Ibtisam Mara’ana, an award-winning Muslim Arab filmmaker from the northern Arab village of Fureidis, caused a scandal after wining the seventh slot on the Labor party list on Monday.
KAN Radio reported on Tuesday morning that she had called Gaza “a ghetto under cruel occupation” on social media.
Mara’ana also criticized the Tel Aviv municipality for lighting up City Hall with the Lebanese flag after an ecological disaster, because the building had never been lit up in solidarity with Palestinians.
Less than two months ago, Mara’ana called the IDF “the occupation army”. In another post, she called Israel “ugly.”
Mara’ana won 6,269 votes in the primary, seventh out of 62 candidates, which would have been good enough for the eighth slot on the list. She was moved up to seventh, ahead of former MK Nachman Shai, even though he got more votes, because Labor leader Merav Michaeli decided that candidates on the list would alternate between women and men.
Speaking at a meeting of Labor’s top ten candidates, Michaeli said Mara’ana opposes violence, and supports peace and coexistence.
