Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said on Tuesday those responsible for the murder in 1995 of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin were now participating in the government of the Jewish state.
Arafat said the Israeli government had attempted "to break our will and determination and our adherence to the peace of the brave which I signed with my partner the late Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by radical elements now participating in the government of Israel."
The comments came in a live video conference link between the Ramallah and a summit of the 116-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the capital of Malaysia.
In other comments to the summit, Arafat called for a team from the developing world to be sent to Palestine to investigate war crimes by Israel.
"Here, I call on you, the leaders of the Non-Aligned countries to send a fact-finding mission to Palestine to examine at close range the reality of what is happening," he aired.
He said Palestinians had faced a "most abhorrent campaign of subjugation and oppression, killing, imprisonment, siege and destruction at the hands of the Zionist war machine". "Without a doubt, many of the above mentioned constitute war crimes and violations of Palestinian human rights. The international community must bring an end to this with the implementation of international law in this regard."
Arafat also warned that Israel would exploit a war in Iraq to toughen measures against the Palestinians while the world's attention was focused on Baghdad.
"The Palestinian people, who are suffering the greatest hardships as a result of the Israeli aggression against them and the occupation of their land, are going to pay a heavy price if this war is waged," Arafat said in his speech.
"The Israeli government is the first in line to push for this war in order to exploit the situation while the world is busy with Iraq." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
