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Venezuela Expels Israeli Ambassador Over Gaza
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela ordered Israel's ambassador expelled from the country on Tuesday in protest over the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Demonstrators hold up placards in front of the Israeli embassy in Caracas, December 29, 2008, during a protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza. The placards (from L-R) read: "Stop the genocide against Palestine"; "Israel: Assassins of the world" and "It is enough! We are fed up with this injustice!". (Reuters/Alejandro Rustom/Venezuela) The decision by President Hugo Chavez to kick out the diplomat appeared to be the strongest reaction yet to the Gaza offensive by any country with ties to Israel.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry announced the move in a statement, saying it "has decided to expel the Israeli ambassador and part of the Israeli Embassy's personnel."
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed nearly 600 Palestinians in ground and air strikes. Israel launched the attacks Dec. 27 to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel.
"How far will this barbarism go?" Chavez asked on state television before the ambassador's expulsion was announced. "The president of Israel should be taken before an international court together with the president of the United States, if the world had any conscience."
Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said its U.N. mission is joining with other countries in demanding the Security Council "apply urgent and necessary measures to stop this invasion."
Israeli diplomats could not immediately be reached for comment. The embassy in Caracas was closed, and it was unclear how the Israeli government would respond.
Jewish community leader Abraham Levy, president of the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations, called the government's decision "taking the side of a terrorist group" by backing Gaza's Hamas leaders while ignoring Israel's perspective.
"I deeply lament that decision made by the government, which cuts off an enormous and long tradition of friendship between the people of Israel and the people of Venezuela," Levy told The Associated Press.
He said the decision leaves Venezuela's Jewish community - which numbers nearly 15,000 - "not only worried but also deeply battered" because it "attempts to demonize the state of Israel."
While many countries have protested Israel's offensive, none besides Venezuela so far have expelled the ambassador.
Mauritania, which established relations with Israel in 1999, called home its ambassador from the Jewish state on Monday.
Jordan and Egypt, the other two Arab nations with relations with Israel, summoned their Israeli ambassadors to protest the Gaza attacks, but they have resisted popular calls to expel them.
Chavez has long been critical of the Israeli government's policies in the Middle East and has supported the Palestinians' stance in the conflict.
During Israel's 2006 conflict in Lebanon, Chavez withdrew his top envoy from Israel, calling the bombings there "a new Holocaust." Relations have remained at a scaled-back level since.
Chavez's condemnations of Israel's offensive in Gaza have grown gradually more severe in recent days. On Monday he called the Jewish state a "genocidal government," and on Tuesday urged Jews in Venezuela to take a stand against the Israeli government.
In spite of harsh criticisms of Israel, Chavez's government has insisted it is friendly toward Jewish people. Chavez met with Jewish leaders in August, pledging to work against anti-Semitism despite strong differences on Mideast politics.
Top Venezuelan officials explained Tuesday's decision speaking to cheering supporters at a Caracas mosque. Some in the crowd chanted "Gaza, hold on. The people are rising up!"
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela declared the Israeli ambassador "persona non grata" and decided to "reduce to a minimum the representation of this embassy in Venezuela."
Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami, who is of Arab descent, said "our revolution is also a revolution for a free Palestine!"
Chavez accuses Israel of acting on behalf of the United States in the Mideast, and he has forged close ties with Israel's top enemies - Iran and Syria.
Chavez also has used the tool of expelling an ambassador before. Last September, he kicked out U.S. envoy Patrick Duddy saying it was in solidarity with Bolivia, which also booted its U.S. ambassador, accusing him of aiding violent protests.
Demonstrations against the offensive have been held in various Latin American countries in recent days.
In Argentina, which has the third-largest Jewish population outside Israel, hundreds of people marched to the Israeli Embassy to call for an end to the offensive.
Brazil's government, like Venezuela, has said it is sending food and medical aid to the Gaza Strip. And in Bolivia, about a hundred Palestinians and Arabs marched to protest the violence.
Associated Press writer Rachel Jones contributed to this report.
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139 Comments so far
Show AllBut no one in the US has the guts to do the same. but wat...Chavez is a dictator in the eyes of the US...
Of course anyone who opposes the U.S. is either a "dictator," a demagogue," or a "terrorist," or all 3 at once, where ya been all these years?
and if you don't believe us here on CD, just turn on Fox "News",
they will explain it all to you.
Once again, apologists for Israel's inhumane policies cower behind the goodness of Judaism as a defense of their insanity.
Israel's efforts at ethnic cleansing in Gaza have nothing to do with religion. They are the work of ambitious Israeli politicians using Palestinian blood as their platform.
q
The list is indeed much longer.
---USAn---
The only difference between the list previously mentioned and Chavez is that Chavez is of a different political ideologue...otherwise they are all the same....
Boy do you have the wrong number.
Yes, the only difference is that he is a socialist and they were the heads of anti-labor martial dictatorships. Just that one little ideological difference you idiot.
Add to the list:
-Suharto in Indonesia/East Timor
-A series of military dictators in Guatemala after CIA overthrew Arbenz (directly, too, not just by tacit support or funding)
Both countries experienced, under these U.S.-lackey fascists, full-blown genocides:
http://www.yale.edu/gsp/
AH, i love name calling...truly the sign of intelligence...
Yes i said they are polar opposites ideologically so i'm confused over you calling me an idiot but then agree with what i said...by the way have you noticed the dictators that Chavez goes around the world greeting...hmmm funny he seems to like the type of people you listed..
A person who abuses his power, corrupts the government and acts like a megalomaniac just isn't someone to praise. Yes, Bush, Chavez and everyone you listed falls under that description...or is it okay to break the law as long as your pro-labor?
I did not realize you meant that their ideological differences added up to being "polar opposites". If you were saying that they are "the same" except for being "polar opposites", then what you said was even dumber than I thought.
Is it OK to break the law as long as you are pro-labor? It is OK to overthrow the capitalist state if you are pro-labor as far as I am concerned, because I am a socialist. However, that had nothing to do with me pointing out that it is stupid to say that aside from being polar opposites two people have everything in common.
Comparing anything Chavez has done to what Bush has done is also stupid, and comparing Bush to someone like Suharto would be stupider still. Frankly, you ought to stop. And your ridiculous premise that legality trumps morality is more than a bit taxing for any thinking person to have to read in post after post after post. If all you are capable of contributing to this discussion is recycled MSM talking points, why not just shut up and learn?
I shouldn't have called you an idiot, because I don't really know if that is the case. All I know is that you are saying idiotic things, and should stop.
Oh, and a sign of intelligence would be inserting paragraph breaks where appropriate and not abusing ellipses--try it.
One's political ideology and one actions are mutually exclusive. Just because some one is left wing and progressive doesn't give the carte blanche!!!
I didn't know i needed to defince the term 'polar opposite' for you-sorry.
Bush and Chavez both seek to undermine the freedom of the press, both are megalomaniacs, both are fond of pushing for selective prosecution of their opponents, both stack the government with cronies, these are not actions you can just wave off simply b/c you like the guys speeches!
If you remove the oil windfall from Venezuela then the GDP has actually DECREASED under his rule...you do realize that oil is a finite resource don't you? What will the people of Venezuela do once the oil is gone? Seeing how they have no other functioning sector of the economy not are they even able to grow their own food what will they do?
They will starve to death without handouts form the US.
You're still not using paragraph breaks and you're still using ellipses inappropriately, so per your agreement, I get to call you names.
And it's a good thing, because you are a fucking idiot.
Actually, paragraph breaks and the lot isn't a sign of intelligence but a sign of proper grammar which i admit i'm not following but then again this isn't a paper...
i used the ellipses as bullets-it's not that radical.
I'll make you a deal, you refrain from name calling and i'll follow MLA format.
You left out that Chavez was elected in several clean elections unlike your no doubt hero Bush who was appointed by the supreme court in essence when counting the votes was stopped intentionally in a decision so bad even the Supreme Court itself said it should NEVER be used as precedent for deciding other cases. Those who live glass houses should be careful throwing stones labeled democracy.
Of course some elections are to be voided by the far right you represent like Hamas's and Chavez's right? The peoples will only counts for so much and not more and anyone who crosses that line is a "demagogue" or "terrorist," right?
The U.S. supports democracy.*
*Void where prohibited, some restrictions may apply...
He was cleanly elected but so was Hitler. I don't care how he got into office but rather what his actions are once he is in office. Hamas like Chavez is a legally elected leader. Personally i don't even care if its a democratic elections, if a nation were to say that only college educated persons may vote i'd accept it-i wouldn't agree with it by i'm not presumptuous enough to tell another nation how to elect isn't leaders.
Chavez stopped following the law of Venezuela during his second term and i'm not going to ignore it.
I never said the election was void, not in Hamas's or Chavez's case but rather i have said that they are no longer deserving of respect for they no longer abide by the rule of law.
When have i ever said Bush was a good president? That Supreme Court case is something else, i don't entirely blame the Supreme Court b/c they were in fact referencing a valid legal standpoint i hold the Congress to be most at fault. When will this country have a uniformed nationwide elect procedure? Orange County has had election problems for almost 30 years now so honestly if they can't get their act together by now then maybe they should just sit out the next election...
As far as your belief about throwing stones...if we really followed that then no nation in the world could criticize another for every nation has blood on their hands...
Yeah... I guess writing a new constitution for Venezuela to grant civil liberties to the indigenous and poor citizens which was overwhelmingly supported by the electorate means that he stopped following the outdated laws of the currupt regimes that came before him...
By the way... Which law did he violate... The giveaway of oil royalties to foreign companies...?
Suspending Congress, Ruling by Decree, seeking to overturn term limits so he can be President for life, breaking down the system of checks and balance...Those are his crimes.
The new constitution was a good piece of work, civil liberties were granted all around until he decided he like power more than any thing else and he began restricting civil liberties...
You know what they say about Absolute Power....
Yes. The list is very much longer. If you add up those who have died as a result of our support for these guys, and the destruction and assassination of their more democratic rivals, it totals in the 10's of millions.
Joe
Lets not forget old Mobutu Sese Seiko of Zaire (now known as the Dem. Rep. of the Congo). And then there's the Shah of Iran, the military thugs that ran Guatemala and El Salvador's death squad "democracy". Also there was Pres. Nguyen Van Thieu (a heroin trafficker) of S. Vietnam It was former UN ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick who said that we should support "friendly dictators".
Jimmy Carter was the President that gave a toast to the Shah of Iran and said he's a great leader....Jimmy Carter.
And it was Carter (Brezizinski) that had the CIA create the Muhajadeen and Al Queda in their proxy war in Afghanistan...
Which one of these dictators is in power today? Which one was in power at any point during Bush's (Or Bubba's) term?
Just wondering...
Chavez is Earth's Morality Leader. I would like to see/hear him describe the Imperial Capital of the US Empire as Depravity Central and the seat of thousands of terrorists led by the President and Vice president who are assissted by an equally immoral/criminal/barbaric Congress.
"Jewish community leader Abraham Levy, president of the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations, called the government's decision "taking the side of a terrorist group" by backing Gaza's Hamas leaders while ignoring Israel's perspective"
"Chavez also has used the tool of expelling an ambassador before. Last September, he kicked out U.S. envoy Patrick Duddy saying it was in solidarity with Bolivia, which also booted its U.S. ambassador, accusing him of aiding violent protests"
Seems that many people continue living in the 'created reality' la-la world before this atrocious international crime where still could be used justifications for commiting lesser crimes against so called 'terrorists'.
Chavez is the exception to this rule, he calls terror by its name and knows that that in the future his country and others (Bolivia for example) can be
subject to the same divisionary tactics used in Palestine (eg. create Hamas
for fighting Fatha) and the same or worse horror that we are witnessing now.
The representatives of US were expelled no merely for inducing violence but
fundamentally for trying to divide these countries.
Viva Chavez!
Gracias Hugo Chavez!
Funny how everyone commenting on this page has praise for Chavez but i want to know if you'd like him to be your president?
*Violates Human Rights
*Selective and Political Prosecutions
*The capital of Caracas has scene murder rates triple under Chavez's rule
*Bolivarian Circles are militarizing the population
*Reporters Without Borders have rated 115th out of 168 countries for protecting freedom of speech.
With oil prices and oil production falling how is Chavez gonna pay for the social system he's created?
To create a lasting effect on Venezuela the money needed to be invested in schools, infrastructure, and in sustainable job creating industries not just handed out to the population. The people in Venezuela will be back in poverty within ten years b/c of Chavez's poor management.
Honesty, Bush and Chavez have a lot in common...both practice cowboy diplomacy, waste money, practice cronyism, and both have the biggest ego's i've ever scene...
Serena is right on. I've been to Caracas and I totally concur. I'd rather have Chavez or Morales for my president, too! It is astounding how backward the US reporting on Chavez and Venezuela is. Overwhelmingly controlled by the White House party line. I no longer trust the American press for anything. It's like Pravda.
Dear Moon Raven, here you go with your "gringo" comments again. What bitterness, since your little blue US Passport identifies YOU as a gringa too...
Bush and Chavez have a lot in common? That's a laugh.
While polar opposites ideologically they are otherwise one in the same...
Whether Chavez is a dictator, demagogue, or democrat is beside the point. In this instance, he did what every country should have done. Who needs an Israeli ambassador, anyhow? When I lived in Malaysia, anyone holding an Israeli passport could not enter the country. And guess what? Life went on splendidly.
There are a few other countries following suit. It sure would be nice to see a single country in Europe do the same. What was the culture like in Malaysia by the way?
Actually it wasn't all that long ago a European country tried to do just that...remember Germany circa 1940? Yeah good one to admire there..
Your bragging about expelling every citizen of a country like its a good thing? So every Israeli is evil? You do know that 20% of Israeli citizens are Muslims don't you? Or did you just mean the Jewish Israeli's? Hmmmm, you know that sounds kinda bad when you put it like that doesn't it? Kinda like when S. Africa banned Blacks....yeah you go on bragging about that...Malaysia, they only good think out of Malaysia is cheap tee shirts!!!
Question -- Which country in the World has been bombed the most ????
I bet 99.9% of Americans would not know the answer !!!!!!!!!
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5719
Whoever said the following has got it right !!!!!!
"Chavez is Earth's Morality Leader."
I would have said South Vietnam. We dropped eight million tons of bombs on Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos combined--that's more than THREE TIMES the amount we dropped in all of WWII (Dresden anyone? Tokyo firebombing? Hamburg? Battles throughout the Pacific?).
And 4/5ths of the bombs we dropped on Vietnam were in fact dropped on our "ally", whose "liberation" we were fighting for in a "civil war"--South Vietnam. Only a fifth was dropped on the "enemy", North Vietnam. In the eyes of most Vietnamese, "North" Vietnam was just plain old "Vietnam", and the South was French-, then American-occupied territory, within Vietnam.
Source for all the bomb stats is Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides by Christian Appy.
Chavez really needs a new enemy on whom to blame his troubles. Unfortunately for him, GW Bush is gone in another 13 days, and it looks like the Jews will do nicely as a replacement.
He ain't blaming the Jews, just the shitheaded zionists running Israel and giving it a bad rap. If he was against Jews, he'd be doing what UAE is currently doing to Israeli immigrants. Chavez ain't that bad. You're just jealous that Chavez is far better than Dubya, Olmert, King Abdullah, and the rest of the rightwing nazis.
Read some of his speech's and then try to tell us he isn't blaming the Jews...By and large is remarks are directed at Israeli but when he was trashing the student led protests against his attempt to remove constitutional term limits he refered to those that opposed him as 'wandering Jews.'
Of course Chavez hates us! He's made no secret of it.
He might try to hide behind the word "Zionism". But we know what he means.
Chavez is antisemitic.
Here are two relevant articles:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html
http://www.jewishjournal.com/thegodblog/item/anti_semitism_up_in_venezuela_20080707/
You two malcontents can go jump off a cliff with your "Chavez hate Jews" fairy tales! Just because one criticizes Israel doesn't make one anti-Semitic. Do the Jews of good will who have the courage of their convictions to criticize Israel are anti-Semitic? The anti-Semitic card is played out. That dog won't hunt.
Serena,
~Before Chavez expelled the group Human Rights Watch from the country they had written an open letter to him about the declining civil rights in Venezuela.
~Amnesty Int'l documented 14 deaths and over 200 injuries among the anti-Chavez demonstrators during his attempt to remove Presidential term limits-most of the protesters were students by the way.
~The Int'l Press Institute has criticized the growing number of journalist that have been brought before court for writing negatively about the government.
Chavez personally declared that RCTV will not be granted another operating license-they are one of the few remaining tv stations not owned by the government.
~Freedom House ranks Venezuela as being only 'partially free'
~The percentage of underweight babies being born in Venezuela has increased under Chavez as has the percentage of households without running water.
~Households in poverty have declined from about half to about 1/4 but with a 50% increase in the GDP a much greater improvement is expected.
~Berlin based Transparency Int'l has stated that corruption has increased under Chavez
~Chavez's cousin has been appointed vice president Petroleos de Venezuela, Chavez's brother appointed education minister, Chavez's father appointed Governor of the state of Barinas, and Chavez's other brother is the Sec of State for Barinas....ironic eh?
~The UN has reported that Venezuela has the highest number of gun related deaths in the world.
~Chavez has twice had periods when he's ruled by decree-he seems to think he's some kinda of Caesar...
~Amnesty Int'l had reported that Venezuela lacks an independent and impartial judiciary
~Chavez suspended the Nat'l Assembly in 1999.
~Chavez is still trying to end term limits even after the people voted against his measures
~The Center for Strategic Int'l Studies has reported how opposition candidates have been arrested or charged by the Chavez controlled judiciary
~The government has banned most leading opposition candidates from running for elected offices.
I don't watch Fox News, i prefer to listen to real and non opinionated sources.
The money isn't being spent on longterm but rather temporary solutions. The Oil money isn't going to last and if you don't realize that then the poverty that is gonna grip Venezuela in a generation or two is on you. Venezuela has a short opportunity to diversify their economy so they aren't dependent on finite resources but instead of building an economy Chavez has driven nearly all private investment out of the country...or do you think Venezuela doesn't need any investment?
The UN can't get anything right and is completely dysfunctional. Second, privatization is what killed Venezuela and Chavez is getting rid of that cancer. Complain about Chavez after first fixing the USA sir.
Chavez is getting rid of that cancer you say...well i'd like to know how? It seems he's only been getting rid of every non oil sector segment of the economy...Venezuela can't even grow enough food for its citizens anymore, food shortages of basics like milk and bread! The USA is fixing itself right now and were doing it with regulated capitalism, we know that private investment is what jump stats an economy or are you going to say that companies like Google and Apple are bad for the economy?
steelgray,
Don't waste your time with these Chavistas.
They spend half the day ranting against OPEC and the other half praising Chavez.
They don't know the meaning of hypocrisy.
If Bush shut down a TV station or murdered protesters, they would call him a fascist.
But when Chavez does the same things, they call him a hero.
Why? Why do they love this arrogant, grandstanding, petrol-tyrant?
Simple. Chavez hates Israel.
Any enemy of Israel is a friend to them.
It wasn't Chavez that partied in San Diego like your hero GW Bush did, when my beloved city of New Orleans drowned in 2005 from the broken levees during hurricane Katrina. In fact Chavez and Castro offered to help my city, but your god-hero Bush wouldn't have any of that. Get a brain!
Oh yeah right, the USA is fixing the economy hardeeharhar! Paulson colluded with major banks to hoard US taxpayer money (read: "bailout"). The US treasury refuses to disclose what institutions are taking TARP money. The taxpayer funded bailout is also being used to guarantee stock prices and gurantee the bonuses of Paulson's Wall Street friends. Meanwhile the little businesses and homeowners get reamed. If this sounds like good regulated capitalism to you, then I'm sure you'll celebrate capitalism when the US goes bankrupt and starts to fly apart. But for you, what's good for Madoff, Paulson and Goldman Sachs is good for America. Sorry steelgray, but I don't suffer fools like you very well. At least Chavez sees through this scam.
Steelgrey do you know why that t.v. station didn't get its license renewed after it expired? Because during the coup against Chvez it encouraged people to gather and riot at government offices and showed continuous loops of the Pope getting shot with a strong subtext that, that is what ought to happen to Chavez. What do you imagine what happen to one of our U.S. t.v. stations if it had encouraged riots and assassination of Bush? Not only would its license have been immediately suspended but likely it's board of directors like sent to Gunatanamo as enemy combatants for encouraging the assassination of the President You are wrong about everything steelgrey your soul has already at a young age rotted from service to corrupt power and you have become very like the man in this Wilfred Owen poem:
"But cursed are dullards whom no cannon stuns,
That they should be as stones.
Wretched are they, and mean
With paucity that never was simplicity.
By choice they made themselves immune
To pity and whatever mourns in man
Before the last sea and the hapless stars;
Whatever mourns when many leave these shores;
Whatever shares
The eternal reciprocity of tears.”
What next a rousing treatise on how Dr, Kissengers operation Condor plot to overthrow the government of Chile and implement Chicago style economics by force was a rousing success? Never mind of the thousands of brutally tortured dead, Pinochet was "our bastard" and thus those dead don't count, right?
Shame on you, deep shame!
"do you know why that t.v. station didn't get its license renewed after it expired? Because during the coup against Chvez it encouraged people to gather and riot at government offices and showed continuous loops of the Pope getting shot with a strong subtext that, that is what ought to happen to Chavez."
More than that, it openly called on military officers to stage a coup:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144&ei=a79lSdX3K6DcqAP4wcSnAw&q=revolution+will+not+be+televised