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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 19, 2002
Commentary: People Who Trample on Human Rights Should Be Condemned
A humanitarian disaster is threatening civilian lives in Palestinian cities and villages where Israeli troops ride roughshod over the human rights of Palestinians.
A humanitarian disaster is threatening civilian lives in Palestinian cities and villages where Israeli troops ride roughshod over the human rights of Palestinians.
Innocent civilians have been massacred; men have been arrested; houses have been destroyed; women, children and the elderly have been made homeless; and there is no food or water.
In face of such a terrible and horrendous situation occurring in the West Bank, people can not help but raise an outcry against the Israeli government to cease and desist and stop trampling on humanity!
People around the world will not forget the inhuman treatment and massacre of the Jewish people during World War II. The Jewish people still bear the scars of their suffering. As it was pointed out by a Jewish leader, the cruel treatment of Jews 'can be forgiven, but not forgotten.' But what is now going on in the West Bank means that the Israeli government's actions are no different than their previous persecutors. Some seem to have forgotten the pain as soon as the wounds healed. Palestinians in this region are experiencing the same suffering the Jewish people experienced during World War II. This too is also a sad part of human history.
Yet today's humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinians is nothing but the continuation of Israel's policy of collective punishment and retaliation against some individual Palestinians extreme actions against Israel. Israeli troops used to demolish arab houses,raze woods, block roads or isolate whole villages, forcing pregnant women to gave birth to children on the road and cause patients to die for being deprived access to a hospital.
Ignoring the international community's repeated warnings, the Israeli government has acted with indifference to Palestinians and have violated international laws and principles that protect human rights. The Israeli troops on Monday even waged attacks on the refugee camp in Jenin, creating incredibly horrible scenes of death and destruction and went far in their complete disregard of human life.
The Israeli government has become more abusive and violent, attempting to break their will and resistance to Israel's illegal occupation. The Israeli government however hasn't realized that the tougher it treats the Palestinian people, the greater Palestinians' hatred toward Israel grows. In the long run, Israel can only face a deteriorating security situation, and it will never force the Palestinian people to accept its illegal occupation.
Neither did the Israel government expect that its refusal to allow international human rights and aide groups' to investigate the Jenin camp would arouse the anger of people around the world.
The United Nations top human rights body condemned Israel on Monday for its 'mass murders' of Palestinians and demanded it end its military offensive in the occupied territories. If the Israel government doesn't stop its outrages at once, it will earn itself eternal infamy in history.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200204/19/eng20020419_94393.shtml
Khatami, Zemin begin talks amid fresh pledge to promote ties
Tehran, April 20, IRNA -- Visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin and
President Mohammad Khatami here Saturday pledged to promote
cooperation in expanding mutual ties, reinforcing world peace,
fighting violence, terrorism and a uni-polar world, and respecting
interests and rights of all world nations.
Zemin hoped his visit to Iran would open a new chapter in mutual
ties, and said the promotion of Tehran-Beijing relations would benefit
regional and international peace and stability.
He assured full Chinese support for dialogue among civilizations,
first initiated by the Islamic Republic, and said such dialogue could
help the human society to 'raise confidence and reach at agreements
beside difference'.
Zemin stressed that China is pursuing well-defined policies to
create a peaceful global environment, and voiced Beijing's opposition
to expansionist tendencies.
He rejected resorting to violence to carry forward policies, and
said China advocates a negotiated settlement of disputes.
The Chinese president described Iran's efforts to reinforce peace
and stability in the war-shattered Afghanistan as 'positive', and
stressed that Afghanistan's neighbors would like peace, stability and
sustained development in that country.
Zemin said China has always supported the just demands of Arab
nations, including Palestine, for sovereignty, territorial integrity,
and voiced the Chinese pledge to broker for peace through
international diplomatic channels.
Khatami, for his part, said China has a significant status in
Iran's foreign policy, and voiced Iran's interest in diversifying
relations with China in all areas.
He said the promotion of Tehran-Beijing ties would raise Asia's
status in the international arena.
Khatami stressed the need to identify capacities to boost mutual
cooperation, and voiced Tehran's support for bilateral cooperation at
the parliamentary level as well as in the context of friendship groups
and private sector.
He stressed Iran's position on re-building Afghanistan, and said
that other countries should not play with the destiny of the Afghan
people.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Khatami described the developments in
the occupied territories as 'catastrophic' and stressed that Tehran
has 'obviously' championed the rights of the Palestinians as well as
the establishment of a lasting regional peace based on justice.
The Iranian president reiterated that Tehran has always voiced
objections to the unilateral support of the US government for the
Zionist regime, and said Iran condemns the Zionist oppression against
the Palestinians.
Khatami further called on the international community to take a
more active stance regarding the developments in the occupied
territories, and stressed the contribution of China, as a member of
the United Nations Security Council, to halting the atrocities of the
Zionist regime against the Palestinians.
Jiang Zemin arrived on Thursday in the southern Iranian city of
Shiraz at the head of a 180-strong economic and political delegation
on the last leg of a five-nation tour which has already taken him to
Nigeria, Germany, Libya and Tunisia.
He arrived in capital Tehran late Friday. The visit is only the
second by a Chinese head of state to Tehran since the Islamic
Revolution in 1979 and Jiang's first, which is in response to
President Mohammad Khatami's trip to China in 2000.
AA/AH
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