Jew Forced to Grovel After Mentioning Israels Treatment of Palestinians
Source: The Associated Press | September 26, 2001
Britain’s Straw Arrives in Israel
JERUSALEM (AP) - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw arrived in Israel on Tuesday and tried to put out a diplomatic fire over comments he made that were published a day earlier in Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled a meeting with Straw, relenting only after British Prime Minister Tony Blair called him. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres called off a state dinner and met with Straw in his office instead.
In a commentary published Monday in an Iranian newspaper, Straw wrote, “One of the factors that helps breed terror is the anger that many people in the region feel at events over the years in the Palestinian territories.”
Straw was in Iran as part of the American and British effort to form an international coalition against terrorism in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States two weeks ago.
Israel told Britain it was concerned about statements by Straw that could be interpreted as “ascribing blame” to Israel and as conveying “understanding for terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a press release.
One Israeli Cabinet minister, Ephraim Sneh, called Straw’s statement an “obscenity.”
Arriving in Israel Tuesday evening, Straw talked to reporters before meetings with Peres and Sharon. “I stand very firmly against the terrorism which the Israeli people have suffered,” he said. “I’ve never ever dreamt of calling the Israeli people terrorists, I stand fully behind them.”
Britain’s Foreign Office said Straw’s comments were in line with government policy.
In a statement released after his late-night meeting with Straw, Sharon said he told the British Foreign Secretary, “There is no difference between good terror and bad terror. Murder is murder.”
