The Zionist Federation of Great Britain cancelled an invitation to Haaretz journalist Danny Rubenstein, who was to speak at a federation conference in London, after Rubenstein called Israel an apartheid state. While Rubenstein has a right to criticize Israel, conference organizers explained, using the word “apartheid” invited demonization.
Rubenstein made his remarks during a United Nations panel meeting in the European Union parliament building in Brussels. Members of the Jewish anti-Israel group Neturei Karta spoke as well, as did Arab-Israeli MK Nadia Hilu, who participated at taxpayer expense. Israeli officials have condemned the meeting, calling it “a vicious anti-Israel propaganda vehicle.”