From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Syria equates Israeli action with 911 HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Reuters. 18 January 2002. Syria Equates Israeli Action with Sept. 11 Attacks. UNITED NATIONS -- Syria on Friday equated the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center with Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip. In his debut speech as a new U.N. Security Council member, Syrian representative Fayssal Mekdad said the 15-member body practiced a double standard in denouncing terrorism around the world but avoiding condemnation of Israel. "We must note the scene of tens of Palestinian houses which were demolished by Israeli tanks in the Rafah camps a few days ago is not much different from the scene of the World Trade Center which was destroyed by the terrorists, whom we have all agreed here to combat and eliminate," Mekdad said. The Israeli military last week demolished dozens of houses the southern Gaza Strip, saying the buildings had been abandoned and were being used as cover for gunmen. The International Committee of the Red Cross said some 600 people were left homeless in the Rafah refugee camp. A U.S. official told reporters that "the idea of equating the destruction of the World Trade Center and the demolition of homes that has been going on in the territories is outrageous." The Syrian delegate, a senior counselor in his U.N. mission, was addressing a Security Council debate on terrorism reports that his country and others had submitted on how they were combating threats in their respective countries. Syria was elected late last year as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation Security Council for a two-year term that began this month. In his address to the council, Mekdad condemned the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States but said "foreign occupation is the most brutal form of terrorism." "Therefore, resisting such foreign occupation, particularly the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, is a legitimate form of struggle," he said. Israel's "daily acts" against Palestinians are a "war crime that requires us to bring its perpetrators to justice," Mekdad said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
