MARAKESH, March 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Middle East crisis has taken prime importance in the 107th meeting of the International Parliamentary Union, which began Sunday in Marakesh and will continue until March 23.  

This started when a group of Israeli Knesset members announced that they would take part in the meeting, angered several political groups in Morocco. They called on the authorities to ban the delegation from entering the country.  

The Moroccan Association in Support of the Palestinian Struggle, and NGO, which includes several political parties, syndicates, human rights organizations as well as intellectual and independent political figures issued a statement a week prior to the meeting, dubbing the delegation as ‘Zionist’ and ‘criminal’ and calling the Moroccan community to protest against their participation.  

The Justice party, another political party, asked the Moroccan parliamentarians to boycott the meeting.  

However, the eight member Israeli delegation led by Knesset speaker Avraham Burg, did participate. It was noticed though that they remained under heavy security and with the limited movement.  

"This delegation of Zionists must be banned from trampling over Moroccan territory," said another, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).  

"Any normalization with the Jewish state qualifies as support for Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people."  

Moroccan authorities stopped the Israeli bodyguards from entering the country with their guns, the Moroccan newspaper Al Jomhour reported. Local authorities could not confirm the claims, said AFP.  

On Friday, protestors denounced the Israeli presence at the parliamentary meeting at a demonstration held at a Marrakesh university, the newspaper said. 

The Israeli MPs plan to hold talks outside the IPU, particularly with Raymond Forni, the leader of the French lower house National Assembly, on the situation in the Middle East.  

Apart from the conflict in the Middle East, the IPU meeting will focus on Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism, globalization and the Kyoto protocol on climate change.  

In his opening speech, King Mohammed, to the discomfort of the Israeli delegation, said in a speech that Israel was leading the "daily bloodshed of innocents."  

"Morocco...is voicing its concern and bitterness about the Israeli government embarking on the logic of force and killing against the defenseless Palestinian people...instead of opting for a civilised approach by negotiating within the framework of international legitimacy," he said.  

But he added: "hope ends up arising from despair... the will to build peace, justice and security is bound to prevail, especially in a region which is the cradle of religions..,"  

He said the establishment of a Palestinian state would be "a symbol of coexistence, integration and brotherliness among all the peoples and religions in the Middle East".  

On the sidelines of the meeting, Fourni held a meeting Monday morning with Burg and the Palestinian Legislative council deputy-speaker Ibrahim Abu al-Naja as well as members from the Italian, Irish, Luxemburg, Belgium, French, and Egyptian delegations.  

Foury said that the aim of the 45 minute meeting was to renew the commitment of Burg to visit Ramallah. A proposal submitted by Fathi Suroor, the head of the Egyptian People’s Assembly was also agreed upon. The proposal said that there would be a meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian parliamentarian members in Egypt in Sharm Al Sheikh on April 12.