Turkey, France Lash Out At Israel; Britain, US, and India Back Israel In War Against Terror

India on Tuesday appealed to both Israel and Palestinian Authority to "show restraint" and resume dialogue even as Israel came under blistering criticism as Turkey and France joined Arab states in condemning new attacks on Palestinian targets that raised fears of an all-out West Asia war. But Britain joined the United States in expressing strong support for Israel and its demands that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat clamp down on militants after suicide bombings at the wekeend killed at least 25 Israelis.

Turkey, Israel's main regional ally and the only Muslim-majority country in NATO, sided with Arab and Muslim opinion in blasting hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for ordering harsh retaliatory strikes.

"Sharon is determined to implement very excessive, unjust measures against the Palestinian Authority," Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said.

"If this turns into an actual war, it may lead to a situation that could be more dangerous than the one in Afghanistan, particularly for our region," he said.

The European Union also issued veiled criticism of the Israeli strikes against Palestinian Authority offices and facilities, saying that "destabilising the Palestinian Authority would not help stop the cycle of violence."

The Belgian presidency of the EU said in a statement that "on the contrary, the Palestinian Authority should be helped to assume all of its responsibilities under the agreements it has signed."

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov called on Arafat to take "tough measures" against extremists but added that Israel "must display political wisdom and restraint and not take action which would transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into an irreversible process."

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine accused the Israeli government of conducting a deliberate policy aimed at eliminating Arafat and his Palestinian Authority.

"Arafat has been weakened by the harassment of the Israeli army ... and as a result people are using his weakness as an argument to say that since he cannot reestablish order in his own camp, he should in some way be eliminated," Vedrine said.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, just ahead of talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Bucharest, said Arafat had to make more of an effort to curb deadly attacks on Israel.

"Chairman Arafat can do more," Powell said. "I don't think we've seen 100 percent effort ... I think he needs to do a lot more than we've seen so far."

He said Israel was "recovering from a terrible blow" and that Sharon was "responding in a way that he believes appropriate to defend his people and defend his country."

But Powell also cautioned Israel that it was imperative on both sides to find their way back to the bargaining table eventually.

"In our conversations with Prime Minister Sharon we have also indicated that there will be a tomorrow and a day after tomorrow when we have to try to get back to a process that will lead to a ceasefire and negotiations," he said.

Such talks "ultimately are required to bring these two peoples into some agreement where they can live together in peace," he said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said London and Washington had both given Israel their "sympathy" as hopes for an elusive Middle East faded after the latest bloodshed.

A spokesman said Blair and US President George W. Bush expressed "concern at the unfolding situation, sympathy with the Israeli government, and the need for everyone to do anything they can to stabilise the situation."

He said Blair had acknowledged "the sheer scale of outrage in Israel" at the suicide attacks.

The Arab and Muslim world denounced the latest Israeli strikes, which killed at least two Palestinians and demolished key sites of Arafat's embattled Palestinian Authority.

In Iran, where Israel is regularly called a "cancerous tumour" that must be destroyed, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said: "These attacks demonstrate that, day to day, the situation deteriorates for the Palestinian people."

The Muslim World League, based in Islam's holiest city of Mecca in Saudi arabia, condemned the Israeli attacks as "state terrorism."

It expressed "total shock" over "the silence of countries and organisations across the world at the state terrorism being practised by Israel."

Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah Khatib said his country would "call on behalf of the Arab countries for international protection for the Palestinians."

Many European newspapers said the strikes were the beginning of the end for Arafat as leader of the Palestinian people.

"Arafat may not be toppled but he may be rendered functionally irrelevant," The Times of London said, while Tagesspiegel in Berlin said "rhetoric won't suffice to save Arafat's status as a negotiating partner."

The wording in the article does not display the true intent of the Turkish PMs words.
First of all, the Arabs were the ones that were stabbing the Ottomans in back when Jews and Turks were dying side by side, defending Jerusalem and the rest of the Middle East from British invasion. So as far as most Turks care, the Arabs can bend over and take everything they deserve up the taiipipe. Its their fault they got themselves into this mess and that's not only because they stabbed us in the back. The Middle East problem is entirely artificial and came up because the stubborn Arabs couldn't come to terms with the fact that Israel is there to stay and is not going anywhere whether they like it or not. Their greed about not letting Jews have that small piece of land to live in will cost them even more than it has in the wars they started and miserably tried to crush Israel only to be severely humiliated every time.
Next one must point out the fact that Turks would much rather have Israel as a neighbor than any Arab country. The Jews have never betrayed us and we have always tried to help them the best we could throughout the 700 years of our mutual history.
However, a friend is not someone that tells you what you want to hear all the time. A friend tries to guide you in the right direction and always says what's right for you whether it makes you happy at the time or not.

These words should be understood in this context. The extremely harsh attitude Sharon is taking towards the Palestinians is hurting Israel much more than it is hurting them. It's helping them gain support in the Arab and international community because undescriminant bombing of civilian areas is not an effective way to fight terrorism. The fact that those people mat sympathise with the terrorists is not important. The masses sympathise with those that offer them hope. People bombing them do not fit into this description.

The way to fight these terrorist creatures is to find them one by one and take them out. No trial, no lawyers, no arrests. Israel is well capable of doing that. Nonone would object if Israel went after those bastards like it normally does and gives them what they deserve.

Another point is that, Arafat doesn't seem to have an alternative. Who else do you see that you can negotiate with among those bastards they have as leaders? The fact that the SoB is/was(?) a terrorist is not important. He's at least the most sensible guy among them. It is Israel that chose to live with the Palestinians when it chose not to kick them out when it had the chance 50 years ago (a civilized thing to do but who cares about civilized manner among Israel's neighbours?).

Sharon must keep a cool head and do what is best for his people. Starting another war is not the way to serve Israel's interests.

Remember who your real friends are and listen to them when they talk. There is a Turkish saying that goes soemthing like : "Friends talk bitter words"

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