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International News Updates |
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17 May 2009 The Arab League expressed profound
concern at the uncertainty of the future of the
Palestinian issue in the light of extremist Zionist
parties assuming power in Israel and called on the
international community to end the oppression against
the Palestinian people by applying international
resolutions and pressuring the Israeli occupation to
lift the siege imposed on Gaza.
In a statement on Thursday, on the occasion of the
61st anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, the
Palestine and Occupied Arab Lands Department in the
Arab League said that the Zionist entity continues
with its policies of repression, expulsion, murder and
targeting the Palestinian identity which it has
practised since the usurpation of Palestine.
The statement added that the Zionist entity still
uses the same organised terror starting with the
killing of Count Bernadotte, committing many massacres
including Deir Yasin, the destruction of more than 524
Palestinian villages in addition to the wars against
Arab states.
The statement condemned "international silence
towards Israel's crimes against the Palestinian
people."
Arabs renew calls for Israel
boycott
The 82nd conference for the Arab liaison officers
of economic boycott of Israel opened in Damascus on
Tuesday with the participation of 14 Arab countries
amidst renewed calls for activating those offices.
The general commissioner of the main office for the
boycott of Israel, Mohammed Al-Tayeb, said in a press
statement that holding on to the boycott weapon and
activating its role was one of the peaceful means of
self-defense that would boost the Palestinian people's
struggle against Israeli occupation.
He called for Arab awareness of Israel's attempts
to market its goods in the Arab countries through
multi-national companies.
Salem Al-Ojaili, the general coordinator of Islamic
boycott office, said that the Israeli "aggressive and
terrorist" policies made it imperative on the Arab
countries to boycott Israel.
He recalled that previous commitment by all Arab
countries inflicted severe losses on Israel, calling
for intensifying political, media and popular
potentials to revive the boycott and for opening
regional offices in all Islamic countries.
World Atomic Body: Israel Would
Be Crazy to Launch a Strike on Iran
Israel would be crazy to launch a military strike on
Iran's nuclear facilities, Mohamed El-Baradei, chief
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said
in a magazine interview published Saturday.
Tehran should engage with the United States and
negotiate over its nuclear program, he said.
"It would be completely insane to attack Iran," El-Baradei
told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine. "That would turn
the region into one big fireball, and the Iranians
would immediately start building the bomb - and they
could count on the support of the entire Islamic
world."
US President Barack Obama is actively seeking to
engage Iran on a series of issues, from its nuclear
program to Afghanistan. "I advise my Iranian
negotiating partners: grasp the hand that Obama is
extending to you," El-Baradei said.
Asked what he meant exactly, the head of the UN
nuclear watchdog added: "I think Freeze for Freeze is
the next realistic step. The Iranians would install no
more centrifuges; the West would forego further
sanction measures. During this time, there would be
intensive negotiations."
Israeli President Shimon Peres said earlier this month
other options remained open if U.S. diplomatic
engagement with Iran failed to halt its nuclear
program, which Israel and Western nations claim is
aimed at manufacturing atomic weapons. Peres did not
say what the other options might be but they are
generally understood to include military action.
Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, insists
that the program is for civilian purposes only and it
is its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
while Israel is not a signatory for this treaty.
Israel is believed to be the sole nuclear power in the
Middle East with more than 200 nuclear heads.
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