Chairman outraged with statement
Arab party calls for Palestinian militants to be disarmed
December 2, 2023, 7:57 p.m
His original demand sparked anger among Palestinians and Arabs: In an interview, the leader of the conservative Islamic Raam party demanded that Hamas lay down its weapons. The party leadership has to intervene – and puts the statement into perspective.
According to media reports, the conservative Islamic Raam party in Israel is calling for the disarmament of extremist Palestinian groups such as Hamas. According to Israeli media, the party emphasized that the handing over of weapons should only happen after the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Previously, party leader Mansour Abbas demanded in a CNN interview that Palestinian militant groups lay down their weapons and work with the Palestinian Authority to seek a Palestinian state alongside Israel. According to media reports, Mansour meant that a Palestinian state would disarm even the militant groups.
His initial demand in the CNN interview published on Thursday reportedly sparked anger among Palestinians and Arabs. According to media reports, he is the first Arab politician in Israel to publicly call on extremist Palestinian organizations to hand over their weapons. In the CNN interview, Abbas also once again condemned the Hamas massacre in Israel.
All measures directed against innocent people, children, women and the elderly are inhumane and against the values of Islam. There is no justification for this. The use of violence by armed Palestinian groups as a means to achieve their goals has always failed in the past, Abbas said. The price for this is always paid by the Palestinian people – as is currently the case in the Gaza war.
The Arab Raam Party was part of Israel’s previous government under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Abbas’ decision to join the coalition was seen at the time as a step toward greater integration of the Arab minority, which makes up around 20 percent of Israel’s population. The party later suspended its membership in the coalition because of confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinians on the Temple Mount.
The eight-party alliance ultimately collapsed due to ideological differences. The party currently has five seats in the 120-member Israeli parliament. Around four percent of Israelis voted for the party in the last election a year ago.