U.S. let Israel terrorize Palestine -official
U.S. let Israel terrorize Palestine -official
Agencies
Kuala Lumpur
The head of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation's political
office, Farouq al-Kaddoumi, on Sunday accused the United States
of giving Israel freedom to carry out atrocities and terrorism
against his people, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported.
Kaddoumi, speaking on arrival in Kuala Lumpur for a meeting of
the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign
ministers, said he viewed then prospects for peace in the Middle
East as "increasingly hopeless".
"We are sure that the Americans ... have given them (Israel)
the green light to continue such atrocities and terrorism. This
is state terrorism," he told Bernama.
President George W. Bush on Saturday defended Israel's
storming of Yasser Arafat's compound and demanded that the
Palestinian leader do more to stem violence. He consulted with
five world leaders about the crisis, stepping directly into
peacemaking made yet more difficult by another suicide bombing in
Israel.
"I can understand why the Israeli government takes the actions
they take. Their country is under attack," Bush said, a day after
Israeli tanks invaded buildings in Arafat's government complex on
the West Bank.
"Every day there has been a suicide bombing, and every day the
government sees the loss of innocent life," Bush told reporters
summoned to his ranch at Crawford, Texas.
Kaddoumi said Israel had deployed more than 40,000 soldiers in
just a small area of the West Bank and Palestinians were facing
difficulty in getting medicine and food supply.
"They have overrun several towns, they use their snipers,
heavy artillery, M16 and combat helicopters in addition to
soldiers who enter the cities and are destroying residential
areas and killing people," he said.
He said the Israelis had no respect for any United Nations'
Security Council resolution including the latest one which called
for the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a cease-fire.
"They arrest and kill Palestinians, their crackdown on these
innocent citizens of Palestine continues and yet they want the
Palestinians to exercise restraint."
Kaddoumi said the United States had done noting to reactivate
the derailed Camp David peace process.
"We spent 10 years and waited for Israel to act in accordance
with the terms of the agreement and for the Americans to pressure
the Israelis to implement all the terms of the agreement. But
unfortunately they did not do so," said Kaddoumi.
He said the chances for peace in the region were more remote.
"It is hopeless. It has become a hopeless case after 10 years
of negotiations," he said.
He repeated accusations that Israeli Prime Minister Arial
Sharon is a war criminal.
"Sharon is a war criminal and Israel is a racist regime. They
are waging a ridiculous war against the Palestinian people,"
Kaddoumi said.
The three-day OIC meeting begins on Monday, and ministers will
discuss the root causes of terrorism and how to dispel
perceptions that Muslims are largely responsible.
Most will agree that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is
one of the main causes of terrorism, and several accuse the
Jewish state of practicing state terrorism.
Meanwhile, Bush called King Abdullah II of Jordan, Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar of Spain and Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah, who has offered a leading peace initiative.
The president did not speak with Arafat or Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon. Secretary of State Colin Powell planned to
speak to Sharon and possibly Arafat, Bush said. U.S. envoy
Anthony Zinni will remain in the region to continue his
peacemaking efforts.
The flurry of activity came as the Israeli occupation of
Arafat's offices continued, and followed a three-day period in
which 30 people were killed in anti-Israeli attacks. Bush,
spending a long weekend on his ranch, made no public comment on
Friday about the violence, nor any phone calls.
Though Arafat was penned in by Israeli forces, Bush said he
was convinced the Palestinian leader can do more to halt suicide
bombings. The president said he saw a "pattern, a routine, and a
constancy" in the suicide attacks that suggested an effort to
sabotage the peace process.
"The more progress we make toward achieving a cease-fire or
meaningful security discussions, the more a killer organization
will try to disrupt the process," he said.
Bush called on Arafat to "stand up and condemn, in Arabic,
these attacks." He insisted that Palestinian security forces can
more effectively keep suicide bombers out of Israel.
But in his phone talks with the leaders, Bush heard fresh
expressions of sympathy for the Palestinians.
Jordan's king urged Bush to intercede quickly so Israel would
end its "aggression on the Palestinian people and the siege on
President Arafat," the official Petra news agency said. He said
continued Israeli military escalation could bring "dangerous
consequences in which things will get out of control and shake
the stability and security of the whole region."
Mubarak urged Bush to press Israel to lift its siege on
Arafat, said the pro-government newspaper Al-Gomhuriya.
Asked whether Israel's seizure of the Arafat compound was
justified, Bush said: "Israel is a democratically elected
government, and the government is responding to the will of the
people for there to be more security."
"Israel will make the decisions necessary to defend herself,"
Bush said. But he renewed his call for the Israelis to seek peace
at the same time.
Bush normally enjoys bantering with his press corps, but was
somber on Saturday. When photographers were ushered in before his
impromptu news conference, Bush did not utter a word, and hardly
cracked a smile in his session with reporters.
As he prepared to celebrate Easter, the highest of Christian
holidays, Bush seemed reflective about the human toll on both
sides of the Mideast conflict.
"I sympathize with the frustrations of the Palestinian people,
those who long for normalcy, those who want to send their kids to
school and go to work," he said.
"I pray for peace," he said.