Kuwaiti National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim called on Saturday for expelling the Israeli delegation from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) after a vote was put forward on withdrawing Russia’s membership in the international organization.
Ghanim made the remarks as he was addressing the coordinative meeting of the Arab group on the eve of the 144th IPU conference being held in Bali Indonesia from Sunday March 20 to Thursday March 24.
“It is unfair and illogical to address the Russian-Ukrainian crisis in a way that is completely different from the approach to the violations being committed by the Israeli occupation forces” the Kuwaiti lawmaker underscored.
“At a time when stringent measures are being taken against potential human rights violators in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict over the past three weeks including the calls to cancel Russia’s membership in the IPU there is total negligence over the atrocities being committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories over the past six decades” he argued.
Reiterating Kuwait’s principled rejection of all forms of occupation he said “I belong to a country that underwent the ordeals of occupation 30 years ago and this is why we have to stand against the policy of double standards in political conflicts particularly when it comes to human rights issues.”
“With all due respect to your person and the European group of states the IPU presidency should represent all member states not just the European bloc” Ghanim said addressing IPU president Duarte Pacheco.
