GUSTAVE,
This article is for you who thinks Europe is sympathetic towards Israel:
Sharon cancels Straw meeting after terror remark
By Herb Keinon
JERUSALEM (September 25) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled a planned meeting this evening with British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, in an apparent reaction to a comment reported in an Iranian newspaper seemingly blaming Israel for terrorism because of its treatment of Palestinians.
A spokesman for Sharon, however, said the meeting was canceled because of "scheduling problems."
But earlier in the day, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Straw would be meeting with Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and President Moshe Katsav.
Shaw, who is arriving this evening from a groundbreaking visit to Teheran, was quoted in an Iranian paper saying: "One of the factors that helps breed terror is the anger that many people in the region feel at events over the years in the Palestinian territories."
Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh called Straw's comment an "obscenity."
"The journey of that foreign minister who made these statements and is making the trip with the concurrence of the United States, to Teheran, the capital of Iran, is a stab in the back for Israel," he told Israel Radio.
Peres was more diplomatic, saying that he "does not accept these words."
He said that Palestinians were given two opportunities for a state - in 1947 and again at Camp David last year -and turned it down each time. If they have complaints about their plight, they should be turned inwards, he said, adding that there is no justification for terror.
Foreign Ministry Director-General Avi Gil the expressed Israel's concern to British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles, saying that Straw's words could be interpreted both as blaming Israel and as showing understanding for terror against Israelis.
"This approach is likely to bring about an increase in terror, not wipe it out, especially when published in Iran, a state that supports terror, whose official policy calls for the destruction of the State of Israel, and which actively supports terrorists," Gil said.
Straw's statement, taken together with a statement two weeks ago by French Ambassador Jacques Huntzinger differentiating between terror in Israel and the US, reflects a very disturbing trend in Europe, an Israeli diplomat said.
An official at the Foreign Office in London denied that the article represents justification for terrorism, and quoted from a statement Straw issued prior to his trip to Iran.
"There is never any excuse for terrorism," Straw said after "unreservedly" condemning yesterday's murder of Salit Sheetrit. "At the same time, there is an obvious need to understand the environment in which terrorism breeds. That is why the whole of the international community is so concerned to see a lasting peace in the Middle East." |
