Bolivia cuts Israel ties over Gaza

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Thursday January 15, 2009 15:24 by Dissident

Not only is Evo breaking off ties with Israel, he’s committed himself to bringing a case against them before the International Criminal Court — on charges of Genocide.

Bolivia currently has a judge serving on the panel of the ICC — through 2009 — so maybe we’ll see some interesting fireworks. So do Brazil and Costa Rica.

The Bolivian president also dismissed the United Nations and its "Insecurity Council" for its "lukewarm" response to the crisis

Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, says he is breaking off ties with Israel in protest against its war in Gaza, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead.

Morales said on Wednesday that he would seek to get top Israeli officials, including Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, charged with “genocide” in the International Criminal Court.

The Bolivian president also dismissed the United Nations and its “Insecurity Council” for its “lukewarm” response to the crisis and said the general assembly should hold an emergency session to condemn the invasion.

“Considering these grave attacks against … humanity, Bolivia will stop having diplomatic relations with Israel,” Morales told diplomats in the Bolivian capital, La Paz.

He also said that Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, should be stripped of
his Nobel Peace Prize for failing to stop the invasion.

Morales’s move follows the decision by his ally Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, to expel Israel’s ambassador in the country because of the offensive, calling it a “holocaust”.

Morales expelled the US ambassador from Bolivia in September after accusing him of encouraging violent protests against his government.

Chavez did the same not long afterwards in “solidarity” with Morales.