Forty-seven of Arab Israelis disagree to “anti-Israeli” remarks made by Arab MK Azmi Bishara in Syria on Sunday, while 43 percent agreed with what he said, according to a poll made Tuesday for Yediot Ahronot, the most popular daily in Israel.
Flanked by Lebanese Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Bishara called on Arab countries to promote "resistance" against Israel.
He also praised Hizbollah activity against Israel in southern Lebanon, and alluded to "the heroism of the Islamic struggle."
The poll said that ten percent responded with “don’t know.”
However, 77 percent of the Israeli public told the poll survey that think Bishara should be “expelled from the Knesset.
Two Knesset committees were due to meet Tuesday to discuss lifting Bishara’s parliamentary immunity so that he can be prosecuted for the statements.
Bishara, for his part, told journalists in Damascus he was shocked at Israel's response to his speech.
The joint meeting of the House Committee and Ethics Committee has been arranged at the behest of Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, despite House Committee Chair Yossi Katz's (Labor) opposition to putting Bishara on trial, said the paper.
MK Katz told the paper that "I think the Knesset would be making a grave mistake by taking measures against statements made by MKs. It would be a serious breach of the right to freedom of speech, a dangerous precedent, and one which may know no bounds in the future."
Katz also said prosecuting Bishara risked making a martyr of him, and thus advised against taking any steps against Bishara, "even though I adamantly oppose the position he put forward in Syria."
Bishara said Monday he was amazed at the reaction in Israel and could not understand what all the fuss was about.
"I really don't understand what made them so mad," he told reporters in Damascus, quoted by the paper.
"I've said what I said in Qerdaha [birthplace of the late Assad] before in Israel, using even harsher words."
He added: "There is a dangerous racist atmosphere in Israel, which could effect all of us. They must decide if democracy in Israel is a reality, or a lie."
Burg, however, said he believed Bishara's remarks were the harshest words ever spoken against Israel by an Israeli MK. He said Bishara's words did an injustice to Israeli Arabs, and were a deep blow to all those trying to resurrect relations between Israel's Jewish and Arab communities – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
