Monday, December 28, 2009

‘Fighting to break the Gaza siege’

Al Jazeera, Dec 28, 2009




The aid convoy is destined for Gaza, which is under an Israeli blockade [FILE: GALLO/GETTY]


George Galloway, a UK politician who is leading the convoy, tells Al Jazeera why the group must be allowed to proceed:
It was Christmas Day but there was no room at the Inn for the weary travellers.

Turned away by the Arab Republic of Egypt, the 500 members of the Viva Palestina Convoy to Gaza spent Christmas in a car park in Aqaba.

The last time so many Turks, Arabs and British were together in this town they were fighting the first World War against each other.

Now, they are fighting to break through the siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza.

In video
Gaza aid held up in Jordan

There will be time enough afterwards to review everyone’s role in the sorry Christmas story but for now I am appealing to anyone and everyone to help us reach Gaza.Our medicines are in a race against the time of their expiry date and are spoiling in the desert sun, whilst people in Gaza die for the want of them.

The government of Turkey and the respected Premier [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan are trying their best, as is the former prime minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as well as the wife of the current prime minister in Kuala Lumpur.

I have written to Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan asking her to contact Madame Susan Mubarak who as well as being first lady of Egypt is the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent, to see if it is testosterone that’s the problem.

The facts are these: more than 200 trucks and 500 people from 17 different countries gave up their Christmas holidays to try to help one and a half million Arabs and Muslims in Gaza.

We are four hours away, across the Red Sea from approaching Rafah.

An Arab government will not allow us. The question is: What are 300 million Arabs going to do about this continued slow, quiet massacre of their brothers behind the wire?

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