Congress Member of Parliament (MP) from Kasargod in Kerala, Rajmohan Unnithan, said that the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, should be shot to death without trial for the kind of ‘manslaughter’ he was doing in Gaza. The parliamentarian was speaking at a pro-Palestine rally in Kasargod, organised by the United Muslim Jama-ath, on Friday, November 17. The MP added that anyone who takes up arms to save their homeland, to save their siblings, and to save a whole people, should not be called a terrorist.

According to reports, Rajmohan referred to the Nuremberg trials conducted during the Second World War for those involved in war crimes. The Allies had carried out the trials against the Nazis after they were defeated in the war. Those identified as war criminals were shot dead without a trial. Rajmohan said that Benjamin Netanyahu was a war criminal who should be similarly executed.

The MP also said that one should react strongly against anyone who calls Hamas (the military organisation governing Gaza) a terrorist group. It appears to be a reference to a speech made by his party colleague and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor during another pro-Palestine event when he had referred to the attack by Hamas as a terrorist attack. The event was conducted by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the Congress’s biggest ally in Kerala.

The Congress is all set to conduct a pro-Palestine rally on November 23 in Kozhikode, its first since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in October. Congress leader Aryadan Shoukath, however, conducted a rally earlier this month even after the party had warned him against it. He had to face disciplinary action for going against the party leadership.

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