On Sunday, members of Iraq’s parliament moved to strip Mr. Alusi’s parliamentary immunity from prosecution in order to charge him with treason for visiting Israel.

A taster of what he is up against…

After a combative session, parliamentarians voted to lift Alusi’s parliamentary immunity and seek charges against him for visiting the Jewish state. They also said the fiery, secular politician should be prevented from travelling abroad again.

News of Alusi’s visit, which took place last week, emerged over the weekend. It was his second visit to Israel since 2004.

Alusi, who accused some MPs of being in the pocket of Iran, reacted angrily during the parliament session, which was broadcast live on Iraqi TV.

UIC MP noted Alusi’s visit to Israel “dealt a blow to the Iraqi people’s will and violated Iraq’s constitution.” Sunni MP Falah Hassan Zidan from the Arab Front for National Dialogue upheld the Parliament’s decision, saying “we have problems with Iran and neighbouring countries, but they do not justify visiting an enemy state.” “Striping Mithal al-Alusi of immunity was strong so that other MPs can take heed and refrain from visiting the Zionist Entity.”

The law under which he is to be prosecuted is a 1969 statute dating back to Ba’athist rule, a Saddam Hussein-era law making it a crime for Iraqis to travel to Israel, although the Iraqi legal expert Tariq Harb considered Alusi’s visit to Israel as legal and complying with Iraqi constitutional legislation (quoted in article here)…“Article 44 in the constitution gives Iraqi nationals the right to travel and move abroad with no restriction on country,” Harb said. According to this article (with more biographical details included) - the whole scenario is a clarifying one - “Keep a watch on the struggles of one Iraqi by the name of Mithal al-Alusi and you will see the drama of Iraq’s modern history and the battle for its future.”

Additional:

Mr. Alusi says that for too many years the regimes in the Middle East have used the Jewish state as an excuse for their own misrule. “I have visited Israel before. I have been open about this. I won elections, my party is more popular now because of this than before,” he said.

Mr. Alusi spent the day Monday campaigning on the issue and says he has received overwhelming support. We would not count him out. He made his name in the Iraqi opposition by briefly taking over Iraq’s embassy in Berlin in 2002 and spent time in a German prison for his beliefs. He lost two sons at the hands of terrorists inside Iraq’s government and has survived multiple assassination plots. What a turnabout and a victory it would be if a visit to Israel actually made an Iraqi politician more popular.