By Gilad Atzmon

The Knesset's Ethics Committee decided yesterday to suspend Arab MKs Haneen Zoabi, Basel Ghattas and Jamal Zahalka from meetings of the Knesset and its committees. Mr. Zoabi and Mr. Ghattas have been suspended for four months, and Mr. Zahalka for two months.

Their crime: the three Arab Joint List members dared to meet with families of Palestinian freedom fighters who gave their lives in the battle to free their land.

The Arab Joint List issued a statement saying: "The vengeful punishment will not deter us and we will continue fighting against policies of racism and fascism, and in favour of true equality and true democracy, which Netanyahu is trying with all of his power to destroy."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Knesset. "We will not accept a situation in which members of Knesset support the families of the murderers of Israeli civilians, and stand in memory of those who murdered our children. There's a limit. There's such as thing as national respect.” In his desperate attempt to equate the legitimate Palestinian resistance to occupation with Isis criminality, Netanyahu said, "I'm trying to imagine what would've happened at the British parliament if British MPs stood in memory of Jihadist John, or if American Congressmen stood in memory of the murderers from California.” Once again, I note that it is PM Netanyahu and the Israelis who are dwelling on Palestinian land as occupiers. Netanyahu has it backwards. It is the Jewish State and the Zionist brutality that is comparable to Jihadi John and the Islamic State.

In an additional ploy to intimidate the Palestinian MKs; on Monday the Israeli government proposed a bill that would allow a lawmaker to be suspended by a 90-vote majority in the 120-seat parliament. The bill, though not yet law, provides for the suspension of anyone whose “behaviour” is deemed "unbecoming" for a parliamentarian. So, the ‘Jewish democracy’ is way more Jewish than Greek. This should not be a surprise, Athens and Jerusalem are like oil and water, they just don’t mix at all.