Ra’am’s Abbas Accuses Hadash and Balad of Smear Campaign

MK Mansour Abbas accuses Hadash and Balad of running a smear campaign against him and the Islamic Movement, which was described as “Zionist.” Ra’am chairman MK Mansour Abbas is angry at the silence of the Arab parties over what he calls a smear campaign directed at him, Ra’am and the Islamic Movement. On his Facebook page, Abbas posted examples of sharp critical comments, one of which referred to the Islamic Movement as the “Zionist Islamic Movement” and to him as a “villain” who wants to secure the majority needed for the next government coalition.

In a statement he published, Abbas said he had patiently waited three days in the hope that the leaders of Hadash and Balad would issue a condemnation against the defamers and those behind them. To his disappointment, no one took any step to stop the “verbal violence.” Abbas also claimed that the leaders of Hadash and Balad did not honor their commitments to Ra’am during talks on forming a joint list for the upcoming election, namely, to respect the principle of political pluralism. He accused the leaders of Hadash and Balad of being responsible for creating the conditions and even initiating the smear campaign against Ra’am, instead of working seriously to reach partnership and agreement between the Arab parties.