Israeli media is reporting that a “pro-Palestinian human rights group” has petitioned the Swiss government to arrest visiting Israel President Shimon Peres. According to a report in the Jerusalem Post:
A pro-Palestinian human rights group has petitioned Switzerland’s attorney-general to issue an arrest warrant for visiting President Shimon Peres. The petition, alleging that Peres should be held responsible for allegations made in “the UN’s Goldstone report regarding the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip accuses Tel Aviv and its leaders of committing war crimes and humanitarian crimes.” Chairman of Swiss-based human rights group Rights for All, Anwar al-Gharbi, ”[Switzerland’s] humanitarian record obligates it to [arrest]” Peres. Beit Hanassi responded that “Palestinian organizations file [legal]complaints every time a senior Israeli official arrives for a visit overseas.” The statement continued, “The petition filed by the Palestinian organization in Switzerland has no influence. The president’s visit was conducted in a warm atmosphere, friendly and without any protests.” Peres was in Geneva as part of a longer visit which will include London. While in Switzerland, he visited the CERN Large Hadron Collider. On Wednesday, he was expected to depart for London where he will deliver an address to some 200 government leaders, have a working meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, and in the evening will attend the gala 80th birthday party at the Royal Albert Hall for former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Before leaving London on Thursday, Peres will meet with leaders of Britain’s Jewish community.
Earlier posts have identified Anwar al-Gharbi (aka Anouar Gharbi) as a member of the European Campaign to End the Siege On Gaza (ECESG), a group whose CEO, telephone numbers and address are the same as the Palestinian Return Centre which has extensive ties to Hamas and the UK and Global Muslim Brotherhood. The ECESG and Gharbi appear to be coordinating the the so-called Freedom Fleet 2, the second sea flotilla attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza which is scheduled to sail in late May or early June. A report from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) has documented the extensive connections of the Global Muslim Brotherhood to the Gaza Flotilla movement, including legal efforts to prosecute Israeli officials.
In addition to his role as a leader of the ECESG. Mr Gharbi is known to have been an officer of the Association de Secours Palestinien (ASP) in Switzerland, the Swiss member of the Union of Good, a coalition of charities headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi which helps to raise funds for Hamas. The Union of Good was banned by Israel in 2002 and was recently designated a terrorist entity by the United State. The ASP had been designated by the US in 2003.