This morning one of Australia’s biggest radio programs, ABC Radio National Breakfast, hosted a special guest:
Three months ago, Israelis went to the polls, electing right-of-centre parties to a majority of the seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. That helped Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu form a colalition government, but also elected were three representatives of the left-wing Arab party called the National Democratic Assembly. One of them included Hanin Zoabi who calls herself ‘a secular feminist’ and is the first woman elected to the Israeli parliament on an Arab ticket.
She’s in Australia at the invitation of the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine.
I’ll be spending time with Zoabi on her Australian visit and a few hours together today shows me that she is a passionate and articulate advocate for the Palestinian cause. More importantly, however, she is more than willing to highlight the Israeli state’s blatant discrimination against Arabs in Israel proper.
More on Zoabi here.