Members of the Israeli Knesset have called for the ousting of Joint List MK, Basel Ghattas, due to his calls at a conference in Montreal to boycott Israel.
MK Oded Forer called for sanctioning Ghattas over his calls for a boycott of Israel, saying Forer said he checked the laws prohibiting action that would harm Israel via boycotts and that the finance minister remove special tax status from any organization connected directly or indirectly with Ghattas.
Lawmaker Ghattas from the Balad party – one of the four parties that make up the Joint List – called Israel an oppressive, racist and apartheid state.
He said he is pessimistic that there will be peace soon, and international sanctions were the most effective way to combat Israel.
Israeli deputy minister says Palestinian MK who backs int'l sanctions should be expelled from Knesset https://t.co/MKD098LkxX
— Ben White (@benabyad) August 16, 2016
He listed examples of Israeli apartheid practices against Palestinians, including the confiscation of land in the Galilee and Negev areas. He added that the Israeli society is now governed by a military and settlement mentality, with political extremism existing not only on a government level but through all parties and institutions that play an important role in shaping policy in Israel.
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, Avi Dichter, claimed that “Ghattas is continuing his pattern of being in the Knesset and speaking against it and the democratic values by which it operates.”
(PNN, PC)
