Arab Knesset Members (MK's) have made a series of statements and taken actions that call into question their loyalty to the state they serve. Two say Israel is not a Jewish state, another complains of Israeli racism, and a fourth is being investigated for travel to an enemy country.



MK Said Nafa of the Balad Party is to be questioned by police Sunday regarding his visit to Syria a number of months ago.  Nafa's request to visit Syria, which is technically at war with Israel, was rejected this past September by the Interior Ministry, yet he went anyway.



Nafa entered the Knesset several months ago to replace former Balad party leader Azmi Bishara, who escaped to Syria under suspicions of having committed treason. Just last week, an Arab money changer in eastern Jerusalem admitted paying Bishara $390,000 for information on behalf of Hizbullah; Bishara allegedly recommended Haifa-area targets for Hizbullah to attack during last year's Second Lebanon War.

Another Arab MK of the Balad Party, Jamal Zahalka, is openly against Israel's Jewishness.  Speaking at a recent event in honor of the 40th anniversary of the creation of the PFLP terrorist group, Zahalka said that the PA must change its official stance which currently favors “two states for two peoples" - because this implies that while a new state will be Arab, Israel is a Jewish state.

At the same time, Zahalka stated that the Arabs of Israel and of Judea/Samaria are of one nationality.  “Those of us ‘inside’ [Israel] refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish country,” he explained.  “[Israel] demands this in order to gain legitimacy to expel our people and to steal the rights of the Palestinian people ‘on the inside’... The various factions must work together.  We must protect national Palestinian unity, because it is the most important thing we have.”



Saturday night, Arab MK Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash party) spoke at an Arab event in Nazareth and slammed the Jewish State of Israel as “a sword on our necks.”  “Israel received its Jewishness via the expulsion of the Palestinian people,” said the Israeli lawmaker.  “We must solve the problem by clinging to our roots” - impyling that the Arabs of Israel and of Judea/Samaria have common roots and a common future.  Barakeh and other Hadash party leaders received messages of support from PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, imprisoned arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.



The "Racism" Report

A group of Arab and far-left MKs have asked that the Knesset Law Committee discuss the latest ACRI civil-rights report - particularly those sections detailing alleged anti-Arab racism.  Arab MK Ahmed Tibi said, "Racism has become a central current in Israeli society," while MK Barakeh said, "The findings did not surprise us. These are the natural results of a campaign of racism led by political leaders."



Newly-formed HaTikvah Party spokesman Dr. Ron Breiman condemned the MKs' initiative to discuss the report. "We totally negate any expression of racism, including racism against Jews.  Where were these MKs - and especially MK Collette Avital of Labor, who is trying to entice another racist expulsion of Jews by offering money - when the civil rights of the Jews of Gush Katif were trampled?  Why are they silent when the government plans to expel Jews from their homes in their own land simply because they are Jewish?"