Kuwait trying to oust Knesset from Inter-Parliamentary Union
Israel's "loud and blatant violations of international resolutions," and not anti-Israeli or racist motives, are the inspiration for the move, claims Kuwaiti parliament speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim.
By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA, JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: MARCH 22, 2017 09:23Israeli Knesset(photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)
Kuwait has decided to forge ahead with a move that would attempt to expel Israel from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).The Arab country, situated along the Persian Gulf, officially decided to pursue this step during a gathering of the Arab Parliamentary Union, which ended yesterday in Morocco.Speaking to the press about this move against the Jewish state, Chairman of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, Marzouq Al-Ghanim, said that his country was inspired to lead the effort to oust Israel from the IPU after the Kuwaiti parliament was tasked with preparing a list of clauses that would determine the sanctions that should be imposed on parliaments that breach the basic principles of the IPU.Al-Ghanim said that Israel had clearly done so in the past on numerous occasions, pointing in particular to the country's recent settlement expansion. "The Knesset reacted last February by legislating laws that legitimize the Israeli government's actions, in reaction to the UN Resolution 2334, which condemned the settlements and the expansion [into] occupied Arab land," he stated, clearly hinting at the Knesset's widely-criticized decision to pass the Regulation Bill, which legalized some 4,000 settler homes that were built on privately-owned Palestinian land.Al-Ghanim, who until a year ago chaired the Arab Parliamentary Union, continued to blast the Knesset, saying that "Israel operated in reaction to the Security Council's decision, and we, too, must operate in order to stand by the main issue [concerning] Muslim Arabs- the Palestinian issue."The Kuwaiti official denied that his country's move was driven by racism or a hatred of Israel. "The goal of bringing about Israel's ousting doesn't derive from racist motives, but [comes as a result of] loud and blatant violations of international resolutions," al-Ghanim said, adding that "the IPU's principles are linked to the UN treaty."Al-Ghanim summarized by stressing again that such strategic moves are not necessarily anti-Israeli, but are made with the Palestinian cause in mind. "It is the duty of the members of the Arab parliament, not just the Kuwaiti one, to win [the cause] for the sake of the Palestinian issue."However, it appears that Kuwait is particularly keen on seeing Israel expelled from the IPU, as this is not the first time that the Kuwaiti parliament pushed to have Israel ousted.In April 2016, the Kuwaiti parliament tried to have Israel expelled from the IPU but were unsuccessful.