• Lebanon
  • August 23, 2006
  • 3 minutes read

Austrian politician: Israeli officials must be prosecuted for war crimes

The well known Austrian politician Jurg Haider, head of the Libertarian Party in Austria, has demanded the prosecution of Israeli occupation government officials before an intentional criminal court for the string of massacres they committed in Palestine and Lebanon.


In its Wednesday edition, the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper quoted Haider as describing Israel’s aggression on Lebanon as a “war crime” that absolutely violates international laws and conventions, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention.


Displaying profound sympathy with Lebanese children, Haider offered to receive and medicate 15 Lebanese children seriously wounded and burned in the Israeli aggressions in hospitals of his province.


He charged that Israel exploited the war to uproot Hizbullah, but when failed it poured its anger on civilians and infrastructure in Lebanon, destroying bridges, communication facilities, road networks, and power plants among other infrastructure projects.


The Austrian politician opined that the war on Lebanon was planned to serve as a clear message to Arab countries not to think to fight the “mighty” Israeli army; yet, he added, the message wasn’t received due to the bitter defeat of that “mighty” army at the hands of Hizbullah guerrillas.


“Hadn’t it been for the unlimited political and military support offered by the USA to Israel, an Israeli war of that intensity wouldn’t have started in the first place”, Haider underlined.


Moreover, he flayed the EU passive reaction towards the war on Lebanon, explaining that European governments including that of Austria opted to dance with the American wishes in order to avoid misunderstanding with it, forgetting that relations with the Middle East countries are also of the same importance.


Austria lost one of its nationals in the Israeli air strike against a UNIFIL base in south Lebanon during the war on Lebanon.


In a related matter, Palestinian legislator Dawood Abu Seir addressed via telephone a rally in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance in Swiss capital Bern.


Abu Seir appreciated the supportive sentiments of the Swiss people towards the just Palestinian question and people.