The African National Congress (ANC) said on Friday it was ”outraged” by the Israeli government’s insistence that it would eventually remove Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from the occupied territories.
Arafat was declared an obstacle to peace by Israel’s diplomatic security cabinet on Thursday.
The ruling party said Arafat was the elected leader of the Palestinian people and any attempt to impose leaders on the Palestinians should be rejected by the rest of the world ”with the contempt such acts deserve”.
Israel took the decision to remove Arafat following two suicide bombings that killed 15 Israelis in a Jerusalem cafe and outside a Tel Aviv army base on Tuesday.
”This latest move by Israel demonstrates their unwillingness to embrace peace and take forward the peace process. The world must act to force Israel to honour the UN resolutions,” the ANC said.
It also accused the United Stated government of failing to demonstrate impartiality in its role as mediator and cited its listing of the militant Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist group as evidence of this failure.
However, the party also called for the ”cessation of hostilities on both sides” and said it was outraged by the latest Palestinian attacks.
”The gravity of the situation in the Middle East has reached a point where a decisive intervention by the United Nations cannot be postponed any further. The ANC reiterates its unwavering support to President Arafat and the people of Palestine.
”We will continue to campaign for the restructuring of the United Nations such that it is able to play a much more meaningful role as a custodian of world peace, and guarantee the people of Palestine the peace and security they deserve,” ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said.
He said that as long as Israel was allowed to continue flouting United Nations resolutions with endorsement from the US, the chances of containing the carnage in the region were dismal.
”Israel must immediately put an end to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. All restrictions on President Arafat must be lifted. Most importantly, Israel must be held accountable to its end of the bargain in terms of the road map,” Ngonyama said in reference to the much-vaunted peace plan drawn up by the European Union, the US, Russia and the UN. – Sapa