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http://english.aljazeera.net Knesset member Hanin Zoabi was suspended for taking part in the Gaza flotilla [Reuters] Israel's parliament suspended an Arab politician on Monday for sailing aboard last year's flotilla. The Knesset's Ethics Committee voted to suspend Hanin Zoabi from most parliamentary debates until the summer recess early next month, while allowing her to take part in any votes held in the current session. Zoabi was punished after three politicians filed complaints against her for travelling aboard the Mavi Marmara, the converted cruise ship stormed by commandos. The ethics committee said in a statement that Zoabi had "participated in an action destined to threaten state security". It accused her of co-operating with the Turkish charity IHH, which provided funds and volunteers for the Mavi Marmara mission and is outlawed in Israel because of its links to Hamas. Zoabi, who has denied wrongdoing in the flotilla incident, says she tried to mediate between the activists and Israeli forces. "An automatic right-wing majority should not be permitted to punish me for my political views," she told Israel's Army Radio. Zoabi, 42, the only female member of parliament in a party representing Israel's 20 per cent Arab minority, is a critic of the Israeli government's Palestinian policies. She was stripped of some of her diplomatic privileges by the Knesset last year.
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