Parliament Speaker objects to using ‘Israel’, uses ‘Occupying entity’ instead

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Parliament Speaker, Muhammad al-Halbousi, raised objection against using the word ‘Israel’ in his final statement, on Saturday, during the 33^rd conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union held in Cairo, Egypt, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

Halbousi, during the conference entitled ‘Al-Aqsa Mosque and Islamic and Christian Holy Sites Are a Priority,’ emphasized that the word ‘Israel’ should be replaced with ‘The occupying entity.’

Halbousi stressed that the Iraqi parliament is passing a law that bans normalization with the ‘Zionist entity,’ in reference to the Israeli state, according to INA.

“The Iraqi parliament made its courageous decision to proceed with a legislation that prohibits normalization with the occupying and usurping Zionist entity,” Halbousi said during the conference, according to a press statement issued by the Iraqi Council of Representatives.  

“The decision is a clear reflection of the will of the Iraqi people, who, for decades, considered the Palestinian cause on top of their national and Islamic priorities,” Halbousi added.

Halbousi, in his statement during the conference, explained that the premeditated murder of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is a heinous crime committed by the Israeli forces.