Israeli Arab MK threatens to sue diplomat

An Israeli Arab Knesset member threatened to sue Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, if he fails to retract comments made in an article. Knesset member Ahmed Tibi demanded Oren objected to Oren's remarks in an April 5 article in Foreign Policy magazine headlined "Israel's Resilient Democracy." Tibi wrote a letter to Foreign Minister Director-General Raffi Barak, copying Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, objecting to Oren's claim Tibi praised Palestinian suicide bombers, The Jerusalem Post said. "Israel has tolerated acts that would be deemed treasonous in virtually any other democracy. Ahmed Tibi who once advised PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] Chairman Yasser Arafat and recently praised Palestinian martyrs -- a well known euphemism for suicide bombers -- serves as a member and deputy speaker of the Knesset," Oren wrote in the article. Oren went on to say "discrimination, unfortunately, is common to virtually all countries, and Israel also grapples with it. Still, Arabs serve in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court, and they represent Israel diplomatically as well as athletically on its national teams. Though Arabs are exempted from national service, thousands volunteer to serve in the Israel Defense Forces alongside conscripted Circassians and Druze." "Of all the factual errors, omissions and half-truths in Ambassador Oren's piece, perhaps the most troubling was this paragraph, which regurgitates a long-debunked lie about the deputy speaker of Oren's own Parliament," Ynetnews.com said quoting excerpts of Tibi's letter. "Mr. Oren attacked me, distorted my words, and claims that I support suicide attacks against Israeli citizens, which is the absolute opposite of my position," Tibi wrote. Responding to Tibi's allegations a spokesperson at the Israeli Embassy in Washington said Oren's article "relates to the resilience of Israel's democracy, one which allows broad freedom of opinion and expression, including views and action which outrage the majority of the public," Ynetnews.com said.