European legislators threatened with arrest by Israeli authorities
by alethoBy Saed Bannoura | IMEMC News | December 31, 2013
Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon declared, on Tuesday,
that former British International Development Secretary Clare Short and
three other European legislators would be arrested if they try to come
to Israel, due to their involvement in a European-Palestinian
organization calling for an end to the Israeli siege on Gaza.
Clare Short (image from wikimedia)
The
Israeli government, last week, outlawed the organization, Council for
European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), which allows the Israeli
government to seize its assets and arrest any members of the
organization.
Clare
Short is a member of the Board of Directors of the non-profit group,
and is a British Parliament member with the Labour Party, as well as a
former Cabinet member in the British government. In response to
Ya'alon's declaration, she said, “Given Israel’s track record, the
Defence Minister’s action is not surprising, but it is yet more evidence
that Israel’s claim to be a democracy is eroding very fast.”
The
CEPR states that its aim is “to promote dialogue and understanding
between European, Palestinian and Arab parliamentarians and
policy-makers. It seeks a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
based on justice and the restoration of Palestinian rights, in
accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law.”
Although
Israel has declared the organization to be a threat to its national
security, it has yet to provide evidence of the group's involvement in
any terrorist activity. In his statement, Ya'alon referred vaguely to
the group's opposition to the Israeli siege on Gaza as the reason for
its being declared illegal.
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