A Be’er Sheva area man threw a lukewarm cup of hot tea in the face of MK Ahmed Tibi on Thursday during the legislator’s appearance at a protest against the Prawer Plan that calls for legalizing thousands of Bedouin structures on state land and moving thousands of Bedouin to other communities and cities.
Police arrested the man who threw the cup of tea at Tibi, who several months ago spilled a cup of water on a copy of the bill as he spoke from the podium of the Knesset. He later was fined for damaging the microphone system. Israeli media, sprucing up its news at the expense of the truth, said the man threw “hot” tea at Tibi, but police later said it was closer to lukewarm.
Nevertheless, MK Tibi created a storm from the tea cup. “There is no doubt that the right-wing’s incitement against Arab MKs has an effect… The attack on me is the result of rising racism and inciting against Arab MKs specifically because of the Prawer affair,” Tibi was quoted as saying by the He brew-language Yediot Acharonot. “I don’t fear death threats, spit, or hot tea,” he added.
Those are interesting quotes for a man who has used the Knesset podium to spout off pure racism and incitement against Jews. Among other comments, MK Tibi has stated in the past, “Overall, it pays to be racist in Israel because you don’t pay a price for it and you can always explain it away by a security need and a self-defense mechanism… Racists have a long time ago moved from the street to government benches. Every anti-Arab phenomenon is accepted with understanding within Israeli society.”