After calling 7.10 an "important historical event": Abu Shahada expresses regret

Balad party chairman Sami Abu Shahada expresses regret over an article he published the day after October 7, 2023, in which he called the attack an "important historical event." The statement comes amid pressure from Hadash-Ta'al and a disqualification petition filed by Otzma Yehudit and Ben Gvir. Abu Shahada claims he was unaware of the scale of the atrocities at the time of writing.

Balad party chairman Sami Abu Shahada expresses regret over an article he published in Arabic on October 8, 2023, the day after the October 7 massacre. In the article, Abu Shahada called the attack "an important historical event from a military, political, and strategic perspective" and wrote that "if small and besieged Gaza managed to do this, and at this level, others can do it more easily." Now, three years later, he states: "Had I been aware of the scale of the atrocities when writing the article, I would not have published it." The statement comes amid pressure from Hadash and Ta'al, who claim they were not previously aware of the article, and following a disqualification petition filed this week by Otzma Yehudit and Minister Itamar Ben Gvir against Abu Shahada's candidacy for the Knesset. The petition argues that his words establish grounds for disqualification due to denial of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and support for armed struggle. Abu Shahada claims he never called for violence, did not support the October 7 events, and does not justify them, and that his firm stance against crimes in the Gaza envelope is known. His associates explained that he had not remembered the article until it was attached to the disqualification petition.