RAMALLAH, July 18 (JMCC0 - An ethics panel has punished Palestinian parliamentarian Hanin Zoabi for participating in last year's flotilla by barring her for two weeks from all activities except voting in the Knesset,
reports the Jerusalem Post.
The Ethics Committee wrote in the decision to punish Zoabi that her participation in the flotilla was viewed with great severity.
The decision stated that the Mavi Marmara was funded by the Turkish IHH organization. The IHH is an organization that in addition to humanitarian activity, aids radical Islamic and anti-western terror organizations and supports and provides funding for Hamas.
In addition, the Ethics Committee noted that attempts to break the blockade of Gaza constitute an attack on Israel's security and is not legitimate behavior for a Member of Knesset.
Zoabi rejected the decision, saying I acted according to my views and did my ethical duty.
Zoabi stated that the legality of my actions is not for the Ethics Committee to decide but for a court to decide. If the committee members are right-wing, of course they'll punish me...I am ready to go into any Israeli or International court and be judged for my actions, she said in an interview with Army Radio.
Last July, the Knesset voted to strip Zoabi of some of her parliamentary privileges for her participation in the flotilla.
Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed by Israeli commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara ship, part of a flotilla seeking to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip.