Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales of Spain rapped Israel on Tuesday for its alleged violations of human rights in connection with the 6-month-old Palestinian uprising in the administered territories.
Addressing the conference of the International Labor Organization here, Gonzales said, “It is logical that our concern has grown during the last months with regard to the violation of human rights in the Arab territories occupied by Israel.”
The Spanish government, he said, “supports the search for a global, just and lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East and any decision the ILO might adopt in the sphere of its authority.” The ILO is a United Nations agency.
During a news conference, Gonzales elaborated on his remarks. “I think it is evident that the human rights of the Palestinians in the territories are not being respected. Therefore, I stressed that their rights in the field of labor, or purely on a human rights basis, should be respected,” he said.
Gonzales met with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, a fellow Socialist, last month in Madrid, where Peres attended a meeting of the Socialist International.
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