(JTA) – A candidate in Finland representing one of its largest parties said Israel is systematically murdering Palestinian children, women and elderly people.
Abdirahim Hussein, a former chairman of the Center Party’s youth division, made the statement last week in a blog post about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Tundra Tabloids website.
“We have for the last few years witnessed brutal actions in which children, women and the elderly having been systematically murdered,” wrote Hussein, who was born in Somalia in 1978 and immigrated to Finland in 1994. “This all happened less than a year ago.”
Hussein was referring to Israel’s military operation last summer in Gaza trying to stop Hamas rocket fire into Israeli cities. Israel has maintained that it sought to avoid civilian casualties in the operation.
The Center Party has 36 seats in the Finnish parliament out of 200. Hussein, a journalist and social activist, is running for its 13th slot in this month’s elections.
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