Gaza Outrage from Venezuela

Venezuela Condemns “Criminal” Israeli Attack

Carora, December 29, 2008 — Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli bombing of Gaza in a statement released Saturday, expressing its “profound indignation” over the “criminal attack,” and urged the Israeli government to adhere to the United Nations Charter.

The Venezuelan government affirmed its “solidarity with the Palestinian people,” and called for “the governments of the world who desire peace and justice to raise their voices against this aggression.”

A number of world leaders and governments have since criticized the Israeli attacks, including the European Union, Russia, China, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

“The only accomplice to this attack has been the government of the United States,” Venezuela’s statement continued, calling the US support for Israel latest military action the “icing on the cake of the outgoing criminal [Bush] administration,” whose rule has been “filled with violence and characterized worldwide by its continued disrespect of human rights.”

United States officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, blamed the violence exclusively on the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

The Israeli bombing has caused the death of over 320 Palestinians, including over 51 civilians according to a “conservative and rising” estimate by a United Nations aid agency, while attacks launched on Israel from Gaza killed one Israeli civilian.

Protests in Caracas against Gaza “genocide”

Dozens of protesters rallied outside the Israeli embassy on Sunday, in opposition to what one speaker referred to as “genocide” by the Israeli “occupation forces.”

The protests will continue Monday morning in front of the embassy, according to a rally organizer, Hindu Anderi, in statements broadcast on regional news network Telesur.

Anderi, a Palestinian human rights activist, thanked the Venezuelan government for its position on the conflict, but demanded concrete action, saying “solidarity needs to mean taking measures that will affect Israel economically and politically, because otherwise the condition of the Palestinian people will not change.”