Cheney's Defence of Israel's Murderous Policies Arouses Palestinian Anger And Takes the World By Surprize

09/04/2001| IslamWeb

WASHINGTON (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Remarks made by US Vice President, Dick Cheney on Friday in sympathy with Israel's so-called pre-emptive active self-defence - targetting suspected Palestinian intifadha, uprising, activists have aroused Palestinian anger and have taken the rest of the world by surprize. (Read photo caption below)

The remarks forced the White House move quickly to deny reports of a rift between Vice-President Dick Cheney and the State Department over US policy in the Middle East.
Cheney's comments came after US Secretary of State Colin Powell had denounced an Israeli raid on the West Bank town of Nablus killing 8 Palestinians including two children as highly provocative and an escalation of the violence.
Nabil Abu-Rudaynah, a senior adviser to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, said Mr Cheney's comments did not encourage peace but would destabilise the whole region.
Correspondents say Mr Cheney's remarks are strong evidence that there are splits within the US administration on the handling of foreign affairs.
This is not the first example of apparent disagreement within the administration regarding its policy towards Israel and the Palestinians.
During his visit to the region in the end of June, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the US supported sending international observers to the area.
That position was immediately denied by the White House, and later clarified and qualified by Mr Powell himself.
The White House now says Mr Cheney's comments were taken out of context, and has denied any support for Israel's policy of targeted killings.
"What the vice president was reflecting on is how both parties see justification in the actions they take. It is the policy of the United States to oppose these killings," spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.
In the interview, Cheney said:
``In Israel, what they've done, of course, over the years, occasionally, in an effort to pre-empt terrorist activities, is to go after the terrorists. And in some cases, I suppose, by their lights it is justified. If you've got an organization that has plotted or is plotting some kind of suicide bomber attack, for example, and they have hard evidence of who it is and where they're located, I think there's some justification in their trying to protect themselves by pre-empting.''
Amid heightened violence this week that left more than a dozen Palestinians dead, the Israeli government dismissed international criticism and reasserted its intention to target intifadha activists for attack. Palestinians have denounced the attacks.
PHOTO CAPTION:
US Vice President Dick Cheney told Fox News on August 3, 2001 that Israel had ``some justification'' when it deliberately killed Palestinians thought to be planning bombings. Cheney is seen at a June 29 news conference at the White House. (Win McNamee/Reuters)