Image of Palestinian Children Killed by Israeli
The Israeli ambassador in Bern, Ilan Elgar, has accused Switzerland of siding against his country by supporting a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.The Swiss foreign ministry rejected Elgar's comments, saying Switzerland's reaction to the events in the Middle East has been "balanced". It pointed out that it had criticised Hamas's rocket attacks on Israel in addition to condemning the Israeli reaction as "disproportionate".
In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, Elgar said of the 32 countries – out of 47 – to back the motion, Switzerland was the only Western country to do so. "I find that very problematic," he said.
He also had a problem with a demonstration on Saturday outside the Israeli embassy in Bern. He said there was yet to be a demonstration against the rockets being fired out of Gaza onto Israel because the media weren't reporting "in a balanced way".
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey said she was surprised by the criticism, which she indirectly rejected in her speech in Zurich on Sunday at the 50th anniversary of the Switzerland-Israel Society
In another Sunday newspaper, Anis Al-Kak, member of a Palestinian organisation in Bern, praised Switzerland as being "one of the few European countries that stand on the side of human rights and the Geneva Conventions".
Source: SwissInfo.Ch.
Tuesday, 13 January, 2009
If there's one European nation that's brave, very brave when it criticised Israel long before Israel's invasion of Gaza, it is Switzerland.
Kudos for a brave nation!
Hillblogger 3: Swtizerland and Israel escalate "cold war"
The world sits by but a tiny mountain nation in Europe is taking on the Israelis!
From The First Post: Swiss attack on Israeli policy escalates ‘cold war’
According to the report by Neil Clark, Switzerland is refusing to toe the West’s line on sanctions against Iran – and Israel is up in arms" and regards the recent destruction of Palestinian homes by Israeli bulldozers, as "violations of international humanitarian law" In an attack which shocked Tel Aviv by the harshness of its tone, Switzerland has accused Israel of wantonly destroying Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem and near Ramallah in violation of the Geneva Convention's rules on military occupation.
It's arguably the strongest condemnation of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians to come from any western European country since Charles de Gaulle famously attacked the "oppression, repression and expulsions" of Palestinians by Israel over 40 years ago. And it's come from a country that's not exactly famous for making strong condemnations.
The statement last Thursday from the Swiss Foreign Ministry said that Switzerland - the guardian of the Geneva Convention - regards the "recent incidents", under which scores of Palestinian homes have been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers, as "violations of international humanitarian law" and claimed there was "no military need to justify the destruction of these houses". In addition, the Swiss called east Jerusalem an "integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory" - a statement sure to inflame hard-line Zionists who regard the entire city as belonging to Israel.
Full story here.
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