Police say yes to right-wing march against MK Zoabi
‘Expel Zoabi from the Knesset’ campaign behind the demonstration; police plan for extra reinforcements in Nazareth
After similar processions in Umm al-Fahm, Yafo and Rahat, right wing activists will now be able to protest against Arab-Israeli Knesset Member Hannen Zoabi, in Nazareth, on March 11.
The police announced Sunday that they have allowed the demonstration to take place, provided it is held more than a kilometer away from the main offices of Zoabi’s Israeli-Arab political party, Balad (a Hebrew acronym for National Democratic Assembly) and from her private home. The organizers originally requested to demonstrate closer.
Far-right wing Knesset representative Michael Ben-Ari, from the National Union party and Our Land of Israel movement members Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir, are the leaders of the “Expel Zoabi from the Knesset” campaign.
While police are planning for extra reinforcements in Nazareth, the Our Land of Israel activists are arranging for more than 60 activists to wave Israeli flags to symbolize their loyalty to the country — something they claim Zoabi is not.
“Every civilized and sane country would remove Zoabi from their parliament and we call on the state authorities to come to their senses about it,” said Ben-Ari, according to Walla News.
Zoabi has attracted criticism for some of her activities, most notably for her participation in the 2010 Free Gaza Flotilla, during which she was aboard the Mavi Marmara ship, on which nine people were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Zoabi visited Hebron in February, surrounded by droves of security, to protest Israeli policies in the West Bank.
Our Land of Israel’s stated purpose is “to save the people and land of Israel,” according to its website. They are the driving force behind SOS Israel, which opposes conceding any of “Eretz Yisrael” — the biblical term depicting the Land of Israel — to the Palestinians in order to achieve a political compromise.
Marzel, considered the movement’s leader, was a close aid of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the political party Kach (Thus) the now-banned far-right wing political group.
