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Many of the Council of Ministers were criticised at a talk by a Palestinian politician for not attending her reception.
Haneen Zoabi, the first Arab woman representing an Arab party to be elected to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and her Parliamentary Consultant, Yudit Ilany, came to Jersey to talk about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
At the talk, Chairperson of the Jersey Palestine Solidarity Campaign (JPSC), Natalie Strecker, described the ministerial reception for her guest as “a huge disappointment."
According to the Campaign, Ms Zoabi met with the Minister for External Relations, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache and was welcomed at her reception by members of Reform Jersey and Deputy Judy Martin.
Pictured: (Left to right) Activist and professional photographer, Yudit Ilany, Member of Knesset, Haneen Zoabi, and Chairperson of Jersey Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Natalie Strecker.
Speaking to Express about the lack of Ministerial welcome, Ms Strecker said: “It’s deplorable that you have a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, who’s taken the time to come and visit the island and they do not extend the same courtesy and reception as they have done to Israeli ambassadors and ministers who have visited.
“Ian Gorst – who attended the Jersey Friends of Israel meeting, the first public talk they had – would not show Haneen the same courtesy of meeting her. In itself, that is indicative of a very concerning attitude.”
Ms Zoabi added: “I wouldn’t care if they didn’t attend because they disagree with me. They didn’t attend because they were afraid. This is the crucial point. It is not a humiliation for me, it is a humiliation for them if they don’t have the ability even to decide for themselves whom to meet and whom you don’t want to meet.”
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister explained, however, that the Chief Minister had been away on "official business". He added that this was sometimes the case with other visiting politicians and ambassadors.
The talk itself was well attended by around 100 islanders with members of the Campaign having to put out extra chairs in the Town Hall to seat the audience.
Deputy Sam Mézec, co-founder of the JPSC, introduced the speakers. In his speech he said: “Every year, our politicians march through the streets of St Helier on the 9 May to commemorate the Liberation of Jersey from Nazi Occupation and celebrate what it is to be a free society, able to choose our own destiny, uninhibited by an occupying force as is our inalienable right. The current occupation of Palestine has lasted for almost 70 years…
Pictured: Deputy Sam Mézec, co-founder of the JPSC, making preparations for the talk at the Town Hall with Yudit Ilany.
"I believe that if the end of the occupation in Jersey is something worth celebrating then it must surely be right to support the end of occupations around the world wherever they occur and to not do so is actually a form of hypocrisy.”
When asked why this discussion is important in Jersey, Ms Zoabi said: “We must start from the community. I can understand how Israel manages to control and oppress the Palestinians, but why do they control you? Israel has this self-confidence not because it manages to silence Palestinians, but because they manage to silence you, the Europeans.
VIDEO: Highlights from Palestinian Member of Parliament Hansen Zoabi's talk at the Town Hall last night.
“Of course, I don’t ask the Europeans to struggle on behalf of me. First of all, this is our struggle. But I do expect them [the Europeans] not to contradict their own values, even before I expect them to support me. You cannot raise your children on values and at the same time behave in such a contradictory way. Fulfil your own commitments to your own values and your own constitution.”
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