Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif, the two Israeli lawmakers who displayed a signboard reading “recognise Palestine” to US President Donald Trump during his speech at the Knesset, were ejected almost immediately from Israel’s parliament on Monday, October 13.
The two belong to Opposition bloc that has bitterly criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his policies on the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the massive military action that has killed over 65,000 people in Gaza, after the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas claimed 1,200 Israeli lives.
“They removed me from the plenum just because I raised the simplest demand, a demand that the entire international community agrees on: To recognise a Palestinian state. To recognize this simple reality: There are two peoples here, and neither is going anywhere,” Ayman Odeh, later posted on X.
Ayman Odeh, who is 50 and lists himself as an atheist, leads the Arab-Jewish Hadash party that’s part of the Joint List political group.
Hadash is considered a left-wing coalition formed by the Communist Party of Israel (Maki) and other like-minded groups.
Ofer Cassif, who is Jewish, is 60. He has represented Hadash in the Knesset since April 2019.
Casiff later said they did not only want to disturb the US President’s speech but wanted to demand justice.
“True peace that will save both peoples of this land from destruction will only come with the end of the occupation and apartheid and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Refuse to be occupiers! Resist the government of bloodshed!” Casiff posted in Hebrew on X.
Ahyam Odeh, who studied to be a lawyer, has been pushing for more democratic rights to the Arab/Palestinian residents or citizens of Israel throughout his career, starting from the municipal level in Haifa.
He and his party have pushed for a 10-year plan to tackle issues pertinent to the Arab sector, focusing on employment for women, rehabilitation of regional councils, recognition of unrecognised Bedouin communities, public transportat in Arab towns, and ending violence.
He has said that while he supports the right of the Jewish people to have Israel, a Palestinian state should be recognised and formed to fulfill the same aspirations for Arab Palestinians.
In his campaign in the 2015 elections Odeh was called a “Palestinian citizen” who was “not welcome in Israel” by Avigdor Lieberman, the then foreign minister.
Odeh had replied, “I am very welcome in my homeland. I am part of the nature, the surroundings, the landscape.” Odeh often voices his willingness to work with Jewish leader, and quotes American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr among his inspirations.
Cassif is best known for his being a “conscientious objector” during his time in the Israeli army, refusing to participate in what he saw as “oppression and occupation of the Palestinians”. He was jailed four times for it.
After the military service, he went on to get a PhD in political philosophy from the London School of Economics with the thesis being ‘On nationalism and democracy: A Marxist examination’.
He taught political science at Tel Aviv University and Sapir Academic College.
Donald Trump was felicitated at the Knesset, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described him as the “greatest friend” Israel has ever had in the White House.
Donald Trump is in Israel amid the release of Israeli hostages by Palestinian militant outfit Hamas, a breakthrough bringing the two-year long Gaza war to a halt.
- Agencies
