Following allegations of sexual harassment: senior Joint List official drops out of Knesset race

The Hadash party announced that Jafar Farah, who was elected to the second spot in the primaries, announced yesterday (Thursday) his decision to withdraw from the upcoming elections. Farah was slated for the 4th spot on the Joint List, after Hadash chairman Yousef Jabareen, Ta'al chairman Ahmad Tibi, and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh. The Hadash party added that tomorrow, members of the party's secretariat and central committee will choose who will be placed in this slot instead of Farah. According to the party, "the option to run is open to all members of the Front's national council" — although the goal is for a woman to be placed in Farah's stead.

In its statement, Hadash praised Farah for the step, even though he withdrew his candidacy against the backdrop of six allegations of sexual harassment against him. According to Hadash, he resigned "out of a sense of responsibility and a desire to support the Joint List. The move by comrade Farah was made out of national and party responsibility, and in coordination with the institutions of the party and the Front, and with leading figures in the Front in Haifa and on the national level. This is in order to thwart attempts to harm the Joint List by exploiting the claims raised against comrade Abu Basel, which he denied entirely."

"Comrade Jafar Farah emphasized that in the coming period he will do everything in his power to continue his political and social activity and to mobilize for the sake of the Front, the party, and the Joint List," it was stated. "We see this step of his as a great sacrifice that testifies to responsibility and great courage, as we have known him since his activity in the ranks of the Communist youth and student movements, as well as from his pioneering role in the establishment and management of civil society institutions — led by the Mossawa Center for Rights, within the framework of whose management he performed significant professional and public work." The party added that "we express our deep appreciation for the willingness of comrade Jafar to put all his strength for the benefit of the Joint List and the promotion of party activity. We wish him to overcome the passing health crisis quickly, and wish him and his family all the best."

The organizations "Women Against Violence" and "Al-Swar - Arab Feminist Movement" claim that since 2019 they have received six direct and documented testimonies in which women described various patterns of sexual harassment and abuse of power and authority by Farah. The organizations' statement was published as part of the "Harasser - Resign" campaign, after claims were filed by two women. Some of the testimonies were published as early as 2019, and others were kept in the organization's records under confidentiality in order to protect the women. According to the organizations, after additional testimonies and information accumulated in their hands, they approached the Hadash leadership and requested to hold a meeting. The meeting took place on June 24, and during it they presented examples of testimonies to officials in the leadership of Maki and Hadash, while avoiding revealing the identity of the women.

In Hadash and Maki, they confirmed that they had received information regarding the claims against Farah, and announced that they had established a special team to examine how to deal with the affair. The parties emphasized that the team did not serve as an investigative committee and was not authorized to determine whether the claims against Farah were true or false. On August 22, the institutions of Maki and Hadash adopted the team's recommendations, one of the central ones being to suggest that Farah remove his candidacy from the second spot on the list. However, Farah, at least until yesterday, refused. In a personal statement he published, he denied "completely" the claims against him and argued that it is an attempt to harm him, his family, Hadash, and the Joint List. He added that over the years he has worked with hundreds of women and men and youth, and that he acted "honestly, responsibly, and with respect." Alongside the denial, Farah wrote that he regrets a situation in which any conduct on his part "without sufficient consideration and attention" created a sense of injury to any person, and apologized for any unintended impact that might have been caused. Farah added that he is willing to "stand and take responsibility" within the framework of a fair process before a judicial instance or an independent and authorized professional body.

After Farah rejected the offer to resign, the institutions of Hadash and Maki determined that his personal statement is a "positive step in the right direction," but demanded that he complete the response to the other components included in the team's report. The party further clarified that they will continue to monitor the affair. However, at the same time, the pressures increased: for example, in Balad they said that they are following "with concern and responsibility" the claims against Farah, and demanded to "deal with the issue and take the necessary steps." Now, and in light of the pressures, Farah decided to resign.