Pro-Palestinian Group Files Complaint Against Two Israeli Lawmakers

The Hind Rajab Foundation, a pro-Palestinian organization that has sought in recent years to advance legal action against Israelis traveling abroad, has filed a criminal complaint with Dutch authorities against Knesset members Ram Ben Barak and Moshe Solomon.

The complaint was submitted ahead of the lawmakers' participation in a conference of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), taking place this week in The Hague. It calls on Dutch authorities to open an investigation into the two lawmakers on suspicion of "public incitement to genocide."

According to the foundation, the two Knesset members "used their public standing to promote a policy of uprooting the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip" and made statements that it claims amount to incitement to genocide under international law. The organization argues that their remarks and public positions warrant a criminal investigation.

Regarding MK Ram Ben Barak, who serves on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and heads the Israeli delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the complaint centers on his November 2023 proposal to encourage the "voluntary emigration" of Gaza residents to other countries.

The foundation argues that, given the wartime conditions in Gaza, such a proposal cannot be considered voluntary and instead constitutes "forced displacement," which it claims amounts to incitement to genocide.

As for MK Moshe Solomon, the organization alleges that his support for renewing Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip and his opposition to Palestinian sovereignty there reflect support for demographic change that, in its view, could only be achieved through continued fighting and the displacement of the Palestinian population.

The complaint is the latest in a series of legal actions launched by the Hind Rajab Foundation against Israeli public figures and officials abroad. Over the past two years, the organization has filed criminal complaints in several countries against IDF soldiers, officers, government ministers, and other Israeli officials in an effort to trigger investigations and obtain arrest warrants while they are outside Israel.

"Their participation in a conference devoted to international law stands in contradiction to their alleged actions," said Dyab Abou Jahjah, founder of the March 30 Movement and its affiliated Hind Rajab Foundation.

Abou Jahjah, a Shiite Muslim with reported ties to Hezbollah, is barred from entering the United Kingdom and is listed among individuals prohibited from boarding flights that pass through U.S. airspace.