MIDEAST: Arab countries condemn deadly Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which killed 140 Palestinians

Record ID: 340132

  • Title: MIDEAST: Arab countries condemn deadly Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which killed 140 Palestinians
  • Date: 28th December 2008
  • Summary: SIGN ENTRANCE TO CHATILA CAMP PICTURE OF MILITANT ON CAMP ENTRANCE SIGN
  • Embargoed: 12th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3ADS290N0N2LHG5L0L6GK2DKR
  • Story Text: Thousands of Arabs from across Jordan, Lebanon and Syria demonstrated in protest at Israel's deadly airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday (December 27) that left 155 dead, while Arab leaders condemned the attacks and called for an urgent Arab Summit to discuss the situation.
    Israeli warplanes and combat helicopters pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Saturday and militants in the Gaza Strip responded with rocket salvoes that killed one Israeli man and wounded several others. Both sides said they were prepared to launch wider attacks.
    Black smoke billowed over Gaza City, where the dead and wounded lay scattered on the ground after more than 30 air strikes destroyed Palestinian security compounds, including two where Hamas was hosting graduation ceremonies for new recruits.
    In Amman, Jordan, hundreds of activists took to the streets on Saturday to denounce the Israeli air strike that killed 155 people calling for revenge in light of the deadly attack.
    The demonstration started at the headquarters of the strong professional association, a syndicate of 14 labour unions, and ended peacefully in front of the United Nations offices in the Jordanian capital.
    Leaders from the Islamist movement condemned Israel and the U.S. and called on Jordan and Egypt to end their diplomatic relations with the Israel.
    "We cannot stay silent as we see blood spilling in Gazas. It is time to settle scores with the Jewish state and uproot the Jewish state from Palestine," said Hamam Saaid, overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
    Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah called on Israel to "immediately" stop military action against Gaza and end the humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave.
    More demonstrations are scheduled to be held in various parts of the kingdom on Saturday and Sunday.
    In Cairo, the head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, condemned the airstrikes and said Arab Foreign Ministers would hold an emergency meeting in Cairo to discuss the crisis.
    At the same time, Libya, the only Arab country on the U.N. Security Council, will seek an urgent meeting of the council, Moussa told a news conference.
    "This is something unimaginable and unbearable, and of course, without doubt this operation is condemned to the utmost extent, but in this case condemnation is not enough. We consulted this morning with the Libyan Foreign Minister, in Libya's role as a member of the Security Council, and we gave them instructions to the Arab group in New York to prepare a meeting of the Security Council. Libya will make this request for an emergency meeting to inform the Security Council about the situation in Gaza. At the same time the foreign ministers of the Arab League will meet in an emergency meeting tomorrow or after tomorrow at the latest."
    Moussa said the Arab League must act because the attacks appeared to be only the beginning of Israel's campaign.
    "Now we are dealing with a very dangerous situation and a real, major humanitarian tragedy. Let's focus on this point. We are working on this basis - the Security Council must meet immediately to look into this issue and the Arab League must decide what position the Arabs will take, because what is clear to us now is that this is a major military operation that will continue for a long time, and there will be a lot of casualties in Gaza and the Arabs must take a position," Moussa added.
    Egypt also condemned the Israeli raids and said it would keep trying to restore a truce between Israel and Gaza.
    In Damascus, Syria, the head of the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine, Maher al-Taher, said on Saturday that Israel would not succeed in making the Palestinian people give up through its aggression in Gaza.
    "We expect all possibilities concerning the (Gaza) Strip because Israel thinks it can make Palestinian people give up and that we will ask for the truce and offer political concessions. But we, as Palestinian factions and not only the Popular front of the Liberation of Palestine, announce that all these aggressions and crimes will make us insist on continuing the resistance," he said during a news conference held in Damascus.
    Al-Taher also called for an exceptional meeting of the Arab League to discuss the situation in Gaza.
    "We call for an Arab League summit to stop these crimes and to send a message to America that encourages this aggression. Thus, we are facing an American Zionist aggression that aims to annihilate the Palestinian people in an attempt to impose giving up on these people."
    Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians living in Syria demonstrated in al-Yarmouk camp, where most Palestinians live, to condemn the aggression against Gaza Strip.
    The protesters carried Palestinian flags and insulted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
    Syrian News Agency SANA said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made phone calls with different Arab leader to discuss the possibility of holding an urgent Arab Summit to find the ways to face the Israeli aggression against Gaza.
    Another official Syrian source said Syria condemned Israel and urged Arab nations and the international community to use all the possible procedures to pressure Israel into ending the attacks immediately.
    In Beirut, Lebanon, thousands of angry Palestinian refugees took to the streets of their refugee camps on Saturday in protest in the bloodiest day for Palestinians in more than 20 years of conflict.
    Protesters blocked roads and burnt tyres while chanting anti-Israel slogans in the Chatila camp in southern Beirut.
    There were similar protests in Palestinian camps in the south and the north of Lebanon.
    Lebanon is host to some 400,000 Palestinian refugees.
    Many of the Palestinians said they were angry at Arab states for what they see as lack of action to stop the attacks on Gaza.
    ''We are Arabs not Jews, the Arab leaders should help us. Those who fought the October (1973) should aid Gaza and help lift the blockade. Shame on them, shame on them, the Arab states,'' said one woman during the protest.
    ''This has been our fate since we were born. May God not leave one Arab ruler living,'' said another woman.
    The Israeli army said it had targeted "terrorist infrastructure" following days of rocket attacks from Gaza on southern Israel that caused some damage but few injuries.
    The rocket attacks increased pressure on Israeli political leaders to act as a February 10 election approaches.
    The European Union's Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana, also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
    In the U.S., the White House said earlier that Hamas must end terrorist activities to play a role in the future of Palestinians and that Hamas rockets must stop to end the violence.
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