Arab MK urges boycott of Israel at pro-BDS London conference

Member of Knesset Yousef Jabareen called for a “mass mobilization on the ground” against the Jewish state at an anti-Israel event in London.

By World Israel News Staff

Member of Knesset Yousef Jabareen (Hadash-Ta’al) publicly called to boycott Israel in a speech he delivered over the weekend at a pro-BDS conference in London, Kan news reported.

“The international community has all the tools to deal with war crimes – to boycott settlers, to boycott settlement products, to boycott international companies,” said Jabareen at the Palestine Expo conference.

Organized by the openly pro-BDS NGO “Friends of Al Aqsa,” the Palestine Expo boasts to be the “biggest Palestine event in Europe.”

According to the conference schedule, MK Ahmad Tibi (Hadash-Ta’al), Ben-Gurion University Professor Neve Gordon and Ha’aretz journalist Gideon Levy also spoke at the event.

In his speech, Jabareen also accused Israel of being an apartheid state and urged more “mobilization” against Israel.

“There needs to a more mass mobilization of our people on the ground, in Gaza but also in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria],” continued Jabareen.  “[Israel] is exactly like the South African Bantustan. And it’s a combination of apartheid and occupation.”

Ahead of the conference, Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan (Likud) tried but was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing Jabareen from participating in the conference.

In a letter sent by Erdan to the Knesset’s legal adviser, he argued that Jabareen’s trip should be blocked because the group funding his ticket, Middle East Monitor, is an extremist organization with ties to BDS

Similarly, the Legal Division of the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu sent a letter to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, demanding to sanction Jabareen and Tibi for their participation in the conference.

“This is a black day for the Knesset,” said Im Tirtzu’s director of policy, Alon Schvartzer. “Arab MKs are exploiting their positions to participate in pro-BDS conferences and spew lies and hatred against Israel.”

Schvartzer continued: “We are calling on members of the Knesset and the Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein to utilize their parliamentary power and impose sanctions against these MKs who participated in this hateful event.”