Standing up to Yisrael HaYom
14/11/17
Good news! Despite the Right’s incitement attempts, Journalist and Zazim member Makbula Nassar will stay in her position as department head of Arabic publicity in the Agency for Road Safety!
In just a few hours, over 1,500 Zazim members joined the call and sent personal letters to the CEO of the Agency for Road Safety and let her know: Makbula is not alone! Together we succeeded in standing up to Yisrael HaYom - the pro-Bibi newspaper - and their continuing witch hunt against government workers who don’t tow a far-right party line. We proved once again that our community can fight back and win against the right’s incitement and silencing!Makbula Nassar was picked to run the department because she is highly qualified for the position. Yet for Yisrael HaYom that didn’t matter - they targeted Makbula because her views did not match their radical agenda. Makbula’s views are shared by many of us: she expressed opposition to force-feeding prisoners, she participated in the Nakba Day commemoration, and shared a Zazim campaign calling to free Darin Tatur, a Palestinian poet under house arrest because the government decided her poems are “incitement.”Thankfully, the Agency for Road Safety did not let the right’s incitement change their mind on Makbula’s professional qualifications, and Makbula will stay in her position. Her win is a win for all of us, because it must be clear that expressing a political and moral opinion is not a crime. We proved that together we are powerful, and that the days of staying silent in the face of incitement and silencing are over!Raising our voice on this issue was especially important because the attack on Makbula is part of a larger phenomena of political persecution - particularly of Arab employees in government, education, and other civil jobs. Fortunately, Makbula will remain in her position, but the attacks against her will nonetheless have an intimidating effect and discourage others from publicly expressing their views. But our community is growing larger and more powerful every day, and together we will continue to fight against the right’s witch hunt and stand up for freedom of expression!