‘Journalist’ attemps citizen’s arrest of Avigdor Lieberman in Brussels

BRUSSELS (WJC)–David Cronin, a Brussels-based Irish journalist and pro-Palestinian campaigner, has been expelled from the EU Council building after attempting a ‘citizen’s arrest’ of Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. As Lieberman entered the press conference room in the EU Council building in Brussels to give his views on a meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council he attended,

Cronin, 39, shouted at him: “Mr. Lieberman, this is a citizen’s arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid. Please accompany me to the nearest police station. The freelance journalist, who in the past wrote for the ‘Economist’, the ‘Inter Press Service’ agency and other publications, was restrained by security guards and escorted from the building, shouting “Free Palestine”.

It was not the first time Cronin, a member of the Brussels press corps since 1998, attempted such a action. According to the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’, last year he placed his arm on Tony Blair and announced that the former prime minister was under citizen’s arrest for his role in the invasion of Iraq. On that occasion, his press pass was revoked but returned after a warning. Now, Cronin was reportedly informed that this time the pass would be permanently revoked.

Cronin recently authored a book on EU-Israel relations in which he claims that the “Israel lobby dictates EU policy” on the Middle East. Yoel Mester, a spokesman for Israel’s Mission to the European Union, said Israel would not be pressing for tighter security for future visits of Israeli dignitaries. “This was utterly uncivilized, in bad taste, but Israel, like the EU, is very supportive of free speech,” Mester was quoted by ‘The Guardian’ as saying.