British MP Galloway Kisses Gaza Ground
Hanan Awarekeh Readers Number : 218
10/03/2009 At a time the Gaza Strip had been left by itself without any solidarity from most of the Arab leaders and officials, foreigners come to show their support to the besieged Strip challenging the Egyptian authority at Rafah borders after being delayed and not paying any attention to the Israeli occupation army threats.
Some 24 days after leaving Britain, part of a Gaza aid convoy finally arrived in the Strip via the Rafah border crossing on Monday, prompting British MP George Galloway, who headed the group, to say that the convoy was only the beginning of his battle, and reinforced his comment with a flamboyant kiss to the Gazan ground.
The convoy, brainchild of the 'Viva Palestina' organization, included 99 vehicles that made a journey of over 12,000 km through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and finally Egypt. It included ambulances, fire trucks, and a boat-carrying truck. The activists carried food, medicine, and toys for the people of Gaza.
The convoy reached the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Sunday, but it was delayed due to the Egyptian security forces' objection to the delivery of non-medical aid. The activists spent the night in El-Arish, where, reportedly, locals pelted them with stones and also sprayed anti-Hamas graffiti on their cars.
Eventually, an agreement was made with Egypt, whereby some of the non-medial supplies - including electrical generators and the fire engine - were unloaded and were to be transferred via the Egyptian Red Cross through border crossings under Israel's control after being checked by the Israeli occupation army.
A Hamas border official said that about 50 British and Scottish volunteers and 100 vehicles carrying food, clothing and medicine had passed through the Rafah terminal. Galloway said 300 British citizens and 200 Libyans would be entering Gaza.
After entering the Strip, Galloway called the aid "a drop in the ocean," but said the trip was to send a message that "the lifeline from Britain to Gaza is in."
He vowed that more such aid convoys would follow and that Gazans should not feel they were alone. "I have entered Palestine many times but the most emotional of these is after the 22-day genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people," he told reporters.
Receiving the activists, Ahmed Kurd, Hamas' minister of social affairs, thanked Galloway for the "noble goodwill gesture" and called the lawmaker a "hero."
For his part, Respect MP George Galloway, who arrived in Gaza at the head of the lifeline convoy, told a press conference in central Gaza city on Monday that the convoy would be delivered to the legitimate Palestinian government of premier Ismail Haneyya.
He said that Haneyya is the premier of all freedom loving peoples in the world.
The British MP said that the delegates accompanying him in the convoy have collected donations from various British cities and from Arab countries they crossed en route to Gaza.
The convoy includes 280 figures, who arrived aboard 200 trucks loaded with foodstuff, medicine, medical equipment and clothes, other than 20 ambulance vehicles and a fire fighting vehicle.
The government of Haneyya welcomed the arrival of the convoy to Gaza Strip where one and a half million Palestinians are living under siege.
Hanan Awarekeh Readers Number : 218
10/03/2009 At a time the Gaza Strip had been left by itself without any solidarity from most of the Arab leaders and officials, foreigners come to show their support to the besieged Strip challenging the Egyptian authority at Rafah borders after being delayed and not paying any attention to the Israeli occupation army threats.
Some 24 days after leaving Britain, part of a Gaza aid convoy finally arrived in the Strip via the Rafah border crossing on Monday, prompting British MP George Galloway, who headed the group, to say that the convoy was only the beginning of his battle, and reinforced his comment with a flamboyant kiss to the Gazan ground.
The convoy, brainchild of the 'Viva Palestina' organization, included 99 vehicles that made a journey of over 12,000 km through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and finally Egypt. It included ambulances, fire trucks, and a boat-carrying truck. The activists carried food, medicine, and toys for the people of Gaza.
The convoy reached the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Sunday, but it was delayed due to the Egyptian security forces' objection to the delivery of non-medical aid. The activists spent the night in El-Arish, where, reportedly, locals pelted them with stones and also sprayed anti-Hamas graffiti on their cars.
Eventually, an agreement was made with Egypt, whereby some of the non-medial supplies - including electrical generators and the fire engine - were unloaded and were to be transferred via the Egyptian Red Cross through border crossings under Israel's control after being checked by the Israeli occupation army.
A Hamas border official said that about 50 British and Scottish volunteers and 100 vehicles carrying food, clothing and medicine had passed through the Rafah terminal. Galloway said 300 British citizens and 200 Libyans would be entering Gaza.
After entering the Strip, Galloway called the aid "a drop in the ocean," but said the trip was to send a message that "the lifeline from Britain to Gaza is in."
He vowed that more such aid convoys would follow and that Gazans should not feel they were alone. "I have entered Palestine many times but the most emotional of these is after the 22-day genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people," he told reporters.
Receiving the activists, Ahmed Kurd, Hamas' minister of social affairs, thanked Galloway for the "noble goodwill gesture" and called the lawmaker a "hero."
European campaign: Lifeline convoy not the last
[ 10/03/2009 - 02:11 PM ]
BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza Strip has declared that the British lifeline convoy would be followed by others until the siege is totally lifted.
Dr. Arafat Madi, the head of the campaign, said in a statement in Brussels on Tuesday that the success of the convoy in reaching Gaza after passing over 8,000 kilometers was a victory for all "living consciences" in the world.
He appealed to the official European regimes to use their influence in the Middle East to deter the Israeli massacres, aggressions, oppressive policies and inhuman practices against the Palestinian people, who have lived through long years of suffering.
In the Gaza Strip, Adel Zu'rub, the spokesman of the government committee to break the siege, warned in a press release on Tuesday that humanitarian conditions in the Strip would further deteriorate if the siege persisted.
He called for more such convoys to contribute in breaking the siege, adding that the people of Gaza were facing "slow death" as a result of the siege.
Galloway: We will deliver aid to Hanneya gov't
[ 10/03/2009 - 02:11 PM ]
BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza Strip has declared that the British lifeline convoy would be followed by others until the siege is totally lifted.
Dr. Arafat Madi, the head of the campaign, said in a statement in Brussels on Tuesday that the success of the convoy in reaching Gaza after passing over 8,000 kilometers was a victory for all "living consciences" in the world.
He appealed to the official European regimes to use their influence in the Middle East to deter the Israeli massacres, aggressions, oppressive policies and inhuman practices against the Palestinian people, who have lived through long years of suffering.
In the Gaza Strip, Adel Zu'rub, the spokesman of the government committee to break the siege, warned in a press release on Tuesday that humanitarian conditions in the Strip would further deteriorate if the siege persisted.
He called for more such convoys to contribute in breaking the siege, adding that the people of Gaza were facing "slow death" as a result of the siege.
Galloway: We will deliver aid to Hanneya gov't
For his part, Respect MP George Galloway, who arrived in Gaza at the head of the lifeline convoy, told a press conference in central Gaza city on Monday that the convoy would be delivered to the legitimate Palestinian government of premier Ismail Haneyya.
He said that Haneyya is the premier of all freedom loving peoples in the world.
The British MP said that the delegates accompanying him in the convoy have collected donations from various British cities and from Arab countries they crossed en route to Gaza.
The convoy includes 280 figures, who arrived aboard 200 trucks loaded with foodstuff, medicine, medical equipment and clothes, other than 20 ambulance vehicles and a fire fighting vehicle.
The government of Haneyya welcomed the arrival of the convoy to Gaza Strip where one and a half million Palestinians are living under siege.
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