Arab MK: Israel exploiting focus on Ukraine to ramp up ‘oppression’ of Palestinians

“Only Israel is creating tension and violence in the region,” says MK Sami Abu Shehadeh, claiming that none of the Palestinian factions want escalation.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Just one day after the release of an incendiary video by Joint List MK Ayman Odeh that could see the party head criminally prosecuted for incitement and treason, another lawmaker from the anti-Zionist Arab party is vocally advocating against the Jewish state.

MK Sami Abu Shehadeh, also of the Joint List, gave an interview on Monday to Safa, an Arabic-language Palestinian news outlet. He placed the blame for recent deadly Palestinian terror attacks on Israel, saying its measures to combat terrorism are inhumane and cruel.

“It seems in recent months that Israel, especially [against the backdrop of] the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is working to find pretexts to increase its aggression against the Palestinian people,” Abu Shehadeh told Safa.

Israel “sees the current situation as an opportunity to increase aggression and promote its policies, due to the absence of international oversight and the international community’s preoccupation with the Russian war on Ukraine and its outcome,” he said.

Despite widespread incitement from terror groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and a spate of attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces, Israel is the bad actor in the conflict, according to Abu Shehakeh’s narrative.

“None of the Palestinian parties has an interest in inflaming the situation, and [considering] everything that is happening in the Palestinian arena, especially at this time,” he claimed.

“Only Israel is creating tension and violence in the region, and it is the one who wants to oppress the Palestinians, and this has become clear,” he stated.

After a terrorist from the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Jenin killed three people in Tel Aviv last Thursday, Israel moved to limit crossings from the area into Israel.

Abu Shehadeh told Safa that the security measure was “firstly, collective punishment, and secondly, a crime according to international law.”