A move is under way in the Knesset (Parliament) to lift the immunity of an Arab Communist member so that he can be brought to trial for allegedly seditious remarks on the floor of the chamber. The charges have been leveled by a group of MKs against Emil Chabibi of the new Moscow-oriented Communist faction. They have asked the Knesset presidium to deprive him of his parliamentary immunity because of speeches he made supporting President Nasser of Egypt and referring to terrorist incursions into the West Bank and Israel as “a legitimate weapon of an occupied nation.” Some experts believe that he could not be legally deprived of his immunity because a Knesset member is not answerable for violations of the law in the course of what he considers his duty as a representative of the people.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.