European Parliament Member Calls for Intifada

YERUSHALAYIM

An Irish member of the European Parliament has called on the Palestinians to launch another intifada, The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.

In an interview with the Russia-based news network RT, Paul Murphy, a Socialist Party MEP for Dublin, said that a “struggle” along the lines of the first intifada was “necessary” in order to “overthrow the capitalist establishment of Israel.”

Murphy has a record of being an enthusiastic pro-Palestinian activist, who took part in the flotilla to Gaza in 2011. After a brief detention, he was deported by Israeli authorities back to Ireland. Last year, during the “Arab spring,” Murphy also urged a violent uprising against Israel.

The incendiary comment was widely condemned in Britain. Charles Tannock MEP, Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Spokesman for the UK Conservative delegation, said that, “Paul Murphy is well known for holding extreme militant views on such issues and has regularly attacked my views on Israel in debates in plenary,” he said.

“I utterly condemn his call for another intifada, which is neither remotely justified nor helpful to the peace process and would only result in futile and needless violence with a risk of injury both to Palestinian civilians whom he wishes to help and to IDF forces and Israeli civilians. It would be a massive setback to resuming peace talks as being pushed by Secretary of State John Kerry as we speak.”

Liberal Democrat MEP for London Baroness Sarah Ludford accused Murphy of being irresponsible and provocative.

“Besides being grossly irresponsible, this provocation is spectacularly ill-timed, given the prospect of the re-launch of peace negotiations,” she told the Post.

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