An Egyptian lawmaker has a shoe thrown at him in parliament by a fellow legislator who is outraged about a meeting the MP held with Israel’s ambassador, according to Egyptian media reports.
MP Tawfik Okasha, who is also a television host and was described by the state-run al-Ahram daily as “controversial,” publicly — during a broadcast — invited Ambassador Haim Koren to his house for dinner. Koren happily obliged, and the two met on Tuesday at Okasha’s home, discussing issues of politics, trade and agricultural cooperation between the countries.
But other legislators were outraged by the consultation, which one MP called “political prostitution.” One hundred members of the legislature had called for an emergency session to discuss the meeting.
And at the special parliamentary session, Okasha was attacked by a shoe-throwing MP.
The culprit, MP Kamel Ahmed, and Okasha were both removed from the session.
Ahmed says Okasha “deserves 90 million shoes,” according to a translation of his remarks by the Ynet news website. “I want to shoot him. What I did reflects the nation’s opinion. I did what I did because I am an MP and a representative of the people. Every time I see him, I’ll hit him with a shoe.”
Egyptian television host and parliament member Tawfiq Okasha (YouTube screen capture)
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