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Gaza 'worse than Nazi camps'
24/04/2008 21:38 - (SA)
New York - Libya's deputy UN ambassador insisted on Thursday that the situation in the Gaza Strip is actually "worse" than what happened in Nazi concentration camps, a day after similar remarks sparked a walkout of Western envoys in the Security Council.
"It is more than what happened in the concentration camps because there is the bombing, daily bombs in Gaza," Ibrahim Dabbashi told reporters.
"It is worse," the Libyan diplomat added, pointing out that there were no such bombings on concentration camps during World War II.
He said he made the controversial remarks in Wednesday's Security Council debate "as an argument" to buttress Libya's case that the 15-member body needed to act to end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
"I think if those statements are correct, they reflect a degree of historical ignorance and moral insensitivity that is one of the large reasons why this council is unable to act on Middle East issues and why peace in the Middle East is so difficult," US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff retorted.
"To compare the situation in Gaza, with all its difficulties, with concentration camps in Nazi Germany is as I described... historically inaccurate and fundamentally at odds with efforts to try to make peace in the Middle East," he told reporters.
Israel hails Western walkout
Libya is the lone Arab member on the 15-member council and acts as a spokesperson for the Arab group at the United Nations.
Wednesday's Western walkout came as council members failed to reach agreement on a compromise statement on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In previous months, the council had several times tried and failed to agree on a statement regarding the crippling Israeli siege of Gaza in response to rocket fire from Palestinian militants based in Gaza.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel hailed Western diplomats for their UN walkout a day earlier.
"They did what was called for in such a situation and we applaud that," said foreign ministry spokesperson Arye Mekel.
"We are very concerned about what happened yesterday at the UN Security Council, which was taken hostage by irresponsible countries that have in the past been linked to terrorism," he noted.
Israel imposed a punishing blockade on Gaza after the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of the Palestinian territory in June, ousting forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
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