MKs interrupt 'children under occupation' conference
Four right-wing lawmakers removed from Knesset auditorium after disrupting a controversial conference organized by left-wing parties; 'Which low are you ready to stoop to? To bring the enemy into our home?' Likud MK Oren Hazan shouts.
The "children under occupation" conference hosted by the Knesset on Monday caused an outcry even before its inception, which culminated when four Knesset members interrupted those speaking and were forcefully removed from the auditorium by security guards.
The first-of-its-kind conference was initiated by left-wing parties to discuss Israeli-Palestinian conflict's ramifications on children living in West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
The conference's organizers said it would discuss "the different aspects of the lives of children under the Israeli occupation—poverty, movement restrictions, lack of electricity, water and education facilities, as well as children's detentions under discriminative laws that make it difficult for families to reunite, and the influence of the blockade in the Gaza Strip."
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev described the conference as "a fifth column," and Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid tweeted that the Zionist Union's support of the conference was a "a gift to Israel's enemies."
Foreign diplomats stationed in Israel, including the European Union's ambassador, Holland's ambassador and the deputy UK ambassador attended the controversial conference and shared their point of views regarding the aforementioned matters.
MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu) was removed from the conference after shouting at MK Michal Rozin (Meretz),"You should be ashamed of yourself. (You) are holding a conference without mentioning (Israeli) children who were murdered (by Palestinians terrorists-ed). It's a disgrace."
The Knesset's security guards also removed MK Oren Hazan (Likud) who shouted, "Which low are you ready to stoop to? To bring the enemy into our home? You are harming (our) country."
MK Anat Berko (Likud) was removed from the hall after bursting into the conference, and MK Nurit Koren (Likud) was instructed by the Knesset's security guards to leave the premises after interrupting one of the speakers.
Knesset Speaker Yoel (Yuli) Edelstein banned the screening of a video depicting the lives of Palestinian children in comparison to those of Jewsih children.
Nevertheless, the conference's initiators sent all the participants a link to the video. Rozin said, "We'll show that movie whether they like it or not."
"Minister Miri Regev called us 'fifth column,' Lapid called us 'a gift to Israel's enemy.' It seems that the tender souls of children terrify the servants of the public," Rozin lashed out.
"Their reactions are not patriotic and don't reflect the love of Israel. You are the ones sending (our) soldiers to implement this policy and you have no right to close your eyes and ignore its ramifications."
Joint List leader MK Ayman Odeh thanked MK Ksenia Svetlova ( Zionist Union), who was one of the conference's initiators and the only one from her party who supported it, for "not surrendering to pressure applied on her by the opposition."
Another prominent organizer of the conference, MK Dov Khenin (Joint List), said: "The radical Right's attack against this conference shows the occupation cannot be detached from the democratic space in Israel.
"(Those attacking us) are clashing with our duty and right as Knesset members to express our stances. We'll continue adhering to our stance and we won't back down," the MK assured.
