Israel Resorts to Poisonous Gas and State Terrorism Against Palestinians
It is not the first time the Zionist regime uses chemical weapons against the Palestinians and if the international community does not take action, it will not be the last time either.
Talking to the TEHRAN TIMES on the issue, a university Professor Ali Baqeri said, the international community is suffering from double-standard policies followed by the big powers and some international organizations. "Look, Iraq has been under a 10-year-long embargo for violating international rules and regulations, but the Zionist regime which is in reality a rogue state, is committing one crime after another with impunity. The reason for this unfortunate state of affairs is only the double standard of international community and that of the big powers. If big powers follow double standard, it will not be very surprising, but when it comes to the international organizations, one cannot tolerate such a double standard, he said.
Side by side with its nasty policy of using poisonous gas, Israel has resorted to stated terrorism. In the latest development, the Israeli attempt to assassinate the Palestinian Authority's number two failed, said Voice of Palestine Radio in a report Friday night.
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Zaman) executive secretary of the Palestinian Liberation Organization was attacked when he was leaving his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Abu-Zaman, condemning the attack, said that the Israelis fired three times at him, but it was a missed shot.
Abu-Zaman called the attack in line with the Prime Minister-Elect Ariel Sharon and his cabinet's policies to resort to state terrorism. Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Nablus Saturday against a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, denouncing the United States for its recent air raids against Iraq.
"We are against the visit of this criminal who has killed the children and the elderly of Iraq. We tell him, 'Go Back to Where You Came From!'" rally speaker Mahmud Assaifi told the crowd.
Demonstrators burned posters of Powell and carried banners calling him a "Child Killer."
A similar demonstration took place in the West Bank town of Al-Khalil, where about 100 people burned U.S. and Israeli flags and chanted that Powell was a "Criminal."
Powell, who arrived in Cairo Saturday morning, is due to travel to Israel later in the day on his first tour of the region since becoming secretary of state. He is due to meet with Israeli Prime Minister-Elect Ariel Sharon, caretaker Premier Ehud Barak and, in the occupied territories, with Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat before leaving for Jordan on Sunday.
Five Palestinians were also injured Saturday in the West Bank village of Al-Khader as demonstrators clashed with Israeli troops following a funeral for a Palestinian shot dead by soldiers the day before.
It was unclear how seriously they were injured.
After burying 21-year-old Raed Mahmoud Hussein Musa, 200 Palestinians, most of them young people, threw stones at soldiers stationed near a bypass road in the village.
The demonstration was continuing into the afternoon.
Musa died Friday after Israeli soldiers shot him in the chest during clashes in Al-Khader, near Bethlehem.
The Palestinian Parliament speaker meanwhile underlined on Saturday that the uprising (Intifada) will continue until Israel withdraws from the occupied territories, the speaker of the Palestinian Parliament said Saturday, calling for the United States to step up efforts to reach a peace deal.
"It is out of the question to stop the Intifada. The Intifada will continue until the end of the occupation," said the head of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmed Qorei, quoted by Egypt's official MENA news agency.
Qorei called on the United States to make an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal one of its top foreign policy priorities. If not, he said, the Palestinian authority would propose that the United Nations become the chief sponsor of the peace process.
Violence continued in the Palestinian territories on Friday, with Israeli soldiers shooting dead one Palestinian and injuring more than 50 during a Palestinian "day of rage" against occupation.
Since violence erupted in late September, more than 418 people have been killed.