These are terrible images, but the world must see the horror that Hamas caused on October 7, according to the Israeli authorities. The 43-minute film has already been shown in various parliaments, but not in the federal parliament. “The Conference of Presidents of the House (consisting of all faction chairmen, ed.) has not reached a consensus,” Chamber President Eliane Tillieux (PS) reports on X. Several MPs react in bewilderment. An indignant MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez says that his party will take the initiative to show the film in a meeting room of parliament. “After all, a parliamentarian has the task of taking positions based on the broadest possible information.”
Civilians being hunted down and shot at close range, bodies of adults and children tortured, trails of blood: that is what can be seen in the images of the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists on Israeli soil.
The Israeli ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, had asked House Speaker Tillieux for permission to also show the film of the massacre in the federal parliament.
Tillieux reported on Tuesday evening on X that she had submitted the request to the Conference of Presidents of the House, but that no consensus had been found.
Eliane Tillieux
@elianetillieux
“Unfortunately, the House has just refused the screening of this film. This refusal is incomprehensible, especially when these images were shown on the same day in the French parliament, just like in the European Parliament for example,” an indignant Georges Dallemagne (Les Engagés) responded to X.
Georges Dallemagne
@G_Dallemagne
Catherine Fonck of Les Engagés also believed that it was the “duty” of parliament to watch the film. “We supported the demand (for screening). But the rejection was firm. Intense…,” she wrote on X.
Catherine Fonck
@catherinefonck
And when an is.
Catherine Fonck
@catherinefonck
The chairman of DéFI, François De Smet, shared the same opinion: “It is indeed incomprehensible.”
François De Smet
@francoisdesmet
“PS and PTB/PVDA have refused the screening. If DéFI had been a member of the Conference (excluded because the group has fewer than five members), our party would have fully supported the proposal,” said Sophie Rohonyi of DéFI. “Apparently there are only certain atrocities that can be exhibited and condemned?”
Sophie Rohonyi
@SophieRohonyi
“Thanks to social media, we have all been able to learn about the situation in Gaza, which has led to the condemnation of attacks on the civilian population. Therefore, the decision of the office of the Chamber of Representatives to refuse the distribution of images of the attack on Israel on October 7 is incomprehensible and scandalous,” MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez said on X on Wednesday.
Georges-L BOUCHEZ
@GLBouchez
“After all, a parliamentarian has the task of taking positions based on the broadest possible information. Hiding reality does not contribute to democracy and does not allow for a fair and rational public debate.”
“That is why MR will organize a screening of this film in a meeting room of parliament next week and invite all parliamentarians,” it said. “It is a democratic duty. It is a duty of respect and solidarity towards all victims, both Palestinian and Israeli.”
“Hamas wanted to continue mass slaughter in Israel for days and also attack larger cities”
ANALYSIS. Are Hamas fighters really hiding under hospitals in Gaza? And will Israel get them out without slaughter? (+)
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