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"The European governments, which were quick to take punitive measures against the Palestinians since Hamas came to power, refused to take similar measures against the Israeli violations and massacres," Gresh said. |
PARIS — The French reluctance to take a concrete action against the recent Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip signals a "shift" in France's traditional support for the Palestinian cause, said Alain Gresh, editor-in-chief of France's Le Monde Diplomatique.
"The official French stance is not yet up to (Palestinians') expectations," Gresh told IslamOnline.net Saturday, November 11.
"France has even failed to condemn," the Israeli aggressions on the Palestinians, he added.
More than 300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since Israel launched a large-scale offensive in Gaza late June.
"It was presumed that France would stand up and be counted in the face of the killing of civilians and destruction in the occupied Palestinian territories," Gresh said.
"However, the European governments, which were quick to take punitive measures against the Palestinians since Hamas came to power, refused to take similar measures against the Israeli violations and massacres," he added.
Led by the United States, Western countries have frozen aid to the Palestinians since the new Hamas-led government came to power in March, gravely affecting livelihood in Gaza and the West Bank.
The prominent French analyst also criticized his country's stance on the recent Israeli carnage in Beit Hanun.
"The French Foreign Ministry has demanded that a UN Security Council statement on the Beit Hanun massacre should be balanced," Gresh said.
"How should it balance between an armed-to-the-teeth army and unarmed people," he wondered.
Twenty Palestinians, including eight children and four women, were killed Wednesday, November 8, in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun when Israel shelled Palestinian houses as residents were sleeping.
The UN Security Council on Friday delayed by 24 hours a vote on a watered-down Arab draft resolution condemning the Israeli massacre.
The delay was meant to give council members time to consult their capitals for instructions on how to vote.
The amended draft no longer refers to Wednesday's Israeli shelling as "a massacre" and no longer calls for the deployment of UN observers to supervise a mutual ceasefire.
Instead, the new text would condemn Israel's military operations in Gaza, particularly the Beit Hanun incident along with "the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel".
Solidarity March
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| "We should not keep silent on a barbaric force that kills children, women and civilians," Boumediene said. |
Gresh said he was disappointed at the silence of many French intellectuals toward what is going on in the occupied territories.
"Most intellectuals have been silent about what is going on there except for a handful who will take part in a rally to protest the Israeli practices," he said.
A massive rally is planned Saturday, November 11, in the capital Paris to show solidarity with the Palestinians against the Israeli practices.
"We should not keep silent on a barbaric force that kills children, women and civilians," Alima Boumediene, a member of the French Senate, told IOL.
Boumediene said the rally is meant to protest the Israeli carnage against the Palestinian civilians.
"It is also a message to Israel that the international community and the NGOs would not let their violations go," she added.
"The rally will also press for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the return of Palestinian refugees and the recognition of the Palestinian state," she maintained.
Ten Members of European Parliament (MEPs) on Thursday, November 9, called on the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions on Israel if it continues to kill Palestinian civilians.
Saturday's march coincides with the 2nd anniversary of the death of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
"The rally is an opportunity to affirm the values for which Arafat has long fought with the ultimate goal of achieving his people's dream of establishing an independent and democratic state," Boumediene said.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the gravesite of Yasser Arafat Saturday, November 11, to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of his death.
Arafat died in 2004 at a Paris hospital over "unknown" disease. However, Palestinians argue that the veteran leader was poisoned by Israel.
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