The European Jewish Parliament condemned the participation of the Remy Pagani, the mayor of Geneva, at the 4th session of the "Russell Tribunal on Palestine," which is taking place in New York on October 6-8, The European Jewish Press reported.
"His own support for this mockery of justice is highly harmful to his credibility and to his city's reputation," the Jewish body said in a statement on Friday.
This year's Tribunal will be chaired by Stephane Hessel, who recently told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the Nazi occupation was "relatively harmless" compared to the "Israeli occupation of Palestine".
The European Jewish Parliament deplored the so-called "Tribunal" whose sole purpose, it said, "is the demonization and delegitimization of the Jewish State of Israel."
"The ‘Tribunal only focuses on the question of Arab refugees resulting from the war of aggression launched against Israel in 1948. It completely ignores the forced exodus of one million Jewish refugees from Arab countries at the same time," the Jewish parliament said, stressing that United Nations Resolution 242 calls for a "just settlement of the refugee problem which applies to Jewish and Arab refugees alike."
Based in Brussels, the European Jewish Parliament is composed of 120 elected members from 47 countries across Europe, and voices the beliefs, ideas and concerns, of European Jewry.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, in conjunction with the World Jewish Congress and the Pensioners Affairs Ministry, recently launched a new campaign aimed at bringing attention to the thousands of Jewish refugees who were expelled from Arab countries following the establishment of the State of Israel.
The campaign, titled “I am a refugee” and spearheaded by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, seeks to refocus the debate by bringing to light the truth behind the many myths and fabrications that have come to dominate the Arab-Israeli conflict.