Around 120 parliamentarians from around the globe will descend on Beirut next week to discuss ways to support the Palestinian cause, Hizbullah MP Abdullah Qassir announced on Thursday.
The conference, titled The Role of Parliamentarians in Support of Palestine, is being organized by the International Union of Parliamentarians for the Defense of the Palestinian Cause.
The union was founded in May 2001 in Tehran on the sidelines of the International Conference for the Support of the Intifada.
Asked if Arab members of the Israeli Knesset could become part of the union, Qassir said: “Until now, there are no members who are Arabs in the Knesset and this decision is for the executive body to make.” This body, however, has not been elected yet, he added.
But Qassir did say the union would want to defend Arab Knesset members, like Azmi Beshara, who is under trial in Israel.
“The union is ready to defend any person who is abused by the (Israeli) occupation, regardless of his nationality and political affiliations,” Qassir said.
The union includes current and former MPs willing to defend the rights of the Palestinian people, work for the Palestinian refugees’ right of return and who support the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Other objectives include defending Jerusalem’s Arab and Islamic identity and supporting the intifada. ­ C.N.

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