In a rare intervention into the activities of parliamentary delegations, the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, directly admonished the chairman of the parliament’s delegation for relations with Palestine (DPAL), MEP Neoklis Sylikiotis for offering a platform to relatives of convicted Palestinian terrorists.

Tajani’s prompt intervention was in response to a letter addressed to him by 17 Members of the European Parliament from across the political spectrum, denouncing the delegation for hosting in Strasbourg as guest speakers relatives of two convicted terrorists, Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sa’adat, under the pretext of discussing ‘’the situation of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails after the hunger strike.’’

Swedish MEP Lars Adaktusson, who is also President of the political board of Europe Israel Public Affairs (EIPA), addressed the letter to the European Parliament President, reminding that Barghouti and Sa’adat are members of two organisations listed as terrorist by the European Union.

In his letter to Sylikiotis, President Tajani called for the suspension of the meeting ‘’because of the presence of relatives of persons convicted of murder and of belonging to a terrorist organization.’’

He wrote that ‘’such meetings must not become a platform in support of terrorism, nor should the agenda or guests put the reputation of this institution at risk.’’

President Tajani underlined the importance of engaging with legitimate actors. “The European Parliament delegations should focus on relations and exchanges of views with parliamentary counterparts, in this case Palestinian Legislative Council.’’ ‘’I ask you to take these concerns into considerations,” he added in his letter.

Tajani’s prompt intervention was appreciated by EIPA founder Rabbi Menachem Margolin. "We welcome President Tajani's intervention in this matter. Unchecked the far left would seek to draw some kind of moral justification for acts of terror perpetrated against innocent Israeli citizens,’’ he said.