Tuesday 28 October 2008

Egypt decides to ban international parliamentary delegation from entering Gaza

BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The European campaign for lifting the siege on Gaza has strongly condemned the Egyptian government's decision not to allow a big international delegation of MPs enter Gaza Strip, describing such decision as practical participation in the siege.

The delegation was set to depart to Gaza in the first week of next month to see for themselves the deteriorated health and educational conditions in the tiny Strip which had been under crippling Israeli economic siege since June, 2006.

Lord Nazir Ahmad, head of the delegation, said that the delegation strongly condemns and deplores the Egyptian decision of denying it entry into Gaza although the visit was humanitarian.

He added that the international delegation of lawmakers have the right to see for themselves the miserable life conditions in the Gaza Strip, underlining, "We expected Egypt that alleges it helps the Palestinian people and wants to lift the siege to open the Rafah crossing and to let the delegation pursue the visit and look into the harsh conditions there".

In statement he made in the Belgian capital Brussels, Dr. Arafat Madi, the chairman of the campaign that is organizing the visit, also condemned the Egyptian decision, describing it as "practical participation in the suffocating siege imposed on the Gaza Strip that reaped the lives of more than 250 Palestinian patients so far".

"We strongly deprecate the barring of 53 international lawmakers from entering Gaza who want to look into the miserable human conditions of the 1.5 million Palestinians living under a crushing blockade for the third successive year", asserted Madi.

The international delegation of MPs comprises of 53 lawmakers from Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, and the EU parliament, in addition to MPs from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and a number of Arab countries.

Multinational lawmakers are due to visit Gaza early next month

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

SS DIGNITY ARRIVED IN GAZA TODAY!!!!!!

We've done it again

For Immediate Release Date : 10-29-2008

LARNACA - The Free Gaza Movement is delighted to announce that their third boat, the SS Dignity carrying 27 crew and passengers arrived in Gaza at 8:10 Gaza time, in spite of Israeli threats to stop them. In the pouring rain, the boat pulled into port amid cheers from the people of Gaza and tears from the passengers.

David Schermerhorn, one of the crew members called an hour before the boat entered the waters of Gaza and said, "There is a rainbow stretching across the Mediterranean from where we are right now."

Yesterday, The Israel Navy said they would stop the stop our vessel once it reached Israel's territorial waters. Apparently to save face, they said they would harm our boat, arrest us and tow us IF we entered Israeli waters. The problem for Israel is that the SS Dignity had no intention of getting anywhere near those waters.

One of the organizers, Huwaida Arraf cheered, "Once again we've been able to defy an unjust and illegal policy while the rest of the world is too intimidated to do anything. Our small boat is a huge cry to the international community to follow in our footsteps and open a lifeline to the people of Gaza."

For the second time, the Free Gaza Movement has demonstrated that the might of the Israeli navy is no match for a small boat of human rights activists determined to call to the attention of the world the occupation of the people of Gaza.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council added, "Despite the injustice against the Palestinian people, we believe in justice and will keep on trying to break Israel's siege. The occupation has divided the Palestinians, but our nonviolent resistance has united us."

Osama Qashoo, one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement, overjoyed for the second time in three months, "We are all capable of leading a nonviolent and effective movement to end the Israeli Apartheid and expose the injustice that has been meted out to the Palestinians. We in the FG movement have provided the new dictionary, it's up to the Palestinians and the Israelis and the Internationals to add the words."

For More Information, Please Contact:
Greta Berlin (Cyprus) +357 99 081 767 / iristulip@gmail.com
Osama Qashoo (Cyprus) +44 (0)78 3338 1660 / osamaqashoo@gmail.com
Angela Godfrey Goldstein (Jerusalem) +972 (0)54 736 6393 / angela@icahd.org


Anonymous said...

Anon above was me.

Link:

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=8731c313ba88bbd949908bc32424b965&offset=