Shimon Peres has been called a ‘criminal’ by some of his political opponents in Israel for his role in the illegal negotiations leading the Oslo accords. Yesterday, though, Peres found his presence in America being protested from a side of the political spectrum usually more sympathetic toward his politics.
Close to 100 Arab-Americans carrying signs with slogans such as "Peres is a baby killer," and "Peres killed my brother" stood on the grass opposite a hotel where Peres was staying. The chairman of the Labor Party, and Sari Nusseibeh, the Dean of Al-Quds University, were being honored Monday night by Seeds of Peace, a New York-based left-leaning organization that runs a camp for Arab and Jewish youngsters.
When he was foreign minister in 1994, Peres shared the Nobel Peace Prize with then- Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for their work in putting together the Oslo accords.
The protest Monday focused not on Peres’ responsibility for the failed Oslo accords, but on his role in authorizing Israeli counter-terror operations in southern Lebanon in 1996, during which a bomb fell on a UN building near a Hezbolla outpost.
Haidar Bitar of Dearborn, Michigan said that his sons were killed when the bomb fell on the UN building. The boys were visiting relatives in Lebanon at the time. "Shimon Peres is a war criminal," Bitar yelled.
Dearborn is the center of southeastern Michigan's 300,000-member Arab community.
"This is an insult," said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News and an organizer of the protest. "Honoring a man such as Peres in the middle of our city is a slap in the face of the Arab community."
Close to 100 Arab-Americans carrying signs with slogans such as "Peres is a baby killer," and "Peres killed my brother" stood on the grass opposite a hotel where Peres was staying. The chairman of the Labor Party, and Sari Nusseibeh, the Dean of Al-Quds University, were being honored Monday night by Seeds of Peace, a New York-based left-leaning organization that runs a camp for Arab and Jewish youngsters.
When he was foreign minister in 1994, Peres shared the Nobel Peace Prize with then- Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for their work in putting together the Oslo accords.
The protest Monday focused not on Peres’ responsibility for the failed Oslo accords, but on his role in authorizing Israeli counter-terror operations in southern Lebanon in 1996, during which a bomb fell on a UN building near a Hezbolla outpost.
Haidar Bitar of Dearborn, Michigan said that his sons were killed when the bomb fell on the UN building. The boys were visiting relatives in Lebanon at the time. "Shimon Peres is a war criminal," Bitar yelled.
Dearborn is the center of southeastern Michigan's 300,000-member Arab community.
"This is an insult," said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News and an organizer of the protest. "Honoring a man such as Peres in the middle of our city is a slap in the face of the Arab community."