Hadash party chairman and MK Mohammed Barakeh warned Thursday that a "dangerous line has been crossed which legitimizes a group which is supposed to be illegal" in connection with a decision to allow activists to march in an Israeli Arab town waving Israeli flags.
"This group has extreme opinions with terrorist characteristics," said Barakeh. "We are for freedom of speech but at the same time we are against fragmentation and incitement." The High Court of Justice decided earlier in the day there was no justification to bar activists led by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir from marching in Umm el-Fahm, Israel's second-largest Arab city.
Several terrorist attacks have originated in or occurred near Umm el-Fahm, which is home to Israel's militant Islamic Movement and is located just south of the Galilee, in the "Triangle" area along the Wadi Ara highway.