Shock and fury mark worldwide protests at Israeli air strike

[seafan]

Shock and fury mark worldwide protests at Israeli air strike

01 August 2006 0504 hrs

BEIRUT : Shock and fury at an Israeli air strike that killed 52 Lebanese civilians, mostly sleeping children, rippled across the world from the United Nations to the streets of Arab capitals.
An enraged Lebanon was plunged into mourning, with banks and public offices closed and flags at half-mast to lament its biggest single loss of life since Israel unleashed its firepower on Lebanon almost three weeks ago.
The attack on Qana in the south of he country also piled pressure on the United States and Britain to call for a ceasefire despite stiff Israeli opposition to the idea.

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Iraqi leaders, including its most revered Shiite cleric, called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. Protestors in a Baghdad Shiite neighborhood carried banners in support of Hezbollah and burned Israeli and US flags.
Protests stretched beyond the Arab world, with demonstrations in France and Bulgaria.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned Israel's attack and urged an immediate ceasefire, calling on the international community to assist in seeking a peaceful settlement.
Iran meanwhile stepped up verbal attacks on Israel, declaring in the light of the Qana raid that Israeli officials would suffer a fate worse than that of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

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Saudi Arabia's government....


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On Sunday, the UN Security Council had expressed "extreme shock and distress" at the attack but made no open criticism of Israel after pressure from the United States. The US and Britain have refused to call for an immediate ceasefire.


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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan...


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On Monday the world body's top human rights official Louise Arbour ...


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Diplomats in Brussels said European Union foreign ministers ...


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French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin ...


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Japan...


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Russia...


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But Israel rejected the ceasefire calls.

"If there is an immediate ceasefire, the extremists will immediately rear their heads," Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a stormy parliament session in Jerusalem.


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The International Committee of the Red Cross ...


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Japanese chief cabinet secretary Shinzo Abe ...


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Indonesia,...


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Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, ...


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India said ....


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"China strongly urges ...


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German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...


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Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller ...


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Britain's centre-left The Independent remarked that Qana is "implanted on the hearts of Christian Europe" as the scene of Jesus Christ's first miracle, converting water into wine.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meanwhile vowed to continue attacks on Hezbollah.

[rodeodance]

1. "the right to defend itself" has moved off the radar except for a few.

[rodeodance]

2. I would like to see a US Congressional resolution to this list!

[Dhalgren]

3. We don't live in that country anymore - if we ever did...

We are heartless, craven beasts. Our only concern is with our comforts and our fears. We have lost what little soul we had as a people. Now, we just grind bones and laugh...laugh in the dark...