On October 10th, 2023, just three days after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel, Balad Party Chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh published a video on his TikTok account in which he abstained from mentioning the terrorist organization as being responsible for the attack and did not condemn the massacre.
Kan Reshet Bet radio reported that Abu Shehadeh instead chose to accuse Israel of inciting against the residents of the Gaza Strip and the murder of Palestinian Arabs.
At the beginning of the video, Abu Shehadeh repeated what he wrote in an article, which led to him being disqualified from the upcoming elections: "The Palestinian issue has undergone a significant political and strategic event that is still in its infancy. This is a great political event which will have consequences for the Palestinian issue and the entire region."
"Our hearts are with the families of the martyrs, the wounded, and all the families of the innocent victims, and in particular we think of our brothers in the Negev," Abu Shehadeh added.
The Arab politician made no mention of Hamas's acts of mass murder, abductions of civilians and soldiers, rapes, or attacks on Israeli security forces.
Further in the video, which was published just three days after Gaza residents were seen celebrating the murder of nearly 1,200 Israelis, Abu Shehadeh fiercely attacked Israel: "We hear racist, barbaric, and inhuman incitement from the political and military leadership in Israel against our people, particularly against the residents of Gaza. We are hearing terms like genocide, ethnic cleansing, cutting off electricity and water, and massacre, in addition to the extreme incitement to murder our people in the West Bank and Jerusalem."
He also claimed: "There are threats against us, the Palestinians inside (the pre-1967 lines), and especially against the residents of the historic Palestinian cities and the mixed cities."
Recently, Abu Shehadeh claimed that when he published the article, he was unaware of the full magnitude of October 7th. However, in the video he published days after the article, when everyone knew the magnitude, he chose to repeat the same message.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court will hear the Central Election Committee's decisions to disqualify various lists and candidates, including Abu Shehada.
Legal sources believe that the court will take the unusual step of approving the disqualification due to the circumstances. The video in question will also be presented to the judges, raising serious questions about the credibility of the claims and explanations Abu Shehadeh provided to the committee.