MK Hanin Zoabi gave an interview a couple months ago that was publicized, and she then tried to backtrack from it. In the interview she discussed her support for Iranian nuclear weapons and her anti-Israel stances.

Zoabi backtracked claiming the interviewer, Shmuel Sokol, had deceived her, had taken her words out of context, had misquoted her, had told her he would not publish anything without first confirming with her, etc.

Now Zoabi has given another interview - this time to the Australian media site GreenLeft Online - self-described as Australia's Leading Radical Newspaper. In her interview she does not only show compassion and empathy, which might be understandable, for the plight of the Palestinians, but she describes their activities as participating in the resistance against Israeli occupation, she also says:

"If, as citizens, we boycott the parliament, this would mean that we also boycott the struggle because when we entered the Knesset we do not enter to promote relations with Israel, but instead to struggle against Israel.”

She openly admits that as an Israeli Arab she is not just sympathetic to the plight of her Palestinian brothers (or cousins), but she sees herself and the rest of the Israeli Arabs as being part of the Palestinian struggle. She admits openly that she is working for the downfall of Israel.

Despite this, Zoabi remains positive about the contribution the Palestinian community inside Israel, numbering at 1.2 million, can make to the wider struggle for Palestinian freedom.

She said: “By raising and preserving our national identity, we are contributing to the Palestinian struggle. If the Palestinian refugees struggle for their rights, they are on the side of all Palestinians and when we also struggle for our rights and stand up for our people, this assists the struggle.

“We participated in demonstrations during the war on Gaza. About 200,000 Palestinians out of 1.2 million marched — one sixth of the Palestinian population. It means that in every house in Palestine there was one person who demonstrated.

“Not standing still as citizens inside Israel is our contribution to the Palestinian struggle in the Occupied Territories [of the West Bank and Gaza Strip].”

I still find it amazing that we, Israel, allow her and others like her to sit and serve in Knesset.

(HatTip: S. Sokol)