Arab-Israeli MP may face election ban Haneen Zoabi (right) in the Knesset in 2010. An Arab member of the Israeli parliament is facing an attempt to disqualify her from standing in next month's general election, a move she has likened to fascism. The state elections committee will hear a motion against Haneen Zoabi's candidacy on Wednesday. She is accused of undermining the state of Israel and "inciting against its government, its institutions" and the military, according to a written submission to the committee. Ofir Akunis, an MP with the ruling rightwing Likud party, said her actions amounted to a denial of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, making her liable for disqualification from running from Israel's parliament, the Knesset. Zoabi, one of 11 MPs representing Arab parties, has faced a vigorous campaign against her since she took part in a flotilla of ships attempting to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza in May 2010. Nine Turkish activists were killed when Israeli commandos stormed the lead ship, the Mavi Marmara, on which Zoabi was a passenger. "I believe that Zoabi will be disqualified because it is the most correct, just and moral thing," Akunis told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. She has no place in the Knesset. She took part in the Mavi Marmara terror attack, and according to [the law] anyone who participates in armed struggle against Israel or supports it cannot run for the Knesset. Another Likud MP, Danny Danon, submitted to the election committee a petition signed by 11,000 people calling for Zoabi to be banned from the election. Zoabi "belongs in prison and not in parliament," he told the Jerusalem Post. There's no difference between the words and actions of an Islamic Jihad member from Khan Yunis [in Gaza] and those of Zoabi. According to an opinion poll published last week, almost 70% of Israelis say Zoabi should be barred from standing for parliament, with 13% saying her candidacy should be allowed. In response to the move to disqualify her, Zoabi said: "This is the time to choose between fascism and democracy." Only "dark regimes" could be proud of disqualifying candidates, she added. "The rightwing has become accustomed to setting itself above the law, above human rights and above the rules of democracy," Zoabi said. Its goal, she said, was to "completely eliminate freedom of speech, political pluralism and the deviation from a narrow ideological consensus, which views an Arab who fights for his rights and his place as a great enemy." The central election committee will also hear motions to ban two Arab parties, Balad and Ra'am-Ta'al, from fielding candidates in the election on 22 January. The motions are based on article 7A of Israel's basic law covering the Knesset, which says a party or an individual candidate can be disqualified if their actions deny Israel to be a Jewish and democratic state, incite racism, or support armed struggle, an enemy state or a terrorist organisation. The elections committee reflects the political composition of the Knesset, thus giving it a rightwing majority. However, candidates and parties may appeal to the supreme court against its decisions. In 2003, 2006 and 2009 the supreme court overturned the committee's disqualification of Arab parties. But according to Adalah, a legal centre for Arab minority rights in Israel, which is representing Zoabi and the two parties, the composition of the supreme court is more conservative than in the past. It says the motions should be seen in the context of the past four years of Binyamin Netanyahu's government, in which 20 laws that "target and discriminate against Arab citizens of Israel" have been passed. "This process should be understood as a direct continuation of escalating measures taken against Israel's Arab-Palestinian citizens and their elected representatives," said Hassan Jabareen, of Adalah. It is not acceptable for the majority to exclude minority representatives from the parliamentary process; there is no legal basis to do so and this step risks the gradual disenfranchisement of 20% of Israel's population. In its response to the motions, which it described as racist, Adalah said there was insufficient evidence or a legal basis for disqualification. Israel's attorney-general has also said there is insufficient evidence to disqualify Zoabi or the two Arab parties. Arab citizens make up around one in five of Israel's population, a figure not reflected in parliamentary representation. According to a recent opinion poll, 82% of Israeli Arabs have little or no faith in the government, and half say they will not vote in next month's election. Two-thirds say they lack confidence in Arab parties. Zoabi's parliamentary privileges were revoked after she participated in the Gaza flotilla a year after being elected in 2009. An attempt to bring criminal charges against her failed. She was assigned special protection after a number of death threats were made against her. Last month, she spoke out against the Israeli offensive on Gaza, saying Israel was breaking international law and "no military force can crush the people's survival instinct."