On Monday, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abd Rabbo slammed remarks made by visiting Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman comparing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Adolf Hitler, according to AFP. "We strongly object to the Prime Minister's outrageous comments," Abed Rabbo said in a statement.
In an interview published on Monday to the Tel-Aviv based Haaretz daily, Zeman said Arafat was comparable to the Nazi dictator and that there should be no negotiations with him.
"The implication that Israel must deal with the Palestinian people as the Western world dealt with Hitler, and should expel the Palestinians in order to end the present conflict, displayed a "most racist attitude towards the Palestinian leadership", the statement stated.
Abd Rabbo said not only had Zeman adopted the Israeli line, but also he had spoken out against his own country's political line. "It seems Mr. Zeman is not fully aware of his government's very positive position towards the just Palestinian cause, represented in supportive votes and position in the United Nations and other international forums," the statement said.
"We remind the Czech prime minister that the Palestinian homeland remains under brutal Israeli occupation and the Palestinian people continue to be terrorized by the Israeli occupation army, which employs methods of aggression and brutality reminiscent of the most oppressive and aggressive regimes in modern history."
Zeman earlier told Haaretz, "At the time, Hitler was the biggest terrorist in the world. Then there was no call to conduct negotiations with him, just as today negotiations should not be conducted with terrorist”.
Asked if he was comparing the Palestinian leader to the Nazi dictator, Zeman replied, "Of course. Indeed it is not my duty to pass judgement on Arafat, but anyone who supports terrorism, anyone who sees terrorism as a legitimate means, anyone who uses terrorism that causes the death of innocent people is a terrorist in my eyes”. “The same goes for anyone who finances terrorism,” he expressed.
Zeman arrived on Saturday and met with Israeli leaders including Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
