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."
