10 August 2006
The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, has said his country was likely to sever ties with Israel in protest at its military offensive in Lebanon. In a televised speech, Chávez said he had "no interest in maintaining diplomatic relations, or offices, or businesses, or anything with a state like Israel", adding that it was "the surest thing" that Venezuela was severing relations with Israel. Chávez had already rounded on Israel at the weekend, accusing it of committing a "new Holocaust" and having gone "mad". He openly blasted the Israeli incursions into Gaza and Lebanon, and blamed the conflict on an "Israeli elite" and US influence in the region. The Venezuelan president has also angered the Jewish community in the country by showing support for Iran, which backs Hezbollah and has called for Israel's annihilation. During a visit to Tehran at the end of July, Chávez said Venezuela would "stand by Iran at any time and under any condition". David Bachenheimer, secretary-general of the country's Jewish umbrella group CAIV, expressed "consternation" about what he called the Venezuelan government's "partiality" on the issue.
Malaysia's foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar also urged countries to cut diplomatic ties with Israel in order to show that they care about the lives of Muslims under attack in Lebanon. "This is one incident in history where the world seems to close its eyes ... as if the lives of Muslims or the Arabs or the Lebanese are not as important as others," Hamid Albar told a news conference.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Venezuelan parliament met on Tuesday with heads of the Palestinian factions in Damascus, "to show solidarity with the strong stance of the Palestinian and Lebanese people." The deputy Speaker of the Venezuelan parliament and head of the Damascus delegation, Desirée Santos Amaral, told news agencies that "we have come to express our support and identification as parliament members with the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples." Following the meeting with heads of ten Palestinian resistance fronts posted in the Syrian capital, Santos Amaral said: "We reject and condemn the Israeli aggression which is supported by the United States." She also addressed the French-American ceasefire proposal, saying that a final agreement needed to take into account the interests of the Palestinian people and ensure "the right to resist."
