A Belgian parliamentarian rejects an Israeli campaign to distort an exhibition about Palestinian children in the Belgian parliament

Written by Hassan Al-Balaawi

An exhibition of photos about the Israeli occupation’s arrest of Palestinian children under the title “There is no way to treat a child” in the Belgian Federal Parliament from 17 to 23 November continues to echo and takes on new dimensions. An organization calling itself “Belgian Friends of Israel” sent a message to All 150 members of the Belgian Federal Parliament protest against Parliament's hosting of this exhibition, in which she said that this exhibition is "misleading and false" and adopts the Palestinian point of view and neglects "the suffering of Israeli children" and seeks to promote feelings of hatred in Belgium and seeks to demonize Israel and delegitimize it .

The letter indicated that the organizer of this exhibition is the International Movement for Children - the Palestine Branch - and that this organization is "linked to a terrorist organization, which is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine," as shown by a non-governmental organization called Monitor, and that this organizing party receives financial support from the Belgian government, Parliament demanded The Belgian Federal Council to reconsider this exhibition and not allow the organization of such a demonstration in the corridors of the Federal Parliament.

This letter comes after the Israeli Embassy in Belgium and a number of pro-Israel Belgian Jewish organizations submitted a strong protest to the Speaker of the Belgian Federal Parliament, Alain Tello, because Parliament hosted this exhibition. The Speaker responded to that by declaring that "children are always the first victims of armed conflict" and that "Parliament is a place of freedom of expression where all political sensitivities can be expressed while respecting the core values that underpin our democracy."

In response to the question of the "Belgian Friends of Israel" organization, federal deputy Andre Flauw sent a strongly worded letter to the head of the organization, Celia Docoster, in which he said that this lady's message to members of the federal parliament is tantamount to "an insult to the parliamentary institution and to all elected members of Parliament who exercise their work freely, and that no one has the right to An organization that was to impose its vision and ideology on the world.

Flau, who is the Honorary Speaker of Parliament, and a former Minister of Defense and Minister of State, indicated that the organization's accusations are rejected, and that every "photo in the exhibition is carefully selected and shows one of the most tragic realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," adding that the "Belgian Friends of Israel" organization refuses to see the reality directly, which is " A reality experienced by Palestinian children, whether they are under arrest or a victim of violence by the Israeli security services,” considering that “Palestinian children are the first victim, and they grow up without hope, and it is shameful not to show their suffering.” He concluded his message that “real democrats must strongly and firmly condemn this reality.”