- JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said foreign criticism of Israel's use of force
against Palestinians in a three-year-old uprising is motivated by a new
form of anti-Semitism.
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- "Around the world, time and again, Israel is criticized
for exercising its right of self-defense by using excessive force,"
Sharon, speaking in English, told visiting Jewish activists from Canada
late Wednesday.
-
- Those who reject Israel's "right to use force to
defend itself" also effectively deny its "birthright to exist"
in its ancestral homeland, he added.
-
- "Regrettably, we see this phenomenon among many
nations in the world community and I would say that this is a new form
of anti-Semitism," Sharon said.
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- Israel says it uses force in Palestinian territories
to defend itself against suicide bombers who have killed hundreds of Israelis
since the uprising began in September 2000.
-
- Sharon's remarks followed a recent European Union poll
that found that a majority of EU citizens see Israel as the greatest threat
to world peace. The survey caused an uproar in Israel.
-
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- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3810
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