Kuwait attempts to ban Israel from inter-parliamentary body

Kuwait wants to ban Israel from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, accusing the Jewish state of failing to abide by UN principles. 

The chairman of Kuwait’s National Assembly, Marzouq Al-Ghanim, is leading an effort on his country’s part to oust Israel from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) as a result of what he claims to be Israel’s failure to comply with the principles of the United Nations (UN) and the IPU.

“The goal of bringing about Israel’s ousting doesn’t derive from racist motives, but rather loud and blatant violations of international resolutions,” al-Ghanim claimed at a press conference.  “The IPU’s principles are linked to the UN treaty.”

Although having been in existence for several decades before the founding of the UN in 1945, the IPU has become a UN-affiliated body in recent years with observer status at the General Assembly.  Al-Ghanim accused Israel of not abiding by UN dictates.

“The Knesset reacted last February by legislating laws that legitimize the Israeli government’s actions, in reaction to the UN Resolution 2334, which condemned the settlements and the expansion on occupied Arab land,” he charged.

Al-Ghanim was referencing Israel’s passage of the Regulation Law, which prevents the demolition of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria that are found ex post facto by Israel’s High Court of Justice to have been built on private property. The law arranges that the alleged property owners be compensated.

“Israel operated in reaction to the Security Council’s decision, and we, too, must operate in order to stand by the main issue for Muslim Arabs, the Palestinian issue,” he continued.  “It is the duty of the members of the Arab parliament, not just the Kuwaiti one, to win for the sake of the Palestinian issue.”

Kuwait attempted last year to expel Israel from the IPU, but failed in its efforts.

The US has warned other international organizations, such as the UN Human Rights Council to cease its biased and unfair treatment of Israel.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News