Israel accuses Syria

Syria, the Lebanon and Iran are in the sights of Tel Aviv, which accuses Damascus of backing and allowing attacks on its northern territory by Hezbollah.

Danny Ayalon, Israeli spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, declared that “Syria supports, gives refuge to and finances eleven terrorist organisations”.

Israel has formulated a formal request to Damascus to expel “the terrorists and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from the Lebanon, because Syria is the one that controls the Lebanon”. The commander of the Israeli Air Force, Dani Haloutz, is of the same opinion. He claims that the radical Palestinian leader Ahmed Jibril is based in Damascus and states that “Syria controls his actions”.

The conflict shows no signs of letting up, despite the joint diplomatic efforts of the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, who met his European Union counterparts in madrid during the week and the recent initiative by British Prime Minister Anthony Blair and US President George Bush. Israel stands firm in its arrogance.

In the last ten days, 200 Palestinians and 11 Israelis have died. Israel refuses to allow US Special Envoy Anthony Zinni to see Yasser Arafat for a second meeting, at the same time, Israeli troops have yet again murdered Palestinian children.

An eight-year-old boy was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper in Nablus on Saturday, and a 13-year old boy was shot in the chest in Hebron, after Israeli troops sprayed a group of stone-throwing teenagers with automatic gunfire. Tens of Palestinian children have been blinded, due to the (little reported) but generalised Israeli practise of firing rubber bullets into the eyes of those demonstrating.

In Jenine, 30 Palestinians were massacred yesterday by Israeli soldiers, while in Ramallah, the general headquarters of Yasser Arafat was again under fire, this time being the subject of a mortar attack, resulting in three serious injuries among Yasser Arafat’s bodyguards.

An ambulance carrying one of the wounded to hospital was stopped on the way by Israeli troops, who pulled the injured man from the vehicle in front of tens of eye-witnesses, kicking and swearing at him. The ambulance was forced to drive away empty and the man was never seen again.

The State of Israel has become involved in a cloud of collective madness, losing the few feelings of sympathy that it enjoyed, all respect and condemning itself to total isolation among the world community. So many states have done so in recent years and the result is always the same: the regime falls.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru