Asia Convoy 1: Shame on US, Israel for Gaza blockade -

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Asia Convoy 1: Shame on US, Israel for Gaza blockade -

Haneyya: Aid convoys play key role in exposing Israel

[ 04/01/2011 - 08:02 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haneyya said Tuesday during a ceremony honoring the Asia 1 convoy that relief missions to the Gaza Strip play a key role in exposing Israel's racially motivated economic blockade of the region to the world.

"The successive relief convoys must not be underestimated," the Palestinian premier said.

The Asia 1 convoy's 108 activists went on a tour of the Gaza Strip Monday morning after landing in the region Sunday night through the Rafah crossing carrying 1,000 tons of humanitarian aid.

Asia 1 chairman Feroz Mesberola said the convoy had a historical significance to Asian countries, being the largest yet. "Thousands of Asians dream of visiting the holy Palestinian land and meeting the legitimate leaders of the besieged Gaza Strip."

"The Palestinian cause has united all religious groups on the international level," said Syrian deputy mufti for his part, referring to the convoy's multi-national mult-religious crew.

The relief convoys are a bond for the Palestinians, said senior Islamic Jihad Movement official Mohammed al-Hindi. He added that the Israeli army, despite its military preparations, can no longer deter even a child in Palestine.

Asia Convoy 1: Shame on US, Israel for Gaza blockade

[ 04/01/2011 - 07:41 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Asia Convoy 1 head Feroz Mesberola said the convoy's naval vessel carrying 20 tons of humanitarian aid valued at one million dollars docked at Port El Arish, Egypt Tuesday morning in its final stop for the aid to be unloaded onto trucks that will carry it to the Gaza Strip through Rafah.

The convoy's activists earlier flew from Syria to Egypt before crossing over to the Gaza Strip through Rafah. The multi-national mission set out Monday morning on a tour of Gaza to assess the region's situation.

Reaching the Shifa hospital in Gaza in the course of the tour, Mesberola said the facility's medical staff are an elemental part of the Palestinian resistance of the Israeli occupation. Israel wants to kill Palestinians with illnesses, he said.

"You provide aid and well-being to the Palestinians despite the difficulties you suffer. We found the hospital to be very clean and advanced in its services," he went on to say.

"Shame on America and Israel for not allowing the hospital to finish some of its buildings until now. Israel fears the cement that the Palestinians build with."

"We feel it is our duty to offer aid and needed medicines to the hospital, so we are preparing Convoy Asia 2, which we hope will arrive June this year."

Ebraman Abdurrahman, heading the convoy's Indonesian delegation, announced that the Indonesian government will erect a hospital in the Beit Lahia district, a project that was kicked off in 2008 in northern Gaza in cooperation with the health ministry.

Gaza hospital authority director Madhat Moheisan expressed his gratitude to the convoy for coordinating with hospital regarding the required medical supplies. The convoy equipped the health facility with 30 solar-powered back-up generators.

River to Sea