Activist Says Belgium Rescinds Invite After Israel Pressure

Sumaira FH Published February 22, 2020 | 09:40 AM

Jerusalem, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Feb, 2020 ) :Belgium rescinded an invitation to a pro-Palestinian activist to address the UN Security Council, which it currently chairs, after pressure from Israel, he said Friday.

Ben Parker, a senior advisor at Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) had been invited by Brussels to address the UN over allegations of rights abuses in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel claimed he was too biased to address the forum and summoned Belgian diplomats to protest the invitation.

Parker told AFP he would no longer address the body after being informed that the parameters of the meeting had changed.

"What I have been told is on Monday the Belgian government has changed the briefing to be closed consultations, which effectively means I won't be speaking," Parker told AFP, adding he was "deeply frustrated".

He said he had planned to give an "evidence-based statement" on "grave violations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories from 2014 to the end of 2019".

"It is frustrating once again the political context has worked to silence our voice."DCI-P describes itself as working to protect "the human rights of Palestinian children".

Israel claims the NGO's board includes individuals affiliated with the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the United States and Israel.