"We don't care who they are as long as they are members of the Legislative Council," says official.
By AP, JPOST STAFFAhmed Bahar 248.88(photo credit: AP)
A European parliamentary delegation on Monday invited Hamas lawmakers to visit the European Union headquarters.
The invitation would seem to violate an EU boycott of Hamas, but the significance of the gesture is not immediately clear.
Ahmed Bahar, the acting speaker of the Hamas parliament, said the EU invited him and a delegation of the Palestinian Legislative Council to visit the EU headquarters in Brussels in March. He said Hamas lawmakers agreed to go.
The invitation was given by Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, head of a European delegation that visited Gaza on Monday.
Speaking to Reuters, Triantaphyllides defended the invitation.
"We don't care who they are as long as they are members of the Legislative Council," Triantaphyllides said. "We don't ask if they are members of Hamas or members of Fatah."
"The PLC was elected in 2006 and it was democratically elected," Triantaphyllides continued.
The move seems to be mostly symbolic as Hamas leaders are unlikely to be allowed to leave the territory.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
