31 oct 2017
An Israeli parliamentarian has expressed his support for formal apartheid, backing annexation of entire West Bank, but without its Palestinian inhabitants being granted the right to vote.
MK Miki Zohar, who is chair of the Knesset’s Special Committee for Distributive Justice and Social Equality, expressed his views in an interview with Haaretz newspaper.
“When we say to the Palestinians, ‘We are giving you a state, let’s make peace’ – it’s deceiving them,” Zohar told the paper.
“No one is going to give them a state, not the left either. I am saying: Let’s cut this problem off before it begins and stop with the lies. We’ll tell them: ‘Guys, no state, live here with us, prosper, earn a living, educate your children’.”
Asked whether he meant that Palestinians in an annexed West Bank would not vote in the Knesset elections, Zohar replied in the affirmative.
“We must always maintain control over the mechanisms of the state, as the Jewish people that received this country by right and not by an act of charity.”
Over the years it is very possible the Arabs could become the majority here, and I cannot take this risk.
According to Zohar, such views are “not extreme” but “realistic.”
He continued: “In my opinion, he [the Palestinian] doesn’t have the right to national identity, because he does not own the land of this country.”
“I want him as a resident by virtue of my own sense of fairness – because he was born here and lives here, I will not tell him to leave. I’m sorry to say this, but they have one conspicuous liability: They weren’t born Jews.”
With respect to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, Zohar said: “They will have to choose if they are loyal to the state”, based on three conditions: “national service; recognition of the Israeli flag, which would fly above every public institution; and recognizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”
“And this would not be the decision of an individual, but of a public authority. If they can’t meet these criteria, they would no longer be able to vote for the Knesset.”
MK Miki Zohar, who is chair of the Knesset’s Special Committee for Distributive Justice and Social Equality, expressed his views in an interview with Haaretz newspaper.
“When we say to the Palestinians, ‘We are giving you a state, let’s make peace’ – it’s deceiving them,” Zohar told the paper.
“No one is going to give them a state, not the left either. I am saying: Let’s cut this problem off before it begins and stop with the lies. We’ll tell them: ‘Guys, no state, live here with us, prosper, earn a living, educate your children’.”
Asked whether he meant that Palestinians in an annexed West Bank would not vote in the Knesset elections, Zohar replied in the affirmative.
“We must always maintain control over the mechanisms of the state, as the Jewish people that received this country by right and not by an act of charity.”
Over the years it is very possible the Arabs could become the majority here, and I cannot take this risk.
According to Zohar, such views are “not extreme” but “realistic.”
He continued: “In my opinion, he [the Palestinian] doesn’t have the right to national identity, because he does not own the land of this country.”
“I want him as a resident by virtue of my own sense of fairness – because he was born here and lives here, I will not tell him to leave. I’m sorry to say this, but they have one conspicuous liability: They weren’t born Jews.”
With respect to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, Zohar said: “They will have to choose if they are loyal to the state”, based on three conditions: “national service; recognition of the Israeli flag, which would fly above every public institution; and recognizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”
“And this would not be the decision of an individual, but of a public authority. If they can’t meet these criteria, they would no longer be able to vote for the Knesset.”
26 oct 2017
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The state of Israel is a model for the extreme right in the US and in Europe.
SHIR HEVER: The success of Sebastian Kurz in Austria’s recent election means that the extreme right Freedom Party, the FPO, will likely join the governing coalition. Populist right-wing parties are on the rise in many European countries in recent years. These parties include the Party of Freedom in the Netherlands headed by Geert Wilders, the National Front in France headed by Marine Le Pen, the Sweden Democrats headed by Jimmie Akesson, and more. |
Although highly nationalistic in their politics, these right-wing parties are very similar to each other. They share an Islamophobic and xenophobic ideology, and very interestingly, they all share a strong support for Zionism and for the state of Israel.
Michael Colborne wrote an article for the Haaretz newspaper with the title “Rise of a New Far-right: The European ‘Philosemites’ Using Jews to Battle Muslims,” to address the seeming contradiction in the European far-right.
Indeed, there really is no difference between philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism. There is no such thing as positive racism. The far-right groups did not replace their hatred of Jews with the hatred of Muslims. They continue to hate both groups.
Richard Silverstein told The Real News about how the election of President Trump emboldened those groups in the United States.
R. SILVERSTEIN I think that the anti-Semites in the United States are affiliated with the alt-right movement that you correctly associated with Breitbart, and this alt-right movement includes a very big cadre of anti-Semites, and they feel empowered by Trump’s victory and his nativist, kind of populist, extremist kind of views. That’s why a lot of the anti-Semitic attacks are happening, and they’re very much linked to the attacks on the Muslim community, which is why American Jews should really be making common cause with Muslims.
SHIR HEVER: White nationalism has its roots in Europe in the 19th century as it developed and took form in order to serve as justification for European colonialism. In those European countries that had smaller and fewer colonies, such as Germany, Italy, and Hungary, white nationalism turned inwards in the form of fascism, implementing the strict, hierarchical, colonial structure on their own citizens. It sought to find its enemies within and turned on minorities.During the Second World War, an unprecedented industrial genocide was perpetrated against Jews, against Sinti and Roma, against homosexuals and lesbians, against people with mental disabilities, and against others who were deemed enemies of the state.
Since Jews were targeted above all other groups during this genocide, and since the State of Israel, which was founded three years after the Holocaust, defines itself as a Jewish state, it raises the question of why does the European racist right-wing support the State of Israel? Aren’t they on completely opposite sides?There are two explanations for this. One is that the Zionist movement and the State of Israel seek to convince Jews from all over the world to migrate to the State of Israel. The prospect of European Jews and North American Jews leaving their homes and moving to the Middle East appeals to many racist groups. The second explanation for the alliance between the Western far-right and the State of Israel is that Israeli policies towards immigrants, towards Arabs and towards Muslims, are precisely the kind of policies that the European and North American far-right would like to implement.President Trump, during his campaign for the presidency, commented on Fox & Friends on how the US can and should imitate Israeli racial profiling.
DONALD TRUMP: Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are. They’re afraid to do anything about it because they don’t want to be accused of profiling, and they don’t want to be accused of all sorts of things. You know, in Israel they profile. They’ve done an unbelievable job, as good as you can do.
SPEAKER: Sure.
DONALD TRUMP: But Israel has done an unbelievable job, and they’ll profile. They profile. They see somebody that’s suspicious, they will profile, they will take that person and they’ll check out, “Do we have a choice?” Look what’s going on. Do we really have a choice? We’re trying to be so politically correct in our country, and this is only going to get worse.
SHIR HEVER: In the European context, fear of immigration fuels the extreme right. Lia Tarachansky told The Real News how Israeli policies towards asylum seekers inspire the European right.
L. TARACHANSKY: The African refugees like the Palestinian laborers pay taxes to the State of Israel, while they receive absolutely no services whatsoever from the State of Israel. They don’t get shelters. They don’t get basic food supplies. They don’t get health care. Zero, nothing. On top of paying taxes to a government that does not provide them with any services, they are now going to have these wages taken, and as far as I know, and I’m of course not a refugee expert, no other country does that.Now, you have to understand that Israel actually promotes itself to Europe, which is currently seen as in a crisis of migration, as the frontier of effective policies on how to basically prevent migrants from coming into your borders. Israel is using this as yet another tool in its marketing campaign that it’s trying to convince other Western nations, other developed nations, to adopt in their attack on globalized migration.
SHIR HEVER: The current wave of right-wing nationalism in Europe has adopted the prejudice that all Jews are Zionists. They invite European and American Jews to join their movement against what they perceive is the common Muslim enemy. The vast majority of European and American Jews, however, reject this invitation. They may be invited to the feast for now, but they know that it is the Jews themselves who will be served for dessert.
Michael Colborne wrote an article for the Haaretz newspaper with the title “Rise of a New Far-right: The European ‘Philosemites’ Using Jews to Battle Muslims,” to address the seeming contradiction in the European far-right.
Indeed, there really is no difference between philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism. There is no such thing as positive racism. The far-right groups did not replace their hatred of Jews with the hatred of Muslims. They continue to hate both groups.
Richard Silverstein told The Real News about how the election of President Trump emboldened those groups in the United States.
R. SILVERSTEIN I think that the anti-Semites in the United States are affiliated with the alt-right movement that you correctly associated with Breitbart, and this alt-right movement includes a very big cadre of anti-Semites, and they feel empowered by Trump’s victory and his nativist, kind of populist, extremist kind of views. That’s why a lot of the anti-Semitic attacks are happening, and they’re very much linked to the attacks on the Muslim community, which is why American Jews should really be making common cause with Muslims.
SHIR HEVER: White nationalism has its roots in Europe in the 19th century as it developed and took form in order to serve as justification for European colonialism. In those European countries that had smaller and fewer colonies, such as Germany, Italy, and Hungary, white nationalism turned inwards in the form of fascism, implementing the strict, hierarchical, colonial structure on their own citizens. It sought to find its enemies within and turned on minorities.During the Second World War, an unprecedented industrial genocide was perpetrated against Jews, against Sinti and Roma, against homosexuals and lesbians, against people with mental disabilities, and against others who were deemed enemies of the state.
Since Jews were targeted above all other groups during this genocide, and since the State of Israel, which was founded three years after the Holocaust, defines itself as a Jewish state, it raises the question of why does the European racist right-wing support the State of Israel? Aren’t they on completely opposite sides?There are two explanations for this. One is that the Zionist movement and the State of Israel seek to convince Jews from all over the world to migrate to the State of Israel. The prospect of European Jews and North American Jews leaving their homes and moving to the Middle East appeals to many racist groups. The second explanation for the alliance between the Western far-right and the State of Israel is that Israeli policies towards immigrants, towards Arabs and towards Muslims, are precisely the kind of policies that the European and North American far-right would like to implement.President Trump, during his campaign for the presidency, commented on Fox & Friends on how the US can and should imitate Israeli racial profiling.
DONALD TRUMP: Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are. They’re afraid to do anything about it because they don’t want to be accused of profiling, and they don’t want to be accused of all sorts of things. You know, in Israel they profile. They’ve done an unbelievable job, as good as you can do.
SPEAKER: Sure.
DONALD TRUMP: But Israel has done an unbelievable job, and they’ll profile. They profile. They see somebody that’s suspicious, they will profile, they will take that person and they’ll check out, “Do we have a choice?” Look what’s going on. Do we really have a choice? We’re trying to be so politically correct in our country, and this is only going to get worse.
SHIR HEVER: In the European context, fear of immigration fuels the extreme right. Lia Tarachansky told The Real News how Israeli policies towards asylum seekers inspire the European right.
L. TARACHANSKY: The African refugees like the Palestinian laborers pay taxes to the State of Israel, while they receive absolutely no services whatsoever from the State of Israel. They don’t get shelters. They don’t get basic food supplies. They don’t get health care. Zero, nothing. On top of paying taxes to a government that does not provide them with any services, they are now going to have these wages taken, and as far as I know, and I’m of course not a refugee expert, no other country does that.Now, you have to understand that Israel actually promotes itself to Europe, which is currently seen as in a crisis of migration, as the frontier of effective policies on how to basically prevent migrants from coming into your borders. Israel is using this as yet another tool in its marketing campaign that it’s trying to convince other Western nations, other developed nations, to adopt in their attack on globalized migration.
SHIR HEVER: The current wave of right-wing nationalism in Europe has adopted the prejudice that all Jews are Zionists. They invite European and American Jews to join their movement against what they perceive is the common Muslim enemy. The vast majority of European and American Jews, however, reject this invitation. They may be invited to the feast for now, but they know that it is the Jews themselves who will be served for dessert.
25 oct 2017
The Israeli occupation forces do not seek to break the state of calm along Gaza borders, Israel’s War Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said.
The construction of an underground barrier around the Gaza Strip, meant to thwart resistance tunnels, is proceeding on schedule, added Lieberman, who visited the area on Wednesday.
Visiting a construction site, the defense minister said the project “will significantly improve the security of the residents of settlements around Gaza and will foil anti-occupation attacks.
Work on the so-called subterranean “obstacle” has picked up pace in recent months. The work on the barrier is expected to be completed within two years. It will feature an advanced underground protection system that extends dozens of meters below the ground in order to detect and destroy resistance tunnels. It is expected to cost $500 million.
Related: 7 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike at tunnel in Gaza
The construction of an underground barrier around the Gaza Strip, meant to thwart resistance tunnels, is proceeding on schedule, added Lieberman, who visited the area on Wednesday.
Visiting a construction site, the defense minister said the project “will significantly improve the security of the residents of settlements around Gaza and will foil anti-occupation attacks.
Work on the so-called subterranean “obstacle” has picked up pace in recent months. The work on the barrier is expected to be completed within two years. It will feature an advanced underground protection system that extends dozens of meters below the ground in order to detect and destroy resistance tunnels. It is expected to cost $500 million.
Related: 7 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike at tunnel in Gaza
20 oct 2017
by Dina Badie, Huffington Post/Days of Palestine
Trump’s decision to withdraw from UNESCO is a flagrant attempt to punish Palestinians for doing what Israel has done all along. Israel has monopolised the “facts on the ground” debate through government-sanctioned settlement expansions into the West Bank, including an announcement this past week about new developments, including in the city of Al-Khalil (Hebron).
Recent estimates of the Jewish settler population living within the internationally-recognised pre-1967 “green line” territory of the West Bank number in the 300,000-400,000 range. Israel does not exactly recognise the green line as the future boundary between the two states, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has increasingly distanced himself from even discussing a two-state solution in his hard turn toward the right-wing fringes of Israeli politics.
Even prior to Netanyahu’s return to power, Israeli leaders who at least rhetorically favoured a two-state solution consistently discussed the need for “land swaps” to accommodate the growing number of Jewish settlers residing outside of Israel’s officially recognised boundaries.
With the Israeli occupation having marked its 50th year anniversary this past summer, the facts on the ground are, in fact, likely here to stay. At the same time, the peace process has been in utter disarray over the last 25 years or so, with the 1993 Oslo Accords having marked the last real diplomatic breakthrough.
Despite other negotiations having taken place since, there has been little progress in resolving the increasingly convoluted final status issues of borders, Jerusalem, refugees and security, in part because of Israel’s “facts on the ground.” Nonetheless, over 70 per cent of the world’s nations, excluding the United States, Israel, and much of Europe, recognise Palestine as a state.
Widespread bilateral recognition is no consolation for continued occupation and a lack of official international recognition at the United Nations. Without it, the Palestinians have no political or legal recourse.
At the same time, Palestinians are both politically and territorially divided, with the Palestinian Authority maintaining control of the West Bank, and Hamas preserving control over Gaza. Though a unity agreement was just signed between the two sides, previous attempts at presenting a united front have failed because of competing priorities and irreconcilable disagreements. Moreover, Israel, especially under Netanyahu, will not negotiate if Hamas is in the picture.
With a long-stalled peace process, the Palestinian Authority, under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas began to look for alternatives to the direct negotiation with Israel. In 2011, he mounted a statehood campaign at the United Nations, which was, of course, bound to fail because of the American veto. Nonetheless, he found ways to establish a new set of “facts on the ground,” by gaining Palestinian accession to a number of international organisations, including UNESCO.
If Palestine could gain membership in these organisations, it could accrue tangible benefits while helping to consolidate a norm of recognition by working as a state alongside other nations. The US sought to undermine Palestine’s moves by ending financial support for these institutions, and now, the Trump administration announced its complete withdrawal from UNESCO.
This decision is yet another illustration of the American double standard when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, including on the issue of “facts on the ground.” While the US has long condemned Israel’s expansion of settlements, its criticism has been muted and rhetorical and the special relationship has survived countless announcements of settlement construction.
When the Palestinians lay their “facts on the ground,” which are by most reasonable measures less provocative than the physical movement of Israelis into West Bank territory, the US reacts with punitive economic and diplomatic manoeuvres reserved for only one side of the conflict (and by extension, the international organisations that recognise them).
Considering the organisation’s mission, there is nothing fundamentally threatening about Palestinian participation in UNESCO. The United States and Israel are instead fearful of the possibility that what talks like a state and walks like a state may eventually be universally recognised as a state in more influential venues such as the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). That, of course, is the point of laying facts on the ground. There comes a time when a norm – be it settlers or institutional membership – becomes so entrenched that it is nearly impossible to backtrack.
If any American administration is going to play a relevant role in brokering a solution, it must recognise facts on the ground for what they are… facts on the ground. That the Trump administration withdrew from UNESCO to punish Palestinian membership in the same week that Israel announced new settlements in Al-Khalil is absurd. Either condemn them equally or allow both sides to stake their claims as they see fit.
Dina Badie is an Assistant Professor of Politics and International Studies at Centre College. Her expertise is in American Foreign and Security Policy in the Middle East and Asia.
VIDEO: 10/15/17 US and Israel Show UNESCO their Anti-Palestinian Bias
Trump’s decision to withdraw from UNESCO is a flagrant attempt to punish Palestinians for doing what Israel has done all along. Israel has monopolised the “facts on the ground” debate through government-sanctioned settlement expansions into the West Bank, including an announcement this past week about new developments, including in the city of Al-Khalil (Hebron).
Recent estimates of the Jewish settler population living within the internationally-recognised pre-1967 “green line” territory of the West Bank number in the 300,000-400,000 range. Israel does not exactly recognise the green line as the future boundary between the two states, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has increasingly distanced himself from even discussing a two-state solution in his hard turn toward the right-wing fringes of Israeli politics.
Even prior to Netanyahu’s return to power, Israeli leaders who at least rhetorically favoured a two-state solution consistently discussed the need for “land swaps” to accommodate the growing number of Jewish settlers residing outside of Israel’s officially recognised boundaries.
With the Israeli occupation having marked its 50th year anniversary this past summer, the facts on the ground are, in fact, likely here to stay. At the same time, the peace process has been in utter disarray over the last 25 years or so, with the 1993 Oslo Accords having marked the last real diplomatic breakthrough.
Despite other negotiations having taken place since, there has been little progress in resolving the increasingly convoluted final status issues of borders, Jerusalem, refugees and security, in part because of Israel’s “facts on the ground.” Nonetheless, over 70 per cent of the world’s nations, excluding the United States, Israel, and much of Europe, recognise Palestine as a state.
Widespread bilateral recognition is no consolation for continued occupation and a lack of official international recognition at the United Nations. Without it, the Palestinians have no political or legal recourse.
At the same time, Palestinians are both politically and territorially divided, with the Palestinian Authority maintaining control of the West Bank, and Hamas preserving control over Gaza. Though a unity agreement was just signed between the two sides, previous attempts at presenting a united front have failed because of competing priorities and irreconcilable disagreements. Moreover, Israel, especially under Netanyahu, will not negotiate if Hamas is in the picture.
With a long-stalled peace process, the Palestinian Authority, under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas began to look for alternatives to the direct negotiation with Israel. In 2011, he mounted a statehood campaign at the United Nations, which was, of course, bound to fail because of the American veto. Nonetheless, he found ways to establish a new set of “facts on the ground,” by gaining Palestinian accession to a number of international organisations, including UNESCO.
If Palestine could gain membership in these organisations, it could accrue tangible benefits while helping to consolidate a norm of recognition by working as a state alongside other nations. The US sought to undermine Palestine’s moves by ending financial support for these institutions, and now, the Trump administration announced its complete withdrawal from UNESCO.
This decision is yet another illustration of the American double standard when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, including on the issue of “facts on the ground.” While the US has long condemned Israel’s expansion of settlements, its criticism has been muted and rhetorical and the special relationship has survived countless announcements of settlement construction.
When the Palestinians lay their “facts on the ground,” which are by most reasonable measures less provocative than the physical movement of Israelis into West Bank territory, the US reacts with punitive economic and diplomatic manoeuvres reserved for only one side of the conflict (and by extension, the international organisations that recognise them).
Considering the organisation’s mission, there is nothing fundamentally threatening about Palestinian participation in UNESCO. The United States and Israel are instead fearful of the possibility that what talks like a state and walks like a state may eventually be universally recognised as a state in more influential venues such as the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). That, of course, is the point of laying facts on the ground. There comes a time when a norm – be it settlers or institutional membership – becomes so entrenched that it is nearly impossible to backtrack.
If any American administration is going to play a relevant role in brokering a solution, it must recognise facts on the ground for what they are… facts on the ground. That the Trump administration withdrew from UNESCO to punish Palestinian membership in the same week that Israel announced new settlements in Al-Khalil is absurd. Either condemn them equally or allow both sides to stake their claims as they see fit.
Dina Badie is an Assistant Professor of Politics and International Studies at Centre College. Her expertise is in American Foreign and Security Policy in the Middle East and Asia.
VIDEO: 10/15/17 US and Israel Show UNESCO their Anti-Palestinian Bias
18 oct 2017
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Arab and European lawmakers reacted furiously to an Israeli parliament representative’s comments at an international conference on Wednesday.
The Knesset delegation to the annual conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) walked out following this afternoon's plenum meeting, during which a series of anti-Israel proposals were approved. Among the proposals approved were calls for the release of Palestinian MPs and rebuke of Israel for holding lawmakers in administrative detention. |
Members of the delegation to the conference, MKs Nachman Shai (Zionist Union), Sharren Haskel (Likud), Yossi Yona (Zionist Union), Haim Yellin (Yesh Atid) and Knesset registrar Yardena Meller-Horowitz left the hall.
The head of the delegation, Shai, claimed at the conference that Israel is committed to promoting peace with all its neighbors, including the Palestinians, but that this will not come at the expense of an uncompromising struggle against terror.
After the meeting, the Israeli delegation sent a note of protest to outgoing President Saber Chowdhury of Bangladesh, saying that he had today seriously damaged the neutral status of the organization by permitting Arab states to constantly lambast and interrupt Israeli spokesmen, and that he himself had not allotted the Knesset delegation time equal to that of the other delegations.
Commenting on the Israeli note, Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanem told lawmakers gathered at Inter-Parliamentary Union talks in Russia: “The saying ‘if you have no shame do as you please’ applies to the comments made by this rapist (Israeli) parliament,”. The video of Al Ghanem’s outburst has gone viral online.
During the discussion about the condition of Palestinian lawmakers arrested by Israeli authorities, al-Ghanem said that this “represented the most dangerous types of terrorism – the terrorism of the state”.
“You should grab your bags and leave this hall as you have witnessed the reaction of every honorable parliament around the world,” he said, addressing the Israeli delegation.
“Leave now if you have one ounce of dignity, you occupier, you murderer of children.” The Israeli delegation left the talks following the remarks by al-Ghanem and several other parliaments in the midst of applause.
Palestinian delegate Kais Abdul Karim said Israel’s self-proclaimed democracy cannot be built on the ruins of international law and people’s rights.
Jordanian MP Wafa Bani Mustafa said the Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails are not terrorists. “Terrorism is perpetrated by Israel all day and night in Palestine.”
The Pakistani envoy also said a country, like Israel, which butchers women and children is the real terrorist.
Israeli MK called 'child murderer' by Kuwaiti parliamentarian
During Inter-Parliamentary Union's 137th meeting, Kuwaiti parliament speaker verbally attacks Israeli delegation, calling them representatives of 'occupying and oppressing parliament.'
Kuwaiti parliament speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim on Wednesday publicly rebuked the Israeli parliamentary delegation at the 137th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday.
"The representative of this occupying and oppressing parliament is the most dangerous type of terrorist. This is state terrorism. This is what this oppressor represents," said the Kuwaiti representative.
Later, al-Ghanim hurled insults at MK Nachman Shai (Zionist Union), the head of the Knesset, and demanded him to leave to the sound of applause.
"You have to take your suitcases and leave the hall after seeing the reactions of all the respected parliaments from around the world!" he shouted. "Get out of the hall now, if you have a shred of respect, you conqueror, you child murderer!"
The chairman of the organization did not allow MK Sharren Heschel (Likud) to respond, and turned off her microphone. As a result, the delegation, which also included Prof. Yossi Yona (Zionist Union) and Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid), decided to leave the hall.
"To fight for the truth and against the liars, we have to remain in the plenum, not to leave, and to fight for our right to speak. But as soon as delegation member Heschel could not voice the Israeli side of the discussion due to the plenum chairman's decision, I decided, out of friendship, to leave and support her," MK Jelin later said.
Jelin added that "the decisions in the plenum were tainted by blatant anti-Israeli bias. It's a shame that international hypocrisy is reaching a place that is supposed to mark a fruitful dialogue between (all countries from around—ed) the world."
The IPU is an international umbrella organization for parliaments. Its members include 166 parliaments and 10 inter-parliamentary associations. It serves as a forum for meetings and dialogue between members of parliaments in order to promote the goals of peace and cooperation between the nations and the promotion of representative democracy.
Israel holds a member status, and the Knesset makes sure to participate regularly in the Association's conferences.
The verbal altercation took place ten days after Labor MK and former party head Amir Peretz, who was visiting Morocco as part of a conference held by the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean and the World Trade Organization, was faced aggressive protesting from parliamentarian Achsan Abed el-Halak, who yelled at him, "You're a war criminal! You were the Israeli defense minister and you're not welcome here."
The head of the delegation, Shai, claimed at the conference that Israel is committed to promoting peace with all its neighbors, including the Palestinians, but that this will not come at the expense of an uncompromising struggle against terror.
After the meeting, the Israeli delegation sent a note of protest to outgoing President Saber Chowdhury of Bangladesh, saying that he had today seriously damaged the neutral status of the organization by permitting Arab states to constantly lambast and interrupt Israeli spokesmen, and that he himself had not allotted the Knesset delegation time equal to that of the other delegations.
Commenting on the Israeli note, Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanem told lawmakers gathered at Inter-Parliamentary Union talks in Russia: “The saying ‘if you have no shame do as you please’ applies to the comments made by this rapist (Israeli) parliament,”. The video of Al Ghanem’s outburst has gone viral online.
During the discussion about the condition of Palestinian lawmakers arrested by Israeli authorities, al-Ghanem said that this “represented the most dangerous types of terrorism – the terrorism of the state”.
“You should grab your bags and leave this hall as you have witnessed the reaction of every honorable parliament around the world,” he said, addressing the Israeli delegation.
“Leave now if you have one ounce of dignity, you occupier, you murderer of children.” The Israeli delegation left the talks following the remarks by al-Ghanem and several other parliaments in the midst of applause.
Palestinian delegate Kais Abdul Karim said Israel’s self-proclaimed democracy cannot be built on the ruins of international law and people’s rights.
Jordanian MP Wafa Bani Mustafa said the Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails are not terrorists. “Terrorism is perpetrated by Israel all day and night in Palestine.”
The Pakistani envoy also said a country, like Israel, which butchers women and children is the real terrorist.
Israeli MK called 'child murderer' by Kuwaiti parliamentarian
During Inter-Parliamentary Union's 137th meeting, Kuwaiti parliament speaker verbally attacks Israeli delegation, calling them representatives of 'occupying and oppressing parliament.'
Kuwaiti parliament speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim on Wednesday publicly rebuked the Israeli parliamentary delegation at the 137th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday.
"The representative of this occupying and oppressing parliament is the most dangerous type of terrorist. This is state terrorism. This is what this oppressor represents," said the Kuwaiti representative.
Later, al-Ghanim hurled insults at MK Nachman Shai (Zionist Union), the head of the Knesset, and demanded him to leave to the sound of applause.
"You have to take your suitcases and leave the hall after seeing the reactions of all the respected parliaments from around the world!" he shouted. "Get out of the hall now, if you have a shred of respect, you conqueror, you child murderer!"
The chairman of the organization did not allow MK Sharren Heschel (Likud) to respond, and turned off her microphone. As a result, the delegation, which also included Prof. Yossi Yona (Zionist Union) and Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid), decided to leave the hall.
"To fight for the truth and against the liars, we have to remain in the plenum, not to leave, and to fight for our right to speak. But as soon as delegation member Heschel could not voice the Israeli side of the discussion due to the plenum chairman's decision, I decided, out of friendship, to leave and support her," MK Jelin later said.
Jelin added that "the decisions in the plenum were tainted by blatant anti-Israeli bias. It's a shame that international hypocrisy is reaching a place that is supposed to mark a fruitful dialogue between (all countries from around—ed) the world."
The IPU is an international umbrella organization for parliaments. Its members include 166 parliaments and 10 inter-parliamentary associations. It serves as a forum for meetings and dialogue between members of parliaments in order to promote the goals of peace and cooperation between the nations and the promotion of representative democracy.
Israel holds a member status, and the Knesset makes sure to participate regularly in the Association's conferences.
The verbal altercation took place ten days after Labor MK and former party head Amir Peretz, who was visiting Morocco as part of a conference held by the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean and the World Trade Organization, was faced aggressive protesting from parliamentarian Achsan Abed el-Halak, who yelled at him, "You're a war criminal! You were the Israeli defense minister and you're not welcome here."