Head of Israeli Arab parties Joint List: Release of terrorists bodies is “a supreme human value”
Text posted on Joint [Arab] List Facebook page on Feb. 8, 2016:
"The Joint [Arab] List condemned the decision to suspend [Balad] legislators [Jamal] Zahalka, [Hanin] Zoabi, and [Basel] Ghattas and demanded the release of the bodies [of the Martyrs]. In a response to the committee of 'parliamentary ethics' (i.e., Israeli Parliament's Ethics Committee) to suspend the legislators of the Joint List, Jamal Zahalka, Hanin Zoabi, and Basel Ghattas, from parliament sessions for a number of months due to their attention to the issue of the return of the bodies of the young Jerusalemites being held by Israel, the Joint List emphasized its opposition to this arbitrary decision, which harms the work of the legislators and the rights of the voters. The Joint List condemned the bloody incitement campaign being run by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who dragged the right and left of the political arena to join the campaign of incitement and distortion against the Arab leadership, resulting in the publication of the vindictive, arbitrary, and racist decision by the parliamentary Ethics Committee. The Joint List members emphasized that despite the unjust decision, they will continue to act for the release of the bodies being held for the last four months in the Israeli occupation's refrigerators… The Joint List noted that the suspended legislators paid a political price for their moral, human, national, and political standpoint, and that the vindictive punishment will not prevent us from continuing our struggle against the racist and fascist politics, and for equality and true democracy, which Netanyahu is trying with all his might to destroy and turn into an absurd farce. The Joint List emphasized during its weekly meeting on Monday afternoon [Feb. 8, 2016] that the meeting with the families demanding the release of their sons' bodies is a human, political, and moral act. Likewise, it demanded that the Israeli government return the bodies immediately, in order to allow the families to bury them… Head of the Joint List legislator Ayman Odeh stated: 'The visit was a human, moral, and political act. The issue of the bodies' return is a supreme human value, but there are some who wish us to be trained animals, and separate from our Palestinian surroundings, and wish to isolate us from our cause. We will continue to emphasize our support for the just struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation and for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.'"
"The Joint [Arab] List condemned the decision to suspend [Balad] legislators [Jamal] Zahalka, [Hanin] Zoabi, and [Basel] Ghattas and demanded the release of the bodies [of the Martyrs]. In a response to the committee of 'parliamentary ethics' (i.e., Israeli Parliament's Ethics Committee) to suspend the legislators of the Joint List, Jamal Zahalka, Hanin Zoabi, and Basel Ghattas, from parliament sessions for a number of months due to their attention to the issue of the return of the bodies of the young Jerusalemites being held by Israel, the Joint List emphasized its opposition to this arbitrary decision, which harms the work of the legislators and the rights of the voters. The Joint List condemned the bloody incitement campaign being run by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who dragged the right and left of the political arena to join the campaign of incitement and distortion against the Arab leadership, resulting in the publication of the vindictive, arbitrary, and racist decision by the parliamentary Ethics Committee. The Joint List members emphasized that despite the unjust decision, they will continue to act for the release of the bodies being held for the last four months in the Israeli occupation's refrigerators… The Joint List noted that the suspended legislators paid a political price for their moral, human, national, and political standpoint, and that the vindictive punishment will not prevent us from continuing our struggle against the racist and fascist politics, and for equality and true democracy, which Netanyahu is trying with all his might to destroy and turn into an absurd farce. The Joint List emphasized during its weekly meeting on Monday afternoon [Feb. 8, 2016] that the meeting with the families demanding the release of their sons' bodies is a human, political, and moral act. Likewise, it demanded that the Israeli government return the bodies immediately, in order to allow the families to bury them… Head of the Joint List legislator Ayman Odeh stated: 'The visit was a human, moral, and political act. The issue of the bodies' return is a supreme human value, but there are some who wish us to be trained animals, and separate from our Palestinian surroundings, and wish to isolate us from our cause. We will continue to emphasize our support for the just struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation and for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.'"