By Martin Banks - 20th August 2007
The European parliament has been criticised for allowing its premises to be used for an “anti-Israeli” conference on the Middle East.
The conference, on 30-31 August, has been organised by a UN organisation called the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
But Polish MEPs and UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO, have branded the event as biased because no-one has been invited to put forward the Israeli point of view.
They also criticise parliament’s authorities, saying it should not allow itself to be “misused” in such a way.
Polish Liberal MEP Bronislaw Geremek said, “I saw the materials produced by the organisers and I will not take part in this conference.”
His comments are echoed by EPP-ED deputy Boguslaw Sonik, who said, “This is not the first such initiative as the pro-Palestinian lobby is very active here.”
Hillel Neuer, executive director, of UN Watch, an American NGO, was also highly critical, saying, “The only Israelis invited are those like Michel Warshawski, who proudly describes himself as a ‘well-known anti-Zionist activist.’
“It is like holding a conference on US-Islamic rapprochement and inviting John Walker Lindh, the American who joined the Taliban, to represent America’s position.
“By lending its name to a forum aimed at the stark vilification of Israel, the European parliament undermines the EU’s role in the Mideast Quartet as an impartial and effective international arbiter.”
The Washington-based B’nai B’rith International, a Jewish human rights group, has written to parliament’s present, Hans-Gert Poettering, asking the assembly not to host the event.
A parliament spokesman said the two-day conference was a private event and that only “rooms and logistics” were being provided.
"It was discussed at least twice by the bureau (parliament's vice presidents) and because it is organised by the UN it was decided to allow it to go ahead.
"I must stress that parliament is not organising this event."
There are no plans to scrap the event, said the official.
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