A group of Israelis used a controversial Belgian law today to file a complaint accusing Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat and various Palestinian groups of crimes against humanity.
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A group of Israelis hold photos of victims of attacks in Israel, in front of the Palace of Justice in Brussels today.
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The action came a day before a Brussels court was due to consider whether to go ahead with a lawsuit brought by Palestinian and Lebanese plaintiffs against Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon under the same 1993 legislation.
The law, which has badly strained relations between Israel and Belgium, accords universal jurisdiction to Belgian courts to prosecute foreigners, including heads of state, for alleged human rights abuses and war crimes committed abroad.
Lawyers representing about 30 Israelis said their clients held Mr Arafat and the Palestinian groups responsible for a series of attacks including an August 9th suicide bombing of a Jerusalem pizzeria that killed 16 people.
The complaint is against Mr Arafat and organisations such as the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian police, the Palestine Liberation Organisation, lawyers Mr Yves Oshinski told reporters.
Mr Oshinski, who represents a group called the Terror Victims' Association, said the complaint cited attacks dating from 1974.
About 100 supporters of the Israeli group, many of them Belgian Jews, gathered in front of the Palace of Justice in Brussels waving banners that read "Belgians and Israelis against terrorism".
"We have come from Israel to demand justice for the victims of the 30-year career of Yasser Arafat", Mr Meir Indor, head of the Terror Victims' Association, said.