Abbas rejects criticism of his position: "Whatever I say, I will remain the same Arab"

Following the storm that erupted over his statement at the party conference regarding a Palestinian state, Ra'am chairman MK Mansour Abbas responded this morning (Sunday) in an interview with the 103FM radio station and rejected the criticism against him. At the center of his remarks was a harsh claim of racist and discriminatory treatment towards the Arab society and its representatives in the political system.

He referred to the attempts to attack him and said:

"There are those who want to take a narrow context and then start using it."

According to him, the attitude towards him does not depend on the content of his words but on his identity: "Whatever Mansour says, he will remain the same Arab," and added that there is a systematic exclusion of about 20% of the country's citizens. Later in the interview, the Ra'am chairman pointed to increasing incitement directed against Arab citizens in all areas of life, including doctors in hospitals, taxi and bus drivers, and accused the government of completely ignoring their equal duties and their loyalty to the law.

The current storm erupted following remarks made by Abbas at the 28th general conference of Ra'am held in Tayibe, with the participation of thousands of party members ahead of the selection of the list for the Knesset. In his speech yesterday, the Ra'am chairman addressed the Palestinian issue and said:

"We, the Arab citizens in Israel, constitute a bridge for achieving peace. The State of Palestine exists and is recognized by most countries of the world, except for the USA and Israel, and we want them to recognize it, and to act for peace, reconciliation, and the end of the occupation and the conflict."