EU Parliament cancels visit of Israeli official who has ‘blood on his hands’

Left-wing politicians in the EU Parliament undermined a visit by Israeli Major General Yoav Mordechai because he has “blood on his hands” according to Northern Ireland MEP Martina Anderson.

Mordechai, who is one of the commanders of the Israeli elite force, is the coordinator for the Israeli government activities with the European Parliament regarding the Palestinian territories. His visit, which was due on Tuesday, was cancelled shortly before it was due to take place.

Portuguese parliamentarian Marisa Matias, from the European United Left–Nordic Green Left grouping, was quoted as saying that “giving him [Mordechai] a platform to host a lecture would legitimise his violations of international law and human rights”.

She pointed out: “Rather than giving a warm welcome to those, who stand for repression and apartheid, the EU institutions should pressure the Israeli government to abide by the rules of international law and UN resolutions.”

Calling for prosecuting him and his likes, she said: “We must bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

Another member of the same political grouping, Northern Ireland MEP Martina, chairwoman of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the Palestine Legislative Council, welcomed the cancellation, even though she said the reasons behind it were unclear.

However, she said: “We condemn the fact that it was set to go ahead in the first place. We cannot accept someone with such a track record being welcomed to the European Parliament. Put simply, this man has blood on his hands.”