Israeli paper Ma’ariv on PMW’s exposure of Israeli Arab MP’s support for Palestinian terror

On Feb. 4, 2016, PMW released a report in Hebrew exposing that three Arab members of the Israeli Parliament met with families of terrorists who had recently attacked and murdered Israelis. On Feb. 8, PMW Director Itamar Marcus presented the documentation before the House Committee of Israeli Parliament. As a result, the three Israeli Arab MPs were suspended.

Headline: "[Israeli Arab] MP Ghattas: The murder of Israelis is not criminal, but ‘in the heat of the struggle against the oppressive occupier'”
“Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) exposes that Balad MP of the Joint [Arab] List Basel Ghattas, who was suspended from [Israeli] parliament this week for four months due to his meeting with families of terrorist murderers, and calling them (i.e., the terrorist murderers) Martyrs (Shahids).
MP Ghattas said that the murder of Israelis by Palestinians for national reasons is not criminal or delinquent, but rather is done “in the heat of the struggle against the oppressive occupier.” In an interview with Hala, an Israeli TV channel that broadcasts in Arabic, he said that ‘On the day that Arab MPs refrain from visiting and meeting families of Martyrs who have lost their precious sons in the heat of the struggle against the oppressive occupier – they did not set out to kill or kill for criminal reasons – on the day we refrain from visiting and meeting Martyrs’ families, we will need to evacuate our places, leave the keys, and go home.’
Thus, according to PMW, Ghattas adopted the standpoint of the PA which holds that terror attacks and murders of Israelis by Palestinians are legitimate struggle.”