Ayman Odeh
@AyOdeh · Israeli opposition & former officials
Ayman Odeh is the outgoing leader of Hadash, not seeking re-election in 2026.
Today I saw this picture of Palestinian children watching “The Lion King” in Gaza, and I was deeply moved. Innocent, sweet children sitting together, laughing and getting excited over a story that so many children around the world grew up with. And all around them, nothing but destruction and loss. I watched this film with my children too, and to this day I remember Simba’s story: he lost his father and had to face a world that had been taken from him, and the trauma that followed. I imagine that quite a few of the children in the picture have lost their parents. And despite everything, they too have a whole world within them: dreams, talents, fears, loves, and hopes. They deserve good lives, and they deserve to dream. And this is our role: to ensure every boy and girl, between the sea and the river, a better future. A future in which they too can sing “Hakuna Matata,” without worries and without fear, as every boy and girl here and around the world deserves.
Translated from HebrewThere is no doubt that today’s pogrom in Qusra is another event sponsored by the Netanyahu–Ben-Gvir–Smotrich government. And there is no doubt that this is another step toward what they are seeking: for the area to burn, so that they can expel all the Palestinians from the West Bank and perhaps postpone the elections along the way. But does anyone here think about the residents of Qusra, and the residents of countless Palestinian villages who have been suffering from this terror for many long years, simply because they are Palestinian? Is anyone here still preserving their humanity and opposing this not only for “security” reasons, but also because they are human beings, exactly like me and you? The terror of the occupation must stop, once and for all. Not only because it poses a real danger to the lives of all of us here, but also because no one has the right to occupy, abuse, torture, and uproot human beings from their lands.
Translated from HebrewHave you wondered how such a violent, ignorant, and racist person as Tzvi Sukkot became a member of the Knesset? Have you wondered how such a despicable and small-minded person reached a position of power, and why the army provides him security everywhere he goes, whether in the village of Madama or in Huwara? So here is my answer: This is the occupation. This man grew out of it, and thanks to it he got where he is today. As long as there is occupation, there is Sukkot. And as long as there is occupation, there is supremacy, destruction, blood and tears.
Translated from HebrewWatch this heartbreaking video: This is the father of Karim Sanad Shalaldeh, a 17-year-old boy who was murdered yesterday by settlers, while they went out on another “trip” under the auspices of the army in the village of Sa’ir. How can one remain indifferent in the face of the terrible pain of his father, his brothers, and his family? The occupation is the main fuel for all this evil. And as long as we do not put an end to this, more families will continue to lose what is most precious to them and mourn their loved ones. May his memory be a blessing.
Translated from HebrewThis endless war has already cost the public 420 billion shekels, and it still has not ended. Its cost is not only economic. It is primarily a heavy toll in human lives, alongside severe harm to what remains of the democratic space. There is only one way to change this reality: for both peoples to respect each other's national rights. Ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. Only then will the value of human life rise, and the unnecessary price we pay for these wars will fall.
Translated from Hebrew#ציטוטיומי: “The stories will continue to be written even without me. Keep looking, listening, asking questions, not taking things for granted, and continue to be interested.” Oren Nahari, a journalist and television presenter, from my city of Haifa. One of the qualities I value most in a person is curiosity. And Oren Nahari was, in my view, the embodiment of curiosity. He was a smart, intellectual, endlessly curious man. But he did not keep that curiosity to himself. He turned it into a mission. He had the rare ability to look at the world and make millions of people look at it together with him. He took them far beyond the boundaries of this place, to history, to peoples, to cultures, and to the stories that make up the world in which we live. My condolences to his family, his friends, and everyone who loved him and his work. May his memory be a blessing.
Translated from HebrewIn the last Knesset, I submitted quite a few parliamentary questions. And if I could, I would now submit another urgent question about what is happening right at this moment in Kousra. As the chair of an opposition faction, the tools at our disposal are limited, but I am proud that our faction led parliamentary work in various fields in the most right-wing and extreme Knesset ever. I did not receive satisfactory answers to most of the questions. But the answer to the big questions behind them is clear: a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Full equality, full democracy, and social justice. I thank my office team from the bottom of my heart for their dedicated work. Even outside the Knesset, I will continue to work together with you in every way for these noble goals.
Translated from Hebrew
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