Joint List quiet on Peres, citing ‘complex’ feelings
Odeh says former prime minister brought ‘disaster to my people,’ but did positive things in ’90s
Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh on Wednesday defended his party’s decision not to issue a statement eulogizing Shimon Peres, and said it kept quiet out of respect for the dead, despite having a “complex message” about him.
While many lawmakers from every other party in the Knesset eulogized the former president after his death on Wednesday, not one MK from the Joint List released a statement.
No Joint List MKs indicated they would pay respect to Peres as he lay in state at the Knesset.
Odeh explained the silence on Twitter, “The memory of Peres in the Arab public is different from the narrative discussed in recent years, and I realize such complex messages are difficult to hear a moment after someone died.
“Peres has two important, positive points to his merit from the ’90s: Going toward peace while building partners in the Arab public, after which 90% of the Arab public voted for him [in the 1996 direct election for prime minister]. But, conversely, we have fierce opposition to his security stances of the occupation and building settlements, bringing nuclear weapons to the Middle East, and unfortunately, as president, he chose to support [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his policies,” Odeh wrote.
When asked in an interview on Army Radio on Thursday about his and his colleagues’ silence, Odeh expanded on his statements. “This is something complex, not easy. It’s a different political perception. But we still have respect for someone who died yesterday. Complex messages can be brought up later.”
The Joint List chairman said he could “honestly and courageously” say positive things that Peres did in the 1990s.
“He led the Arab population to be a legitimate part of politics, and that is in his merit,” he said, but added, “I am not part of the celebration of his history since 1948 and the nuclear reactor. I cannot be a partner to it, especially since, when he was president, he never criticized the prime minister. The 1990s were very important years in Peres’s history, and I can say positive things, but I am not part of the celebration around him. Peres didn’t continue in this way in recent years. He was quiet and didn’t pursue real peace.
“All these things, since 1948, brought disaster to my nation,” he stated. “Therefore, I have a complex message.”
Odeh repeated that choice of silence was out of respect for the dead, and added that he will not go to Peres’s funeral.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said that Joint List MKs are crushing the coexistence for which Peres stood by refusing to respect his memory.
“The young generation of Israeli Arabs sees its leaders prefer to honor the memory of terrorists more than that of a peace-seeking leader like Shimon Peres,” she stated. “This kind of leadership is not worthy of representing Israeli Arabs.”