Maravi

Bolivia, Venezuela cut ties with Israel

Bolivia, Venezuela cut ties with Israel
Written by Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
Sunday, January 18, 2009 5:57:48 AM

BOLIVIA and Venezuela have cut off diplomatic relationswith Israel over the aggressions in Gaza that have left over 1,000 Palestinians dead and 4,600 others wounded.

And in Havana, students on Wednesday evening denounced both the Israeli military attacks and the complicit silence of powerful countries.

Meanwhile, 12.5 tonnes of Venezuelan humanitarian aid for Gaza has arrived in Egypt.

Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday announced that La Paz had to sever ties with Tel Aviv because of Israel’s continued assault on Gaza.

“Bolivia had diplomatic relations with Israel but in the face of these grave events, attacks on life and humanity, Bolivia is breaking off its diplomatic relations with Israel,” he said during a meeting at Government Palace with envoys accredited to La Paz. “Bolivia is a pacifist country but we cannot keep on watching evident genocide being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

President Morales, according to Agencia Boliviana de Informacion (ABI), said Israel should be taken to the international court.

He said the Bolivian government would make a formal complaint against Israel to the International Criminal Court on its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

President Morales demanded an urgent extraordinary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly so that world leaders could “cast a vote of condemnation for the Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people”.

Likewise, Venezuela, which expelled Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Cohen on January 6, formally announced the breaking of ties with Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

Venezuela’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it was breaking the ties with Israel due to the seriousness of the atrocities against Palestinians.

It stated that the decision complied with Venezuela’s principle of seeking a peaceful world full of solidarity and respect of the international law.

Venezuela expressed her indignation against Israel’s continued disrespect of the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions to end the conflict.

“Israel has systematically ignored the UN’s appeals repeatedly and insolently dishonoring the resolutions approved by the majority of the members and verge on the violation of the international law,” read the statement in part. “Today, the vile behaviour of the Israeli government means 19 days of continuous bombing, the murder of more than 1,000 people and the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure. A human catastrophe is taking place before the eyes of the entire world.”

Meanwhile, some 12.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid from Venezuela for the Gaza Strip arrived in Egypt.

Venezuelan air transport group (PEGASO) member Major Roa Puentes said it took the flight 29 hours from Caracas to Egypt and that the shipment was being unloaded. Puentes said the crew was proud of representing Venezuela in the mission of supporting sovereignty and freedom of the people in the world.

And in Havana, thousands of youths, including university students, protested against the attacks on Gaza.

They argued that the west was silent because they supported Israel.

Addressing the gathering at University of Havana, Palestinian Ambassador to Cuba Akram Samhan said Israel had been on Palestine for over 60 years now.

Samhan thanked Cuba for its continued solidarity.

“Palestinian people will remain steadfast because they are backed by international law, solidarity and justice,” he said.

Samhan said for over 60 years, Israel continued to assault Palestine and prevented food, medicine and other basic necessities from reaching the 1.5 million people living in the 360 square kilometres territory.

Cuban-Arab Friendship Association president Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras said the island would not waver in defending the Palestinian cause and the people’s legitimate right to constitute a sovereign state.

Labels: BOLIVIA, ISRAEL, VENEZUELA

posted by MrK @ 5:59 AM