On July 6, Israeli-Arab Knesset member Basel Ghattas of the Joint List, a unified slate of predominantly Arab parties, resumed his parliamentary work after a few days of absence while he was on board the Swedish boat Marianne, which took part in the Gaza-bound flotilla. He has drawn many insights and conclusions from the flotilla. But for now he must respond to questions from the Knesset ethics committee about the funding and objectives of the flotilla. Several complaints were lodged against him by a number of right-wing Knesset members who alleged that Ghattas exploited his parliamentary immunity by participating in an activity that sought to harm Israel diplomatically, in what some of them dubbed a “terrorist flotilla.”
Yet, Ghattas remains unfazed. He even seems to be enjoying the attention and the possibility of keeping the flotilla on the public agenda. Replying to the ethics committee, he noted, among other things, that he did not break the law, that all he did was to take part in a flotilla with a political objective and all of the flotilla participants and organizers were peace seekers. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Ghattas said that prior to his departure, he made sure there were no problematic people or weapons on board and that it was proven that the objective of the flotilla was political and humanitarian, namely to raise international awareness of the blockade on Gaza.