PLO’s Erekat Complains EU Soft on Israel

The PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat has complained in an opinion piece in Newsweek about what he claims is the European Union’s pro-Israel bias in regard to the BDS campaign.

Erekat wrote that Palestinians were “astonished” to see EU officials at two recent anti-BDS conferences, where he said they praised Israel for its human rights record and stated that “settlement products are welcome in European markets,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

The PLO leader urged EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to take a tougher line with Israel, and to reverse its decision to criminalize boycott campaigns against Israel.

He also denounced “the latest Israeli announcement to deport or deny entry to foreign passport holders involved in peaceful campaigns against the Israeli occupation,” an apparent reference to the measure announced by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri earlier this month to deport activists working to deligitimize Israel.

Erdan and Rabbi Deri explained that dozens of organizations in Israel collect information for use promoting BDS and isolating Israel.