On March 23, two Arab Joint List lawmakers were appointed to head Knesset committees: Knesset member Mansour Abbas, the head of the Islamic Ra’am party, will serve as the chair of a special committee to tackle crime in Arab communities, and Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman will chair the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee.
Touma-Suleiman’s appointment generated racist reactions not only on the part of right-wing Knesset members, but also from organizations advocating for disabled Israelis and bereaved families, inculcated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his friends with the message that Arab lawmakers are “terror supporters.” Minister of Social Equality Gila Gamliel went so far as to say in a television interview, “An Arab woman from the Joint List cannot head the Welfare and Labor Committee.” Does the minister of social equality not realize the irony?
