""A
lot of the violence happening in Israel and Palestine is perpetrated by the
Israeli state, I believe the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves
against that aggression," Murphy told Al Jazeera. "That may involve armed
defense against soldiers and I wouldn't have a problem with that."
Murphy
has been lambasted by several of his colleagues in the European Parliament for
his views. UK Conservative Charles Tannock said comments like this would "only result in futile and needless
violence" and that it would be a "massive setback" for peace talks.
Irish
MEP Sean Kelly who expressed his disdain at Murphy's comments. "In a region
already beset with conflict, it is abhorrent to call for violence as a tool to
achieve collective goals," Kelly told Al Jazeera. "The only route to a peaceful
settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is through dialogue and
compromise on both sides."" (thanks Christian)
