[ 06/08/2010 - 01:40 PM ] OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Muslim and Christian delegations have visited Thursday the sit-in tent of the four Hamas officials threatened to be exiled from their city by force, condemning the Israeli decision and expressing full support to the sit-inners.
The four Hamas officials are MPs Mohammed Abu Tair, Ahmad Atton, and Mohammed Tutah in addition to Khaled Abu Arafa, the former minister of Jerusalem affairs.
All four were kidnapped and detained in Israeli jails shortly after Hamas won the PA legislative elections in 2006 in an Israeli attempt, as many believe, to abort results of the democratic elections.
Among those who visited the lawmakers was Archimandrite William Shomly of the Latin Church who accompanied Palestinian Christian leader Archimandrite Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Shomly described the Israeli decision as “racist”, saying that exiling the four officials out of their city, and separating them from their families was flagrant violation of international laws and conventions, and clear breach of basic human rights.
MP Atton, for his part, thanked the delegations for the support they have demonstrated for him and his comrades, stressing that the Israeli decision targets the entire Palestinian Jerusalemites and not the four officials only.
Earlier on Thursday, Abu Arafa received a delegation from the International Church Federation comprising European supporters, and explained to them details and the political dimensions of the Israeli decision.
He also urged the international community to carryout its mandate that considers Jerusalem as a city under the occupation, which is a status that disallows the occupation force from removing its people out of it according to UN laws.
“After 36 days of the sit-in, we feel that we have succeeded in delivering our message to the international community through the delegations that visited us”, underscored Abu Arafa.
One of the British supports who visited the lawmakers vowed to carry the message of the sit-inners, and to stir the issue in the British media in addition to contacting British and EU parliament members to urge them to pressure the Israeli occupation to cancel the decision.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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