Posted on 03/04/2003 8:49:29 AM PST by RCW2001
White House Urges Israel to Protect Palestinians After Homes of Suspected Militants Demolished
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON March 4 — The Bush administration on Tuesday urged Israel to protect the lives and welfare of innocent Palestinians as the government cracks down on militants.
"We have long stated that Israel has a right to defend itself, but it's important for Israel to act in a way that is reflective of the needs and the legitimate aspirations of the innocent," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters. "We have concerns about actions that go beyond and that bring harm to the innocent, including innocent Palestinians."
He had been asked whether the U.S. condones Israeli troops demolishing the houses of Palestinian militants, a tactic that has led to injury and deaths among the suspects' family members.
On Monday, Israel arrested a political leader of Hamas during a raid into a Gaza refugee camp in which eight Palestinians were killed a pregnant woman, two boys, ages 14 and 16, and five Palestinian gunmen.
The woman was killed when her house collapsed on her during the demolition of a nearby building. Six other family members were injured, including the woman's husband and two of her sons.
The British government has also expressed concerns about the number of civilian deaths during Israeli offensives in the West Bank.
"We have concerns about actions that go beyond and that bring harm to the innocent, including innocent Palestinians."
I find it interesting that when some Americans express concerns about innocents being killed by falling bombs, they are labeled as peacenicks and traitors by some.
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC; September 27, 2001
...
QUESTION: To what extent does this campaign -- as you constantly review your Middle East policy, what -- how much influence does this campaign against terrorism have in that? What's the input? How does it weigh in here? See what I mean?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't.
QUESTION: It's obviously a factor --
MR. BOUCHER: We have talked about this on and off over the last few days. We recognize that there is an influence. Some have said it affects the atmosphere, the Palestinian/Israeli issues affect the atmosphere of cooperation. But, essentially, there are, on some planes, two different things. One is that there are violent people trying to destroy societies, ours, many others in the world. The world recognizes that and we are going to stop those people.
On the other hand, there are issues and violence and political issues that need to be resolved in the Middle East, Israelis and Palestinians. But we all recognize that the path to solve those is through negotiation and that we have devoted enormous efforts to getting back to that path of negotiation.
And we have called on the parties to do everything they can, particularly in the present circumstance, to make that possible.
I guess that's about as close as I can come to the kind of sophisticated analysis I'm sure you will want to do on your own. But they are clearly issues that are different, not only in geography but also, to some extent, in their nature.
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