By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz – 26 Oct 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1123657.html
An Israeli Arab lawmaker on Monday lashed out at Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s party over its sponsorship of a bill that would outlaw state funding for the commemoration of Israel’s establishment as a catastrophe or “Nakba” for Palestinians.
“One cannot ignore the context and the initiators of the law. The identity of its proponents [is like that of] the party to which they belong: the Jewish fascist party,” said Ahmed Tibi, the United Arab List-Ta’al chairman, referring to the rightist Yisrael Beiteinu.
He made the comments during a discussion held by the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
The new bill is narrower in scope than the original, which would have imposed up to three years in prison for anyone marking Independence Day as a day of mourning. The amended bill would prohibit state funding for activities that deny Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
During the discussion, Tibi added that the proposed law reminded him of the “thought police” in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.
