“I regret the decision to refuse entry to Israel to Manu Pineda,” Roberta Metsola said just before arriving on her visit to Israel where she was due to visit Yad Vashem and meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.  She said she ‘’will raise the issue directly with authorities concerned.  Respect for MEPs and the European Parliament is essential for good relations,” she added.

Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM), a pro-Israel group in Spain, wrote that the European Parliament and its President Roberta Metsola “should rather be concerned about having a member who, unchallenged, openly collaborates with terrorist groups (as defined by the EU), using its position to cooperate with murderers of Israelis and Jews. Shame on you.”

 

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who is a on a visit to Israel, has  criticized an Israeli decision to refuse entry to to Manuel Pineda, an Communist member of the European Parliament from Spain known for his anti-Israel activities.

Pineda, who is the chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Palestine, was going to carry out a mission on Monday ”to assess the current situation of the Palestinians.”

“The mission was planned to meet with the Palestinian authorities and civil society, to see the consequences of the occupation on the daily life of the Palestinian population on the territory, as well as to see the effects of the policies of EU cooperation,” Pineda, who is known to have called for a boycott of Israel in the European Parliament,  said on Twitter.

“Once again, Israel is putting the brakes on Parliament’s attempts and work to assess the situation of the people in Palestine. It maintains its opacity about its human rights violations against the population of occupied Palestine,” he added.

“I regret the decision to refuse entry to Israel to Manu Pineda,” Roberta Metsola said just before arriving on her visit to Israel where she was due to visit Yad Vashem and meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.  She said she ‘’will raise the issue directly with authorities concerned.  Respect for MEPs and the European Parliament is essential for good relations,” added the head of the EU parliament who is from Malta.

Kan news quoted an Israeli political source on Sunday as stating that “in light of his anti-Israel activity, it was decided to refuse entry to MEP Manu Pineda. There is no basis for the State of Israel approving the entry to those who encourage a boycott of it.”

Pineda, a Communist member of the European Parliament where he is in the Confederal Group of the European Left, moved to Gaza in 2011 where he worked as a “brigade member” of Unadikum, an organization that supports the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and expressed support for senior members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated a terrorist group by the EU. In 2019, he hosted in the EU assembly senior PFLP members Khaled Barakat and Ismat Shakhshir.

Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM), a pro-Israel group in Spain, said the European Parliament and its President Roberta Metsola “should rather be concerned about having a member who, unchallenged, openly collaborates with terrorist groups (as defined by the EU), using its position to cooperate with murderers of Israelis and Jews. Shame on you.”

‘’Roberta Matsola is in no position to demand explanations from the Israeli government about Pineda. Rather, she should be concerned about offering explanations herself. For instance, explaining why the European Parliament has taken no action to prevent Pineda from abusing his position to collaborate with impunity with renown murderers. And why that Parliament allows such filo-terrorist to lead its “Delegation for Palestine,’’ ACOM said in a statement.

‘’The majority of us Europeans consider an insult and a humiliation that our institutions are squatted by such lowlifes and that the leaders selected to represent them are incapable to act with even a hint of a moral compass and demonstrate minimum respect to the European Jews, to the State of Israel and to all citizens of Europe,’’ concluded ACOM.