EFFORTS TO BREAK SIEGE OF GAZA UNCEASING DESPITE DEPORTATION OF BOAT CREW AND CONFISCATION OF AID
COMMENTARY ARCHIVES, 8 Jul 2009
Brussels / PNN – The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza said in a statement that a second convoy of aid was launched Sunday afternoon from JFK Airport in New York.
It is being led by American activist Ron Kovic, and includes British MP George Galloway and activist Kevin Aovindn along with the support of more than 46 institutions organization in America.
Speaking for the European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza, Rami Abdo expressed appreciation for the “sincere and tireless efforts” made by Galloway and his colleagues. Abdo pointed out that the end of the embargo is becoming closer than ever due to the continuation of pressure that calls for an end to the unjust siege.
International and Palestinian activists are working overtime throughout the globe. The European campaign organized a rally on Saturday in the center of Geneva, Switzerland. They were there to demand the immediate release of the humanitarian workers on the boat that was hijacked by Israeli forces on the outskirts of international waters near the Gaza Strip. Nineteen out of 21 members of the crew from the Free Gaza boat were eventually deported. The aid on board included goods and medicine unavailable in the Gaza Strip for three years due to the siege.
The campaign also organized five events on Friday in front of Israeli embassies in Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark.
The Nobel Prize winner on board, Mairead Maguire, was cuffed and handled roughly despite her old age, and was held in solitary confinement. She went on hunger strike while still in Israeli prison. A camera crew from Al Jazeera was also imprisoned.
Richard Falk, special prosecutor at the United Nations, was in the Palestinian territory following the abduction of the boat. He stated that such an action was not only part of the "Israeli blockade on the entire Palestinian population of Gaza" but was also in violation of the Charter of the Fourth Geneva Conventions, which prohibits any kind of collective punishment against "people in the occupied areas."
GO TO ORIGINAL – PALESTINIAN NEWS NETWORK
(Join the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) campaign toprotest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation ofPalestine, the apartheid wall, and its inhuman and degrading treatmentof the Palestinian people: DON’T BUY products whose BARCODE starts with 7 2 9, which indicates that it is produced in Israel. DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE! 7 2 9)
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