Kenyan lawmaker in trouble for wearing Palestine scarf

Farah Maalim was accused of violating parliamentary rules

NAIROBI, Kenya - A Kenyan legislator was forced to remove a scarf traditionally associated with Palestinians, even as he called for order and solidarity with the people of Palestine who are currently in conflict with Israel as the Middle East conflict escalates.

Farah Maalim, the MP for Dadaab and a former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly was ordered to remove the scarf during the Wednesday parliamentary sitting, with the speaker terming it "unparliamentary". Maalim sits in the speaker's Panel.

For the last two weeks, Maalim has been criticizing Israel for "violation of human rights" after it emerged that the Israel Defence Forces was targeting civilians instead of the Hamas terror group. The Hamas started fighting with Israel, in the renewed conflict within the Middle East.

He said Palestine "needs the support of everybody in Kenya". Speaker Moses Wetangula, who was the chairman of the session, ordered Maalim to remove the scarf arguing that it was in breach of parliamentary rules of the Republic of Kenya.

Fellow MPs also condemned the legislator for "disrespecting" the House rules. It comes a few days after Kenyan police briefly detained three people for participating in a pro-Palestinian meeting in the capital, Nairobi.

A fortnight ago, President William Ruto expressed solidarity with the people of Israel, in a message which was met with mixed reaction. Some of his critics accused him of siding with Israel despite credible "evidence" of mass violation of human rights within the Gaza Strip.

The war is entering its third week with a total of 6,000 people already dead. Israel had threatened ground invasion in Gaza but the move was halted after the US asked for some time to avail necessary fighting equipment in support of Israel Defence Forces.

GAROWE ONLINE