News, June  23, 2008

Sarkozy says nuclear Iran unacceptable but no peace without resolution of Palestinian refugee plight

Sarkozy says no peace without resolution of refugee plight

[ 23/06/2008 - 05:19 PM ]

From Khalid Amayreh in occupied East Jerusalem

Visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech before the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Monday,  drew ambivalent reactions from Israeli leaders and political parties.

Israeli government officials, including  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, applauded Sarkozy for voicing  commitment to the security of the Zionist state and especially for his  strong words against the Iranian nuclear program.

Speaking at a special session of the Knesset in his honor, Sarkozy said a nuclear Iran would be intolerable.

“Anyone trying to destroy Israel will find France blocking the way.”

Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East with a stockpile of more than 200 nuclear bombs and warheads.

Predominantly Muslim nations in the Middle East and beyond view Israel’s nuclear weapons as constituting  a direct strategic threat to the region. Recently, an Israeli cabinet Minister  said Israel would attack Iran.  Another Israeli official  had vowed to wage a holocaust against the Palestinian people.

Drawing applause from an audience of government officials, military commanders  and other dignitaries, Sarkozy said “Israel must know it is not alone in the battle against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”

Predictably, the French President, who said he has a Jewish ancestry,  made no reference or illusion to the Israeli nuclear arsenal.

Trying to strike a balance between his infatuation with Israel and France’s policy toward the Arab world, especially the Palestinian question, Sarkozy  said Jerusalem would have to be capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state.

“The Palestinians have the right to a viable state of their own,” he said, adding that such a state would be in Israel’s interests.

More to the point, Sarkozy said there would be no peace in the Middle East without a resolution of the Palestinian refugee problem which he called a sticking point in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

However, what probably upset  the Israeli government most  was his call for an immediate halt  to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

He further called on the Israeli government to “encourage legislation that would encourage Jewish settlers to leave the West Bank.”

Such remarks are anathema to Jewish supremacists who believe that non-Jews, including Christians and Muslims, have no right to live as equal citizens in Palestine-Israel.

Sarkozy also linked Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation to Israel’s repressive measures against the Palestinian population, saying “there will be no peace if the Palestinians don not fight ‘terrorism.’ Each side has to make an effort. Peace is not possible if the Palestinians cannot move about freely.”

Judeo-Nazi leaders such as Benny Elon  (National Union) said a Palestinian state ought to take place in Jordan not in Palestine.

Elon is a firm believer of Jewish fascism and advocates either expulsion, enslavement or extermination for non-Jews living under Jewish law.

Prior to Sarkozy’s speech before the  Knesset,  extremist Israeli leaders, such as Likud Leader Benyamin Netanyahu, sought to incite  hatred against Islam.

A well-known racist and  Islam-hater, Netanyahu claimed that “radical Islam was the greatest threat to the free world.” Netanyahu also compared Islam to Nazism, prompting indignation and disbelief among Arab Knesset members.

Palestinian Knesset member Ahmed Teibi interrupted Netanyahu.

“What is this stupid comparison between Islam and Nazism. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Don’t you know the history of Nazism? Muslims saved Jews from Nazism in the countries of Maghrib. Besides, the Nazis were westerners, not easterners. You are a man that has no shame.”

Netanyahu is believed to have played a pivotal role in prompting the Bush administration to invade, attack and destroy Iraq and Afghanistan which eventually caused the death of over a million people, mostly innocent civilians.

The former Israeli (occupation government) prime minister, who opposes peace between Israel and the Palestinians, is now constantly instigating the US to attack Iran in order to enable Israel to retain its military supremacy in the Middle East.

Olmert, haunted by a  corruption scandal that could bring  his government down,  lauded the “revival of Israeli-French relations” Sarkozy’s leadership.

“We thank you for your courage, for your principles and for your friendship.”

Sarkozy is slated to meet later  with PA Chairman  Mahmoud Abbas and assure him of France’s support for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Sarkozy says nuclear Iran unacceptable

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-23 18:39:38  

    JERUSALEM, June 23 (Xinhua) --

French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed during a special session of the Knesset (parliament) on Monday that his country would always stand by Israel against those who call for its destruction.

    "A nuclear Iran is unacceptable. Anyone trying to destroy Israel will find France blocking the way," Sarkozy said in his address to the Israeli lawmakers, the first by a French president since Francois Mitterrand in 1982.

    "Israel must know it is not alone in the battle against Iran's nuclear ambitions," he added.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert applauded Sarkozy for his "determination to root out anti-Semitism in France," saying that ties between France and Israel had seen a "revival under your leadership."

    Regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Sarkozy stressed that recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state was a condition for peace.

    The Palestinians, he said, "have the right to a viable state of their own," noting that such a state would "ensure Israel's security."

    He also called on Israel to end its settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying there would be "no peace without a solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees," a sticking point in negotiations between the two sides.

    "There will be no peace if the Palestinians do not fight terrorism," Sarkozy said. "Each side has to make an effort. Peace is not possible if the Palestinians cannot move about freely."

    Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni were given a festive reception in their honor at the Knesset. Earlier Monday, the French presidential couple visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.

    Sarkozy arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport Sunday afternoon for a three-day visit in the region. The trip is Sarkozy's first to Israel and the Palestinian territories since he became president in May 2007.

    During a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres on Sunday, Sarkozy criticized the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the construction in East Jerusalem.

    "You have made some bad decisions, like the expansion of settlements and east Jerusalem, where the construction is not good for Israel," said Sarkozy at Peres' residence in Jerusalem.

    "The best and only guarantee for the state of Israel is an independent, democratic Palestinian state at its side," he added.

    Peres responded "there are no disagreements between us on the issue of the Palestinian state and the settlements. However, we evacuated many settlements in the Gaza Strip and the unfortunate result is Hamas firing at civilians, firing missiles at them."

    The French president is scheduled to meet with Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and will also talk with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Editor: Sun Yunlong

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