Chavez: Israel aims to exterminate Palestinians

[joeblow]

Chavez: Israel aims to exterminate Palestinians

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=1 ... =351020202



Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that Israel is aiming to 'exterminate the Palestinian nation' and that he backs the establishment of East Jerusalem Al-Quds as capital of an independent Palestinian state.

"We are on the side of the Palestinian people's memorable struggle against the genocidal state of Israel that knocks down, kills and aims to terminate the Palestinian people," Chavez told acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in Caracas on Friday night.

"We reiterate our greatest commitment and our greatest solidarity for the creation of an independent Palestinian state with the holy city of Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital," he added.

During the meeting Mahmoud Abbas dismissed an Israeli plan to temporarily halt construction of new West Bank settlements as insufficient, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose occupation rather than peace.

"Wednesday's announcement by Netanyahu of a 10-month halt to new construction in the West Bank Jewish settlements didn't bring anything new because the occupation is going to continue in the West Bank and in Jerusalem Al-Quds," Abbas said.

The acting Palestinian Authority Chief added, "We don't have any condition to restarting negotiations except the commitment of the two sides to the foundations of the peace operation according to the road map, and especially stopping the expansionist activities of the Israelis."

Abbas earlier visited Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay to build support for efforts toward a Palestinian state.

Latin American leaders backed his calls for Israel to halt settlement construction and also to guarantee that future borders are based on 1967 lines.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'.

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of some 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and a further 271,400 are further spread throughout the West Bank.

MP/MTM/DT