World Writers' Association, Israel commits Nazi crimes
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/6/2002

What the Israeli army is doing in the occupied Palestinian territories is nothing but a copy of what the Nazi did in the World War II. We must ring alarm bells all over the world to stress that what Palestine witnesses is a crime that must be stopped, said the Portuguese man-of-letters Jose Saramago, winner of the Nobel Prize of Literature 1998.

Saramago, along with a delegation from the World Association of Writers, has been to the Palestinian cities in the West Bank and Gaza upon an invitation by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, in a show of consolidation with the aggrieved Palestinians. The delegation comprised the cream of world men-of-letters and writers from all over the world.

On his part, Saramago described Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands as Nazism. This situation is an international catastrophe. I have seen rubble of destroyed houses and desperate people. I have seen a situation more dangerous than a quake. A quake lasts for seconds, but what Palestine is going through is unremitting with the tears of the children and the old, who no longer have homes and families, said Samarago.

I have seen a show of power, with one side armless while the other is armed to its teeth. And I wonder, how could this happen in today's world without the world community even raises a finger. Where are the blue berets? Where is the United Nations? The situation is serious, catastrophic in fact, continued Saramago.

On claims that Arab culture calls for terrorism and rejection of other cultures, he explained that to his knowledge, Arab culture contributed much to human heritage. Whoever claims that the Arab World is the damned and evil place threatening the world turns a blind eye to the fact that Europe was the origin of all evil acts, he noted.

It is true that Europe is the continent of art, music and great men-of-letters, whoever, it was Europe that exported slavery, colonialism and wars to many areas of the world.

Moreover, Spanish man-of-letters Guite Solu said that the visit is not only an expression of solidarity with the Palestinians, but also an attempt to illustrate that one can object to this historical injustice and related policies such as that of US President Bush.

Previous Stories:
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  Some 13 Israeli army reserve soldiers jailed   (4/5/2002)
  Special meeting today of the human rights committee on the Middle East   (4/5/2002)
  World intellectuals condemn Israeli occupation   (3/26/2002)

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