Southwest Asia News Digest
LaRouche: Justice for Gaza Demands Netanyahu's Defeat
Feb. 1 (EIRNS)Lyndon LaRouche declared today that, if there is to be any justice after the Israeli atrocities against the people of Gaza, Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu must be defeated in his bid for the Israeli prime-ministership. The election is scheduled for Feb. 10.
"Based on eyewitness reports that I have received in the past several days," LaRouche explained, "it is clear that the Israeli invasion of Gaza constituted a war crime that can not be overlooked by the civilized world. If there is to be justice for the crimes carried out against the Palestinian people of Gaza, a very steep price must be imposed on Israel. Netanyahu is the leading representative of the outright fascist current in Israeli political lifethe pro-Mussolini Revisionist movement of the late Sykes-Picot agent Vladimir Jabotinsky.
"While some will argue that Netanyahu was not part of the Olmert government that waged the war of annihilation against the Palestinian population of Gaza, no one will dispute the fact that Netanyahu is the candidate who stakes his entire career on denying the Palestinian people their rightful state. To do justice for the war crimes committed by the Israelis, a very large scalp must be taken, and that is Mr. Netanyahu."
LaRouche also endorsed the Jan. 31 call by Uri Avneri, one of Israel's leading peace activists, demanding that Israel convene a war crimes tribunal, to prosecute those who charged with crimes during the Gaza invasion. Avnery's call covered both Israeli Defense Forces personnel and top politicians. LaRouche declared: "Uri Avnery is right. If there is to be any hope for a just peace, Israel must clean its own slate, by conducting a thorough investigation, leading to prosecutions of those who carried out these atrocities. Peace requires clean hands, and the best course of action is for Israel, itself, to clean out those responsible for these crimes."
LaRouche cited reports that the 23-day Israeli invasion was not, contrary to Israeli government claims, simply aimed at Hamas. "Israel had no justification for launching a war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza," he said. "There is no excuse, no explanation that can justify the actions taken by the Israeli forces against the people of Gaza. After the first four days of the attacks, any and all so-called 'military' targets were thoroughly destroyed. After that, the ground invasion and subsequent bombing by the Israeli forces aimed at nothing less than the elimination of civil society in Gaza. The death toll of women, children, and elderly, the total destruction of the basic infrastructure of Gaza, tells the story, in terms that cannot be denied.
"This was an act of weakness. The attempt at the mass extermination of the residents of Gazato ostensibly prevent some future attack on Israelis no excuse. There can be no toleration for the Israeli claims that 'We had to do it.' If the reports I have received are accurateand there is no reason at this time to dispute themthen there must be a steep penalty. And I believe that the first step must be the defeat of Netanyahu in the Feb. 10 elections."
Hamas Considering One-Year Ceasefire with Israel
Feb. 1 (EIRNS)Al-Arabiya TV reported that Hamas leaders are meeting in Egypt to give their final answer to a proposal for a one-year ceasefire with Israel. Hamas leaders from Gaza and Damascus are in Cairo, as is Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who cancelled a visit to the Czech Republic in order to come. However, Abbas stated that he will not enter into any negotiations with Palestinian factions that do not accept the authority of the PLO.
Hamas is reportedly considering an agreement that would include the deployment of Palestinian troops at Gaza border crossings; they would coordinate with Hamas. If the agreement is signed, the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt will open on Feb. 5.
Hamas's preconditions focus on the border crossings, which Israel has choked off since Hamas won the elections in Gaza in 2007. Israel's preconditions are stopping rocket fire from, and arms smuggling into Gaza. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun setting up detection equipment at the Rafah crossing to facilitate the free flow of people and goods across the border.
Erdogan: Gaza Invasion Sabotaged Syria-Israel Breakthrough
Jan. 31 (EIRNS)Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the Washington Post that the Israeli attack on Gaza sabotaged a potential breakthrough between Israel and Syria, which Turkey was mediating.
Interviewer Lally Weymouth asked Erdogan whether it was the failure of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to inform him about the attack on Gaza when Olmert was in Turkey. Erdogan responds, "This is the wrong view," and then explains that they were on the eve of a breakthrough: "At the request of Syria, we entered a phase of working together with Israel and Syria indirectly to get them to talk with each other.... We are mediators in that process. This was an example of how much importance we put on peace in the Middle East. We had done this before with Pakistan and Israel.... During the tenure of [former Pakistani President] Pervez Musharraf, we brought them together in Istanbul: the Foreign Minister of Israel and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan.... We also took part in the peace talks between Israel and Palestine."
Erdogan revealed, "On December 23 we had a meeting with Prime Minister Olmert in Ankara. On that day we had the fifth round of the unofficial talks between Syria and Israel. That night ... I was talking on the phone to Syrian President Bashar Assad, and I was talking to Olmert in person and also to the Syrian Foreign Minister." Asked whether he was trying to move the process to direct Israel-Syria talks and whether Assad agreed, he replied, "President Assad from the start had a very positive attitude toward these talks. On that night, we were very close to reaching an agreement between the two parties. It was agreed they were going to talk until the end of the week to come to a [positive] outcome." He said the talks were going on for five or six hours that very night.
The Post then asked, "It sounds like you and Prime Minister Olmert were on the eve of an actual breakthrough between Israel and Syria." Erdogan replied, "I'm sharing my excitement with you." The Post said that the Israelis were frustrated that they couldn't talk directly to the Syrians, to which Erdogan replied, "We were trying to be their hope. Olmert's last sentence [as he left] was, 'As soon as I get back I will consult with my colleagues and get back to you.' As I waited for his response, ... on Dec. 27, bombs started falling on Gaza. There had not been any casualties in Israel since the cease-fire of June 2008.... Since Dec. 27, there have been almost 1,300 dead, 6,000 injured, no infrastructure left.... The United Nations Security Council makes a decision, and Israel announces it does not recognize the decision."
Erdogan revealed that he had also discussed the Gaza situation and offered Olmert help in mediating the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. He also advised that Hamas be brought into the process since they won the elections. Erdogan said that in return for freeing Shalit, Israel should release from jail Hamas's Speaker of Parliament and its other MPs.
Weymouth then asked why Erdogan has a close relationship with Hamas, which she said "is an arm of Iran." The Turkish Prime Minister replied: "First of all, Hamas is not an arm of Iran. Hamas entered the elections as a political party. If the whole world had given them the chance of becoming a political player, maybe they would not be in a situation like this after the elections that they won. The world has not respected the political will of the Palestinian people.... Palestine today is an open-air prison. Hamas, as much as they tried, could not change the situation. Just imagine, you imprison the speaker of a country as well as some ministers of its government and members of its parliament. And then you expect them to sit obediently?"
Weymouth also complained of alleged anti-Semitism in Turkey to which Erdogan said, "There are those who try to claim that my attitude toward Israel's latest attacks on Gaza is because I'm anti-Semitic or against the Jewish people.... As an individual, I have always declared that anti-Semitism is a crime against humanity. As a prime minister I have always been against anti-Semitism and my frustration is against the current Israeli government because they did not act fairly toward us."
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