Belgium: Arafat praised at funeral of Anne-Marie Lizin, a Israel-bashing politician

In the eulogy delivered at the funeral of Anne-Marie Lizin, a Belgian Socialist politician, who served as the President of the Senate from 2004 to 2007, Annie Sugier, from the Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, praised her for having met Yasser Arafat at a time when he was being shunned (persona non grata) by everybody.

Annie Sugier also mentioned that she had seen Lizin on television kissing Arafat, addiding that she was absolutely right to show fondness for him in public.

The Arafat mention was much appreciated and broadcast on Belgian TV channels and relayed by several newspapers.

Nobody mentioned that Ms. Lizin had met with Kadhafi too.

A committed Israel-basher, Ms. Lizin was the most prominent individual to take part in the violently anti-Israel Civil Society Forum in 2009 where she accused the Israeli army to have "acted in a racist attitude in their war in Gaza" (reported by the Kuwait News Agency). 

. NGO Monitor has the story about the Forum and the people she happily hobnobbed with:

"Organizers of a related event, the "Civil Society Forum" (April 17-19) have been presenting themselves as the representatives of all NGOs. In reality, however, they represent a small group of marginal NGOs, including Nord-Sud XXI, a Libyan-linked group that has issued statements accusing Israel of "genocide," "apartheid" and "atrocities." The president of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO), Liberato C. Bautista, has called for participation in the Civil Society Forum, but this is an individual endorsement ignoring the decision of the organization not to participate or support it. The Civil Society Forum is hosting a working group on the "Plight of the Palestinian People and fragmentation of their rights," the only nation-specific topic to be discussed. Other topics include "Intensified forms of discrimination after 9/11, in particular ethnic and religious profiling."