Among the various expressions that fan the flames between Jews and Arabs in Israel, two prominent ones concern actor-director Mohammad Bakri's 2002 documentary "Jenin, Jenin" and Balad MK Hanin Zoabi's statement that the murderers of the three Israeli teens abducted in June "are not terrorists." Neither were made in a vacuum, and both were bolstered by other statements, overt and covert alike. I came across such expressions myself in an old television interview with Balad Chairman Jamal Zahalka, who depicted then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak as one who fiddled while Palestinian children were killed in the Gaza Strip, thus likening him to Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich, one of the main architects of the Holocaust and an avid violinist. During the verbal clash that followed, Zahalka's true colors were revealed when he referred to the studio's location, in the heart of Tel Aviv, by its Palestinian name -- "Sheikh Munis." This, of course, is one example of many. Zoabi is far blunter than Zahalka. She has appealed the Knesset's Ethics Committee's decision to suspend her from the plenum following her outrageous statement before the High Court of Justice, but Knesset Legal Adviser Eyal Yinon explained that the measure was rarely employed. The judges were equally appalled by Zoabi's statement, and Justice Esther Hayut noted, "I fail to understand how a person who claims to advocate nonviolence can say that those who abducted children are not terrorists." This does not mean that the court will uphold the suspension. The High Court of Justice has, in the past, leveled scathing criticism at Bakri's depiction of how Israeli soldiers had fought in Jenin, but it still refrained from barring the film's distribution. It was with a heavy heart that I supported the court's ruling at the time -- a ruling it may very well echo in Zoabi's case. It goes without saying that Zoabi's actions are reprehensible. The issue the court has taken with her suspension -- as light a sanction as it may be -- is that next time, MKs might be sanctioned for lesser offenses. Intolerance is running rampant in Israeli society and its dimensions have become gravely disconcerting. Examples can be seen in the Right's attempt to prevent a leftist poet from receiving a literary prize, and in the Left's attempt to prevent a Tel Aviv University exhibit showcasing artists who reside in Mount Hebron, because they painted the settlements with loving brushstrokes. Both are reprehensible acts, deserving of Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat's intervention prior to her leaving office. The fact of the matter is that Zoabi is perceived by the majority of the Jewish public as an outright enemy. Israeli democracy will have to decide whether it is willing to allow its enemies to be part of its parliament, and it is with a heavy heart that I say I think the benefits of doing so would outweigh the risks.
