SC dismisses MK Tibi's petition against Knesset’s refusal to hear Nakba Bill
Supreme Court dismisses Nakba Bill petition: now irrelevant
(Haifa) On 4 February 2013, an expanded panel of the Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by Adalah in 2011 on behalf of MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi against the Presidency of the Knesset. In a historically unprecedented move, the Presidency had refused to bring a bill proposed by MK Tibi to amend the “Nakba Law” to also prohibit denial of the Nakba to the Knesset plenum for debate.
Despite the fact that the petition was submitted in July 2011, and that a hearing had been scheduled for this month, February 2013, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition, claiming that the bill, which had been raised before the outgoing (18th) Knesset, must be proposed before the new Knesset before a new petition can be submitted.
Proposed bill punishes Nakba denial
MK Tibi’s proposed amendment would authorize the Finance Minister to cut transfers from the state budget to government-funded bodies that expend funds on “public denial of the Nakba as a real, historical event that brought catastrophe on the Palestinian people, including the Arab minority in the State of Israel.”
The decision, made in July 2011, not to allow the introduction of MK Tibi’s proposed amendment to the Nakba Law marks the first time in the Knesset’s history that its Presidency has rejected a bill based on Section 134(c) of the Knesset regulations. This section allows the Presidency to disqualify a bill in advance of its being heard in the Knesset for denying the definition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.
Adalah’s petition, filed by General Director Attorney Hassan Jabareen, argued that, “This section [of the Knesset regulations] is extremely problematic as it violates basic rights and especially the rights to equality and freedom of expression of parliamentarians.”
MK Tibi: Bill is part of my duty as a minority representative
With the filing of the petition, MK Ahmad Tibi noted, “I am aware that there is no chance that the bill [would be enacted] if brought to a vote in the Knesset plenum, but part of my elected official duties is always to raise the issue of the Nakba and the historical narrative of the Arabs in Israel. Challenging the dominant majority’s discourse in Israel, which today denies the narrative of the Nakba, is crucial to the historical process we are striving for: official recognition of that narrative, and historic reconciliation between the two peoples.”
The rejection of the petition is part of the Supreme Court’s new policy of not issuing principle decision regarding the authorities of parliament, and dismissing petitions with controversial implications.
Case Citation: HCJ 5478/11, MK Ahmad Tibi v. The Speaker of the Knesset, MK Reuven Rivlin
