On The Siege of the Palestine HQ

Date: 
Saturday, March 30, 2002

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the assault mounted by Israel against Yasser Arafat, President of the State of Palestine. The siege of his office in Ramallah and the constant shelling by Israel is indicative of the fact that Israel backed by the USA is unequivocally announcing that it shall not accept any proposal for peace in the region.

The fundamental right of the Palestinians to a homeland is non- negotiable. Israeli obduracy has created an alarming situation in the region. The recently concluded Arab summit in Beirut has endorsed the Saudi initiative for wider Arab-Israeli peace settlement. This can form the basis for an immediate intervention to restore the peace process.

With the situation fast deteriorating it is imperative that international public opinion must immediately prevail to vacate the illegal and inhuman siege of the headquarters of the Palestinian State by Israel. The USA must immediately ensure that its long-standing ally, Israel, complies with the process that will bring back peace and normalcy to the region.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon the Indian government to abandon, even at this late stage, its vacillations and equivocation on this issue and mount international pressure to force Israel to vacate its occupation.