Israelis and Palestinians blame each other for Mideast terror
UNITED NATIONS: Israel's ambassador to the United Nations
called actions by Iran, Syria and Palestinian leaders "declarations of
war," but the Palestinian envoy said Israel's attacks on Gaza were
inhumane and violated international law.
The two diplomats on Monday opened a U.N. Security Council debate
that included some 35 speakers. The session had been scheduled before
Monday's Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, in which nine people
were killed and 60 wounded.
Nevertheless, the Palestinian U.N. observer, Riyad Mansour, echoed
the condemnation made by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian
Authority. The Hamas-led Palestinian government has not made similar
comments.
"We restate our condemnation of the loss of innocent lives,
Palestinian and Israelis, and we call upon the occupying power to do the
same," Mansour told the council.
Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said every day fundamentalist
leaders were inciting acts of terrorism."A dark cloud is looming above
our region, and it is metastasizing as a result of the statements and
actions by leaders of Iran, Syria, and the newly elected government of
the Palestinian Authority," Gillerman said. "These recent statements are
clear declarations of war, and I urge each and every one of you to
listen carefully and take them at face value."
He said Iran and Syria harboured and financed Hamas and Lebanon's
Hizbollah group, citing comments from Hamas leaders based in Syria,
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
But Iran's U.N. ambassador, Javad Zarif, told the council Gillerman
had made "irresponsible claims." He said that daily threats by Israel
required "urgent and serious attention by the council" which at minimum
should demand that Israel desist from resorting to force.
Iran, itself under the gun for its nuclear program, said Israel
already had atomic weapons despite its "unprecedented record of state
terrorism."
Arab and African delegates backed Mansour's condemnation of what he
called Israel's "excess and indiscriminate force against Palestinian
civilians," particularly those in Gaza that he said killed 15 to 21
civilians, among them two children.
In the past week, Israel has bombarded targets in Gaza, from where
militants often fire home-made rockets into Israel.
The death toll is the highest since Israel pulled out of Gaza last
August and September after 38 years of occupation.
The meeting was called after the United States last week refused to
agree to a compromise statement on Israeli military strikes in Gaza,
saying the draft was "disproportionately critical of Israel."
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton on Monday said he regretted the loss of
life, including in Gaza, but that the responsibility for preventing
terror attacks "rests with the Palestinian Authority."
"The United States has noted reactions by several terrorist groups
including Hamas that defend - and even applaud - the act of terror in
Tel Aviv today, as we have noted President Abbas's quick denunciation of
it," he said.
Britain's deputy ambassador, Adam Thomson, told the council it was
"very disappointing" that the Hamas-led Palestinian government did not
condemn the Tel Aviv bombing but "sought to justify this senseless,
abhorrent, and counter-productive action." But he also said that Israeli
rocket attacks were "unacceptable" close to residential areas that
resulted in civilian deaths. New York, Tuesday, Reuter |