Ayman Odeh, on brink of expulsion from Knesset, urges Arab citizens to vote in next election

Two days before a scheduled vote to expel him from the Knesset, Hadash-Ta’al party chief Ayman Odeh calls on Arab citizens “to flock en masse to the polls” in the next election, declaring that “Arab citizens must be part of the struggle against the [government’s] coup d’état.”

Addressing a rally in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Haifa, the Arab politician asserts that the “real struggle” in Israel is “between fascism and democracy” and “between occupation and freedom.”

“It is impossible to fight for true democracy without opposing the occupation. The occupation is the root of fascism, of supremacy, and racism. Whoever ousts me today will try to silence you tomorrow,” Odeh declares.

“It is clear to all of us: Arab citizens must be part of the struggle against the coup d’état, and flock en masse to the polls.”

Odeh is speaking at a demonstration to protest plans by lawmakers, including from the opposition, to kick him out of the Knesset for comparing the hostages held in Gaza to Palestinians in Israeli jails.

The Knesset is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to eject Odeh. The vote, which requires a supermajority of 90 out of 120 to pass, takes place after the Knesset House Committee last month approved lawmakers’ statutory 70-signature petition, which included at least 10 signatures from the opposition.

The petition was originally put forth in January, when Odeh said he was “happy for the release of hostages and prisoners” as part of the Gaza truce that was signed that month. The petition clinched the required number of signatures after Odeh said at an anti-war protest in Haifa in May that “Gaza has won and Gaza will win.”