Israeli parliamentarians called for normalized ties with Arab nations but clashed with Iranians and were condemned by the Palestinians while attending the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s three-day conference on Interfaith Dialogue in Morocco this week.
“I hope that more countries will join the Abraham Accords soon,” MK Danny Danon told the assembly on Wednesday.
Delegations from countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel such as Iraq, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran participated in the annual event.
As Danon started to speak, he called out the Iranian delegation from the podium for leaving their seats.
Israeli MKs call out the Iranian delegation
“This is an example of how you do not promote tolerance. This is an example of how you do not promote inter-religious dialogue.”
MK Danny Danon in conversation with Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman at the Democracy 2023 conference. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)“Shame on you,” Danon stated.
“I believe the Iranian people deserve a much better and stronger leadership,” he said before discussing the state of Israeli-Arab relations. “The relationship between Israel and moderate Arab countries is natural and will continue to develop and grow in the future.”
Danon and MK Dan Illouz, who was also part of the Israeli delegation, both took to Twitter afterward to comment on the incident.
Illouz wrote “The Iranians once again proved they are the enemies of peace. We will beat them in every arena.”
The four-person Knesset delegation arrived in Marrakech on Tuesday.
During the first session that day, Illouz, chairman of the Abraham Accords Caucus, urged countries to “be on the right side of history” and to push for normalized ties with Israel.
“As a proud Israeli, I stand before you today, in Morocco, a proud Arab country, as living evidence of the peace we can achieve when we focus on our common bonds,” he said.
“I invite nations from across the world to embrace the spirit of the Abraham Accords.”
As Illouz began his speech, the Iranian delegation left the hall, returning to their seats after he finished.
“The occupation, the displacement of a nation and the creation of another fake nationality in its place… ignores the teachings of divine religions,” an Iranian delegate said later in the session.
Delegates from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco – signatories of the Abraham Accords – were also present.
The UAE and Bahrain discussed efforts to create an environment for “diversity and cohesion” and “that allows freedom and belief.” The UAE also highlighted the creation of their Abrahamic Family House, which was inaugurated on February 16th, 2023, and contains houses of worship for the three Abrahamic faiths: A synagogue, a mosque and a church.
Following Danon’s speech, Musa Hadid, deputy chairman of the Palestinian National Council, called out Israel’s promotion of the Abrahamic Accords.
“What we see today is that Israel is seeking whimsical achievements to establish peace when it is still occupying our land in Palestine,” he said. Israel is working to restrict the religious freedoms of Christians and Muslims in the area, and banning them from going to their places of worship.”
Hadid finished his speech by countering Illouz’s statement that countries that normalize ties with Israel are “on the right side of history.”
“History will not pardon those who ignore this call for peace,” Hadid said.
In addition to discussing the Abraham Accords, Danon stressed the dangers of antisemitism and called on parliaments to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
“The Israeli delegation came to convey a message of religious tolerance, respect, and empathy,” Danon told The Jerusalem Post. “ I called upon the nations of the world to take up the IHRA definition so that we can recognize the dangers of intolerance and prevent such atrocities from happening again.”
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