Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:31:17 GMT
British Lawmaker George Galloway has appealed to Cairo to allow the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy he is accompanying to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The call comes as activists on Viva Palestina faced problems as the convoy was making its way to the Jordanian capital, Amman.
The aid shipment, which originally departed from London on December 3 with the aim of breaking the months-long Israeli siege on Gaza, was prevented by Jordanian police from entering Amman, where it was scheduled to hold rallies.
Instead, dozens of the convoy's vehicles formed a rolling road block on the main highway to the city and shut down traffic in a move the organizers called a peaceful protest.
After an hour of grid blocked traffic, the police had to back off and promise to allow the pro-Gazan team into the capital city amid unexpected gestures of support from Jordanian drivers stuck in the traffic jam.
In Amman, the founder of Viva Palestina George Galloway thanked Jordanian authorities for finally facilitating the convoy's entry into Amman and appealed to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to also open the way for Viva Palestina.
"I ask him on behalf of our convoy, on behalf of all the people around the world, whose hearts are bleeding, whose eyes are weeping for Palestine to please open your gates for us and allow us to proceed through the gates of Rafah to besieged Palestine," he urged.
The convoy is scheduled to spend two days in Jordan before moving to the Red Sea port of Aqaba where it hopes to take a ferry into Egypt, hopefully, crossing into Gaza.
If nothing intercedes, Viva Palestina is to cross into Gaza on December 27 to mark the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive against the blockaded enclave, but this will not happen if authorities in Cairo refuse to allow the convoy ashore.
Lifeline 3, the third international convoy headed to Gaza under the name Viva Palestina, comprises 210 trucks laden with basic food items and medical supplies
450 activists, including 30 Americans, 150 Turks and a number of Europeans are accompanying the convoy.
MRS/MMA
Egypt Refuses Entry to Gaza Convoy through Red Sea Port
Readers Number : 60
24/12/2009 A Gaza-bound aid convoy in Jordan led by British MP George Galloway will not be allowed into Egypt through the Red Sea port of Nuweiba - the most direct route - Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman said.
There will be "no entry from Nuweiba. Entry can only be through El-Arish," on the Mediterranean coast, Hossam Zaki told AFP.
Around 250 trucks laden with European, Turkish and Arab aid - both food and medical supplies- arrived in Jordan from Syria on Wednesday and were headed to the Red Sea port of Aqaba for the ferry journey across to the Egyptian Sinai port of Nuweiba.
Entering through El-Arish port would mean going around the Sinai Peninsula and through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said: "The Egyptian government welcomes the passage of the convoy into the Gaza Strip on December 27, on condition that it abides by the mechanisms in place for humanitarian aid convoys to the Palestinian people, including most importantly the entry of convoys through the port of El-Arish."
Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza is the only access point into the Palestinian territory that bypasses the occupied territories.
British MP George Galloway, who is leading the convoy, had issued a statement urging Egypt to facilitate the convoy's passage.
In March, Galloway handed over thousands of dollars and dozens of vehicles to the Hamas-run government in Gaza after arriving in an aid convoy.
Israel and Egypt have severely restricted travel to and from the Gaza Strip since June 2007.
(AFP)
The call comes as activists on Viva Palestina faced problems as the convoy was making its way to the Jordanian capital, Amman.
The aid shipment, which originally departed from London on December 3 with the aim of breaking the months-long Israeli siege on Gaza, was prevented by Jordanian police from entering Amman, where it was scheduled to hold rallies.
Instead, dozens of the convoy's vehicles formed a rolling road block on the main highway to the city and shut down traffic in a move the organizers called a peaceful protest.
After an hour of grid blocked traffic, the police had to back off and promise to allow the pro-Gazan team into the capital city amid unexpected gestures of support from Jordanian drivers stuck in the traffic jam.
In Amman, the founder of Viva Palestina George Galloway thanked Jordanian authorities for finally facilitating the convoy's entry into Amman and appealed to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to also open the way for Viva Palestina.
"I ask him on behalf of our convoy, on behalf of all the people around the world, whose hearts are bleeding, whose eyes are weeping for Palestine to please open your gates for us and allow us to proceed through the gates of Rafah to besieged Palestine," he urged.
The convoy is scheduled to spend two days in Jordan before moving to the Red Sea port of Aqaba where it hopes to take a ferry into Egypt, hopefully, crossing into Gaza.
If nothing intercedes, Viva Palestina is to cross into Gaza on December 27 to mark the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive against the blockaded enclave, but this will not happen if authorities in Cairo refuse to allow the convoy ashore.
Lifeline 3, the third international convoy headed to Gaza under the name Viva Palestina, comprises 210 trucks laden with basic food items and medical supplies
450 activists, including 30 Americans, 150 Turks and a number of Europeans are accompanying the convoy.
MRS/MMA
Egypt Refuses Entry to Gaza Convoy through Red Sea Port
Readers Number : 60
24/12/2009 A Gaza-bound aid convoy in Jordan led by British MP George Galloway will not be allowed into Egypt through the Red Sea port of Nuweiba - the most direct route - Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman said.
There will be "no entry from Nuweiba. Entry can only be through El-Arish," on the Mediterranean coast, Hossam Zaki told AFP.
Around 250 trucks laden with European, Turkish and Arab aid - both food and medical supplies- arrived in Jordan from Syria on Wednesday and were headed to the Red Sea port of Aqaba for the ferry journey across to the Egyptian Sinai port of Nuweiba.
Entering through El-Arish port would mean going around the Sinai Peninsula and through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said: "The Egyptian government welcomes the passage of the convoy into the Gaza Strip on December 27, on condition that it abides by the mechanisms in place for humanitarian aid convoys to the Palestinian people, including most importantly the entry of convoys through the port of El-Arish."
Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza is the only access point into the Palestinian territory that bypasses the occupied territories.
British MP George Galloway, who is leading the convoy, had issued a statement urging Egypt to facilitate the convoy's passage.
In March, Galloway handed over thousands of dollars and dozens of vehicles to the Hamas-run government in Gaza after arriving in an aid convoy.
Israel and Egypt have severely restricted travel to and from the Gaza Strip since June 2007.
(AFP)
Uprooted Palestinian
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