An Italian Member of the European Parliament denounced that during a recent visit to the West Bank by the parliament’s delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council some members of the delegation chose to attend a homecoming reception in Ramallah for 26 Palestinian prisoners who were released by Israel as part of a goodwill gesture to help restart peace negotiations.
The 3-day mission by the European Parliament to the West Bank and East Jerusalem took place in late October.
‘’While the delegates chose to celebrate with the newly-released prisoners, I wonder if any of my colleagues was informed about the atrocities these men committed,’’ asked Tuesday MEP Fiorello Provera, Vice-Chairman of the Parliament’s committee on foreign affairs, in a statement.
Provera gave the examples of Matslah Abdallah Salama who murdered Iraqi-born Reuven David at his mini-market by tying him up and beating him to death, Abu-Musa Salam Ali Atia who murdered 67-year-old Holocaust survivor Isaac Rotenburg with an axe while the retired man was doing manual work, Sha'at Aazat Shaba'an Aataf who killed 51-year-old Simcha Levi, while she was helping to drive Palestinian labourers to work, but was then beaten and stabbed to death, Abdel-Aal Sayid Ouda Yusef who murdered 30-year-old Ian Sean Feinberg, who was working in the Gaza strip as a legal advisor, but was gunned down, leaving three children fatherless, Raai Ibrahim Salam Ali who attacked and killed 79 year-old Morris Aizenshtat with an axe while the man sat reading on a park bench.
‘’Each of the 26 men has their own story of assassination to tell. Many of their victims were ordinary Israelis who were trying to make a living. Many of them were old and caught defenseless. Although these men were released as a goodwill gesture, they are still criminals,’’ said Provera.
He added, ‘’the Members of the European Parliament who attended the reception in Ramallah brought the EU and its values into disrepute because the endorsement and support of convicted criminals is not acceptable and undermine the credibility of the EU as an honest broker.’’
‘’The risk is that a truly goodwill gesture meant to facilitate the Peace Process becomes the occasion for someone to glorify common criminals,’’ said the Italian MEP.