Hamas representatives interrupted a speech by MK Silvan Shalom at the recent Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Ethiopia. The Hamas members attended the event under the guise of representatives for the Palestinians. Upon hearing about the presence of Hamas members, the Israeli delegation considered leaving the event, but decided to stay and deliver the speech. The United States recently decided to send its first delegation to the event since 1994 after which the administration began boycotting the organization since 1999. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman released the following statement:
“The House of Representatives sent an observer delegation to the annual Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting this week to assess the prospects for the United States rejoining the organization. Congress sent its last official delegation to the IPU in 1994, and officially terminated its membership in the Organization on October 1, 1999.
“After the U.S. observer delegation completed its participation in the main assembly, it was discovered that two members of Hamas were at the IPU meeting and were registered officially as ‘advisers’ on the Palestinian Delegation. The Hamas ‘advisers’ and the Iranian delegation disrupted the speech of Israeli delegation head Sylvan Shalom, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister.
“More than three years ago, the Quartet – made up of the United States, Russia, the EU and the UN – established three principles for Hamas participation in the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: nonviolence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap. This is also U.S. policy.
“Unless the IPU can assure us that Hamas will not participate as part of the official Palestinian delegation at any future meetings before the Quartet conditions are satisfied, I will be recommending to my colleagues that the U.S. House of Representatives not rejoin the IPU.”
