AZERI EXPERT SAYS ISRAEL TO GET AWAY WITH GAZA OFFENSIVE

Yeni Musavat
Jan 11 2009
Azerbaijan

An independent Azerbaijani analyst has said that Israel will not be
sued at international courts for its offensive in the Gaza Strip,
the opposition Yeni Musavat newspaper said on 11 January.

Asked if the Israeli leadership will be sued in international courts
for causing major civilian casualties and continued killings and for
ignoring calls of international organizations and influential states,
political analyst Vafa Quluzada said: "The point is about force… How
the weak ones may sue a strong one… Israel’s being sued even for the
sake of show is impossible. What court will deliver a fair verdict
on this issue? Courts of the most democratic countries now look at
who sues who."

The paper quoted Quluzada as saying that as a result of the war,
Arab-Israeli ties would become more strained and "Arabs’ terror
against Israel will strengthen".

As for the disregard of international calls by Israel, the political
analyst said that Tel-Aviv relied on the USA’s power.

"It is already known that Israel and the USA imagine themselves as one
state. Israel is the US outpost, like Armenia is Russia’s outpost. Jews
of Israel were subjected to major oppression in history. Jews are the
only nation subjected to genocide. They have always been persecuted
in the world for being Jews. Anti-Semitic moods are strong even
now. However, anti-Semitism has been outlawed, people are taken to
court for this. But different interests are ruling the world now,
that is why Israel is conducting a different policy having forgotten
its past," Quluzada told Yeni Musavat.

In an interview with the paper, the imam of the closed Abu Bakr mosque,
Qamat Suleymanov, also commented on Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.

"Naturally, I also condemn this aggression. The developments in Gaza
are barbarism. I demand that this massacre be stopped," Suleymanov
said.

Suleymanov was quoted as saying that following the developments in
Gaza, religious radicalism had increased in the country and "at this
moment there is great need for the Abu Bakr mosque’s operation".

Suleymanov noted that the mosque community had always opposed religious
radicalism.

The mosque, which is located in Baku’s Narimanov district, was closed
down after a terror attack on it in 2008. Although law-enforcers
regarded the case as temporary, the Narimanov district court ruled
that the mosque be closed down permanently.