Members of the Joint Arab List hold signs in protest ahead of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s address to the Knesset, Israeli Parliament, in Jerusalem January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Ariel Schalit/Pool Thirteen Arab-Israeli Knesset Members were tossed from the Knesset on Monday for protesting Vice President Mike Pence’s speech.
The lawmakers were a part of the Arab Joint List faction; they stood up holding signs that stated, “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine” to protest President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and heckled the vice president. The 13 MKs were then removed from the Knesset to applause.
Joint List chairman Ayman Ordeh, who lead the protest, tweeted:
Proud to lead the Joint List in strong, legitimate protest, against the Trump-Netanyahu regime's exaltation of racism and hatred, who speak of peace solely as lip service.
Our protest today in the plenum is in honor of all who oppose the occupation and dream of peace.
— Ayman Odeh (@AyOdeh) January 22, 2018
NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell seemed to sympathize with the thrown out lawmakers when she tweeted, “Can you imagine Capitol Police dragging members of the congressional black caucus off the House floor?”
However, Jerusalem Post reporter Lahav Harkov pointed out that Mitchell had numerous factual errors in her tweet, most notably that it’s against Knesset rules to hold signs during a speech:
Wrong on several points. 1, they are not “THE 13 Israeli-Arab members” – there are others. 2, it is always against the Knesset rules to hold up signs or use props and there are examples spanning decades of ppl being removed bc of it. 3, ushers, not security guards led them out https://t.co/JgIGkUFpda
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) January 22, 2018
Harkov also noted that there have been plenty of other instances in which lawmakers have been thrown out of the Knesset for holding up signs:
It has everything to do with rules. They lifted up signs in protest, which is a removable offense for anyone, Jewish or Arab. As I said, there are examples spanning decades, many of which actually come from the Israeli Right.
But don’t let facts ruin your prejudices.— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) January 22, 2018
Watching video of @MotiYogev being removed for interrupting Martin Schulz’s speech to the Knesset. Because, you know, Israel is such a racist state that the rules of procedure apply to all parliamentarians no matter their political party or ethnicity. https://t.co/uxf33NPygm
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) January 23, 2018
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman lambasted the thrown out lawmakers on Twitter as being “representatives of terrorist organizations in the Knesset.”
“Their shameful behavior exposed to everyone their disloyalty to the state and its symbols,” Lieberman tweeted. “Only when Israeli Arabs allow other voices to represent them will be a chance for true peace.”
During his speech, Pence reaffirmed America’s commitment as a staunch ally to Israel and praised the Jewish people.
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