{"id":31438,"date":"2024-02-01T21:06:17","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T05:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=31438"},"modified":"2024-02-01T21:06:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T05:06:19","slug":"shameful-panel-votes-to-expel-israeli-lawmaker-ofer-cassif-for-backing-genocide-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/01\/shameful-panel-votes-to-expel-israeli-lawmaker-ofer-cassif-for-backing-genocide-case\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Shameful’: Panel Votes to Expel Israeli Lawmaker Ofer Cassif for Backing Genocide Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Israeli<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Israeli Knesset Member Ofer Cassif holds a Palestinian flag as he joins a demonstration against expelling Palestinians from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, on January 13, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: Ahmad Gharabli\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Israeli civil rights group called the move an “act of McCarthyism and gagging, which severely harms freedom of expression, the right to vote, and be elected.”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

JESSICA CORBETT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 31, 2024 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of an Israeli Knesset committee on Tuesday took a key step toward expelling<\/a> Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif over his support for the South African-led International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two days of debate that, according to<\/a>The Times of Israel<\/em>, “repeatedly descended into screaming matches between legislators,” the Knesset House Committee<\/a> voted 14-2 to advance Cassif’s impeachment to the full parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The nearly unanimous decision was immediately condemned by Hadash-Ta’al Chairman Ahmad Tibi, who called it ‘a black day for the Knesset,’ and by the Labor party, which dismissed the entire process as ‘anti-democratic by nature,'” the newspaper noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tibi and Ra’am MK Walid Taha were the two Israeli Arab legislators on the panel who voted against advancing Cassif’s impeachment while, as The Jerusalem Post<\/em>reported<\/a>, “Yesh Atid MK Merav Ben-Ari left the committee and did not vote.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Let there be no doubt anymore that Israel’s political class is not even pretending to respect the democratic rights of Israeli Jews who oppose apartheid.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said<\/a> that the debate “was conducted like a political circus, whose outcome was determined by populist political considerations,” and called the committee vote “a shameful act of McCarthyism and gagging, which severely harms freedom of expression, the right to vote, and be elected.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We cannot accept the argument that opposing the fighting in Gaza and demanding an end to violations of international law is tantamount to supporting Hamas’ massacres against Israel,” ACRI continued. “This is a dangerous position that will lead to a fatal blow to the freedom of expression of elected officials and citizens, and is a slippery slope.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development also garnered fierce condemnation beyond Israel, with the Peace & Justice Project, founded by British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn, asserting<\/a> on social media that “this deplorable move by Israel\u2019s political establishment seeks to silence Israeli Jews calling for an end to the destruction of Gaza.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Greek politician and economist Yanis Varoufakis<\/a> declared<\/a>, “Let there be no doubt anymore that Israel’s political class is not even pretending to respect the democratic rights of Israeli Jews who oppose apartheid.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attempt to expel MK Ofer Cassif of the left-wing, Arab-Jewish Hadash party from the Knesset is a prelude to the hard right's long-term goal of expelling the Arab-led parties writ large.<\/p>— Joshua Leifer (@joshualeifer) January 30, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>