By ARIEL BEN SOLOMONUpdated: JANUARY 3, 2016 12:11Israeli Arab lawmakers from the Joint List (from L to R) Osama Saadi, Ahmed Tibi, Ayman Odeh, Masud Ganaim and Haneen Zoabi stand in front of the Dome of the Rock(photo credit: REUTERS)
Israeli Arab leaders condemned the terrorist attack by an Arab citizen from the northern town of Arara in Tel Aviv on Friday.Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi (Ta’al) told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night that “the Joint List has always been, and remains, against harm to innocents. “We denounce and reject this out of hand. This killing is terrible,” the deputy Knesset speaker said.The residents of Arara and the family of the suspected attacker are not guilty by association, he said, adding, “We must wait for all the details of the investigation.”Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh (Hadash) condemned the attack in an interview on Channel 2 on Saturday night, saying, “This is not our way.”Asked about incitement within the Israeli Arab community, Odeh responded that the problem only involves a few extremists out of an Arab population of around 1.5 million.“Do you know how many Arabs have been attacked by Jews in the past period?” argued Odeh, referring to incitement against Arabs.He went on to say that the root of the problem is the continued “occupation.”“I listened to the comments of Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] and I saw a human being that just incites,” continued Odeh, referring to Netanyahu’s call for Arab MKs to condemn the attack.Before we even knew the details of the attack, we condemned it, he said.Odeh also said that Arabs have been asking for some time for the police to get weapons off their streets, but without success.
The Joint List leader claimed that there is racism, because “when an Arab kills an Arab nobody cares, but when it happens to Jews in Tel Aviv you suddenly see thousands of police and the prime minister.”Meanwhile, the local council from the alleged murderer’s hometown of Arara condemned the shooting attack and is strongly against any act of violence.The council said the attack was by one man and does not represent the residents of the village.The council and the residents expressed condolences to the families of those killed and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”