Arab MK steps on image of Liberman in protest of Abbas criticism

Activists accuse Israeli FM of racism and incitement

Taleb El Sana, back to camera, in a shouting match with Avigdor Liberman in June. (Screenshot: Channel 2)

An MK for the United Arab List and other activists rallied against Avigdor Liberman in Jerusalem Tuesday, calling him a “racist.” The MK, Taleb El-Sana, stepped on a portrait of Liberman to show his displeasure.

The protest came in the wake of a recent offensive by Liberman against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whom Liberman called a “man of terror.” In a letter to foreign ministers last week, Liberman called for Abbas’s ouster via elections, eliciting protests from PA officials.

The demonstrators carried pictures of Abbas and former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, voicing slogans in support of the PA, in the demonstration outside the Foreign Ministry headquarters. They accused Liberman of incitement against Abbas.

Sana said Liberman was a danger to peace in the region and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove him from his post.

“You are a racist, get out of here,” the protesters chanted, according to Maariv.

Sana and Liberman have sparred before, most recently in late June, when the foreign minister visited an unrecognized Bedouin village.

“You have no business to be here,” Sana, from the Bedouin community, challenged the foreign minister. “You are persona non grata in the Bedouin communities. You act like the mafia.”

“You are a terrorist,” retorted Liberman and added that Sana should be in prison. “Why haven’t you made your voice heard while the Syrians are firing at civilians and at mosques? Why don’t you go to Syria and see what is happening there?”

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