Terror group's representatives arrive in Bulgaria to present "Palestinian narrative and expose the false Israeli narrative."
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHBulgarian police_311(photo credit: Reuters)
Hamas officials who arrived in Bulgaria on Wednesday said they came to present the “Palestinian narrative and expose the false Israeli narrative on the Palestinians and Hamas.”The visit is the first of its kind by Hamas officials to a member of the EU.Ismail al-Ashkar, head of the Hamas parliamentary list, Change and Reform, headed the delegation. Hamas legislators Salah Bardaweel and Mushir al-Masri, who is also a spokesman for the Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, accompanied him.The three Hamas officials arrived in Bulgaria at the invitation of the Center for International and Middle East Studies, sources close to the movement said.Bardaweel said the visit to Bulgaria was significant “because Hamas had been denied the opportunity to express the views of its people from this important podium for political reasons.” He did not say whether he and his colleagues had plans to meet with government officials during their visit to Bulgaria.However, Bardaweel said the Hamas delegation was planning to talk about the IDF’s arrest of Hamas legislators in the West Bank and the blockade on the Gaza Strip.He said that he and his friends were also planning to hold meetings with members of the Bulgarian parliament, as well as representatives of various political parties and the media.Bardaweel praised the Bulgarian authorities for facilitating the Hamas delegation’s visit and providing it with an opportunity to present the “Palestinian narrative” to the Europeans.
