of over 20,000 NIS, following his public positions against the war in Gaza, and his statements in which he condemned the killing of civilians and children and the war crimes against humanity in Gaza.

This racist trend against Arab Knesset members, which is combined with attempts to transform the Knesset into a Jewish Knesset pure of Arabs through racist legislation, constitutes an immediate danger to democracy. It contradicts the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the democratic values upon which the state was founded and which it has maintained since its establishment. It also constitutes a danger to the freedom of choice of Arab citizens to elect their representatives to the Knesset.

The party also condemns the joining of opposition parties in this racist and anti-democratic trend.

The party demands that the request to impeach MK Ayman Odeh be immediately canceled.