Zionist electoral authority barred a Palestinian lawmaker from re-election

Zionist electoral authority barred a Palestinian lawmaker from re-election on Wednesday, saying she had supported the entity's enemies by joining a protest ship that tried to break a naval blockade of Gaza.

Haneen Zoabi is expected to appeal to Israeli highest court which has overruled most previous efforts to disqualify Palestinian candidates as violations of so-called free speech.

Israeli Central Elections Committee voted 19 to 9 with one abstention to block Zoabi's candidacy for the Jan. 22 general election, a committee spokesman said. Separate motions to disqualify two Palestinian political parties were defeated.

Zoabi was on board the Mavi Marmara ship which was boarded by Israeli occupation troops as it approached waters off Gaza in May 2010 as part of an international flotilla to break the inhumane Israeli blockade on the enclave.

The electoral committee disqualified Zoabi on two grounds: "negating Israel's existence as a Jewish state" and "support for an enemy state or terrorist organization engaged in armed conflict against Israel," spokesman Giora Pordes said.

Centrist and left-leaning Israeli lawmakers argued against disqualifying Zoabi. "We cannot deny representation to people who disagree with us," said Nitzan Horowitz of the left-wing Meretz party.