URGENT APPEAL: Ref: UA 06 / 10.

NAME: MK Haneen Zouabi

VIOLATIONS:  Undemocratic deprivation of parliamentary privileges.

On 13^th July 2010, Israeli ministers voted to strip MK Haneen Zouabi of her parliamentary privileges for participating in the Gaza Freedom flotilla. The motion, carried by a 34-16 majority in a special committee, is the first of its kind in Knesset (Israeli parliament) history. Prominent academics and representatives of civil rights groups have condemned the decision. The first female Arab Knesset member has been stripped of her diplomatic passport, her right to have litigation fees covered has been revoked and she is no longer permitted to leave the country.

Please press the TAKE ACTION BOX to the right  to send letter of protest to Mr Reuven Rivlin, Knesset Speaker,  H.E.RIYAD H.MANSOUR, Ambassador,  Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine, H.E. GABRIELA SHALEV, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations and Mk HANEEN ZOUABI .

Please send this appeal to your mailing lists.

For further information:

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=67974

http://australiansforpalestine.com/23915

On 2 June, 2010, one of the stormiest days the Knesset has known, MK Zouabi was attacked not only verbally but also physically by Knesset members from the Israeli mainstream and rightwing (see Knesset video footage: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBUxZnHb2ig and www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7OEzB1GgRs&NR=1).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haneen_Zoabi

Mr Reuven Rivlin
Knesset Speaker

Parliament of the State of Israel

Dear Mr Reuven Rivlin

I strongly condemn the Knesset’s unprecedented decision to undemocratically deprive MK Haneen Zouabi’s parliamentary privileges for participating in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, protesting the  illegal comprehensive blockade against the Gaza strip with its severe humanitarian and economic consequences for Gazan families,  by rescinding her diplomatic passport, revoking her right to have litigation fees as well as  not  being permitted to leave the country.

Freedom of speech and association are fundamentals of democracy and this Knesset decision undermining Israel’s democracy is currently impolitic while Israel’s reputation as 'the only democracy in the Middle East' is in ruin internationally stuck in a quagmire of its grave violations of international law:

·         four million Palestinians living under Israeli occupation have no political rights at all, the illegal siege against Gazan families, the illegal brutal attack of the  Freedom Flotilla in June, the illegal settlements and their incessant expansion on stolen Palestinian lands, the  continued construction and existence of the illegal apartheid wall, the daily crimes against humanity perpetrated by the State of Israel, illegal demolition of Palestinian homes, illegal assassinations, Israel’s war crimes committed in Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s illegal nuclear programme, the torture of Palestinian detainees including children, hundreds of prisoners detained without charge, unfair military trials, the illegal expropriation of Palestinian tax monies, Israel’s illegal apartheid policies including Military Orders No. 1650 and 1649.

I urge the Knesset to immediately and unconditionally repeal the undemocratic ruling against MK Haneen Zouabi and reinstate her full parliamentary privileges. 

Sincerely