Bolivia condemns Israel as 'terrorist state'
Bolivian President Evo Morales
Bolivian
President Evo Morales lambasts Israel over military offensive in Gaza
and tears up a long-standing free entry agreement with the country
Bolivian
President Evo Morales declared Israel a "terrorist state" Wednesday and
tore up a long-standing visa exemption agreement with the country in
protest at the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza strip.
Morales
announced that the Bolivian government would now be demanding Israeli
visitors apply for a visa in order to enter the South American country,
according to Bolivia's El Debernews site.
"We are
declaring Israel a terrorist state," Morales said, adding that Israel's
military operation meant the country "is not a guarantor of the
principles of respect for life that govern the peaceful and harmonious
coexistence of our international community."
Earlier in
July, Morales filed a request with the United Nations' High Commissioner
for Human Rights to prosecute Israel for "crimes against humanity."
Formal
diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken off in 2009,
during the last major Israeli offensive in Gaza. At that time, Morales
labeled the conflict a "genocide."
A visa
exemption agreement between Israel and Bolivia was signed in August
1972, during the Bolivian dictatorship. South America is popular
destination with young Israelis, who will be affected by the move.
Over the past
two weeks five South American countries - Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Peru and Chile - have recalled their ambassadors in Israel, a major act
of protest in diplomatic language.
The decision by
Brazil in particular angered Israel and a subsequent war of words
threatened to spark a serious diplomatic row. Yigal Palmor, a
spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, slammed South America's
largest country, labeling it "politically irrelevant" and a "diplomatic
dwarf."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed its "deep disappointment" over the countries' decision, according to The Jerusalem Post,
with Palmor sayingWednesday that the nations "would have been much
better advised to promote the international move intended to assist
Israel in its efforts to defend innocent civilians and instate a durable
ceasefire with the demilitarization of Gaza."
Brazilian
President Dilma Rousseff said Monday that a "massacre" was taking place
in the Gaza Strip and backed calls from the United Nations for an
immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. She maintained that Israel
was a "friend" and that the ambassador would return "in due course."
On Tuesday, a
statement released by four members of the Mercosur group of South
American economies after a summit in the Venezuela capital, Caracas,
condemned Israel's "disproportionate use of force." Paraguay did not
sign the document
- sumber
Najib Malaysia can not afford to be on par as the statement said by Morales the Bolivian...the scandalous Prime Minister plus the weakest prime ministers tend to bow down to zionist and US wills
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