I am not some intellectual hoping to be understood a century from now. I'm a political leader. I have to stand in front of my community. If I am a metre too far out in front of the people, I'll lose them.
— Ayman Odeh
When I read Malcolm X, I didn't agree with it all, but I inhaled it; I connected to his rage.
A man who dies, no matter how terrible his crime was, must be brought to burial.
Israel cannot be a democracy if it occupies land of other people.
Our beautiful homeland is enough for us, Arabs and Jews. If we turn her into a battlefield, she will spit us out.
No one is speaking about the Arab citizens of Israel.
I come from a place of loving people - all human people.
I have no doubt that the Palestinian Arab leadership made a mistake when it did not accept the partition plan in 1947, but I want to try to understand it.
Every nation has a flag.
Only the public that elected me can dismiss me.
I do not put red lines on the Arab Palestinian nation.
My goal is that Jews feel safe in their country.
I flee from symbols. I think those who don't want to solve problems go to the symbols. I'm looking for content.
Just as Jews in the U.S. joined Martin Luther King, I'm sure hundreds of thousands of Jews will join the struggle for civil equality in Israel.
I am very wanted in my homeland. I am part of the scenery, part of the region. I resemble it.
When I began my political career, I identified with Malcolm X.
The U.S. is friends with dictatorial regimes, then invades places like Iraq and Afghanistan, and what happens afterwards is a catastrophe. In the place of their leaders, fundamentalist movements that use the name of Islam spring up, and all that's left is terror and bloodshed.
My biggest goal became to bring the weight of and the voice of the Arabs into the Israeli political sphere.
Martin Luther King fought for blacks, and democratic whites were with him.
According to Netanyahu, he should rule like a Caesar, and the Knesset should be run by the tyranny of the majority.
Arabs don't have to be the victims of the Jewish war between Lieberman and Netanyahu.
We in the Joint List are living proof that Arabs and Jews refuse to be enemies.
I believe that the U.S. is the strongest country in the whole world and the country that supports Israel the most. I believe that it has the strength to push Israel towards peace.
I have a lot of warm feelings towards the Palestinian people.
The Arab population does not want to turn inward and be isolated.
The Palestinian people choose how to fight against the occupation.
I am an elected official; I was not elected by the Right.
Maybe for you in America, Dr. King has become boring because you hear about him so much. But for me, he is the man who has most inspired me.
I remember, I used to get off a bus, and if there was someone sitting in the station, I remember thinking maybe they were from Shin Bet and came for me.
If you believe you're a nation, then I accept you as a nation.
The Right everywhere in the world gains more by forming a security agenda while the Left gains from a social agenda.
Where there is law, and where there is government, there is security.
I was a member of the Haifa City Council when I was 23 years old, which made me the youngest city councilman in Israel.
I agree with myself on 80 percent of things, but when I look at myself in the mirror in the morning, I still have inner debates about the right thing to do.
Eventually, I moved from a place of anger toward the Jews of Israel toward a place of embrace.
The al-Aqsa compound is occupied territory that, as per the status quo, is administered by the King of Jordan and the Muslim Waqf.
Attacking innocent people is always obscene.
Incitement and anti-Arab hatred increased significantly during the Gaza conflict.
Occupation is the Palestinian people's tragedy, but also Israel's present. We must liberate both people from the occupation.
Abu Mazen has no more hope for Netanyahu's approach. He's searching for a way to establish the Palestinian state. He doesn't want a militarized struggle with Israel.
A popular intifada is most beneficial for the Palestinians.
Al-Aksa is a religious and national symbol.
If Jews don't come to Nazareth, Arabs don't go to Afula. There is fear on both sides.
I don't accept the Zionist idea.
There can't be real peace without improving the integration of Arab society and making it part of the political game.
In reality, civil rights are more important than national rights. They're the content, the day-to-day: work, life. But people are sensitive to national rights.
I can argue like a Marxist about whether there was a global Jewish nation 200 years ago or whether it was just a religion. But this really doesn't matter.
An Arab who works and pays taxes is good for everyone. An Arab who doesn't work and receives social security stipends is bad for everyone.
Israel made peace with Egypt, the largest Arab State. There are militant Islamists there, but there is also law. There are agreements and also defense arrangements there.
If America would really stand behind the two-state solution, they could make real pressure on Israel.
