Protests to be held on Saturday in 30 countries against the siege of Gaza

22 February, 2008

GAZA, (PIC) Lawmaker Jamal al-Khudari, President of the Popular Committee Against Siege (PCAS) said that Saturday will be an International day of protest against the oppressive siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Khudari said in a press conference he held at the Ramattan news agency on Friday that protests will be held on Saturday in 70 cities in 30 different countries around the world to show solidarity with the people of Gaza "who are living extremely harsh conditions, getting worse by the day [as a result of the siege which] constitutes collective punishment and genocide."

He added that some people may think that the siege was broken by the brief breach of the Gaza-Egypt border, but this is wrong and the fact is that the siege continues and it is getting even harsher and effecting everyone and everything.

He also said that PCAS sent letters to all countries, and all levels, formal and popular to rally support for its campaign.

Khudari also welcomed the call by the European Parliament for ending the siege of Gaza and called upon the European Union and the International Community to take binding decisions in this regard.

Khudari said the day will be marked in the Gaza Strip by a general strike, laying a foundation stone for a monument to the victims of the siege and a march to the United Nations Office were a letter will be handed to the UN representative.

Protests will be held in many European capitals and cities according to Amin Abu Rashed, the President of the European Committee Against the Siege, who told PIC that his committee coordinated with PCAS to make Saturday 23 February 2008 a day of solidarity with the people in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas Welcomes European Parliament initiative to end Gaza Siege

22 February 2008

Gaza – Ma'an - Hamas on Friday welcomed a European Parliament initiative to end Israel's crippling blockade on the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip, most of whom are dependent on aid.

Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri said he welcomed the resolution, adding that Hamas is ready to study any initiative that will contribute to stopping Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.

Abu Zuhri told Ma'an that the main problem lies in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, along with the siege imposed on the people of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing Israeli attacks on the sector.

'We in Hamas appreciate the call by the European Union to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and their invitation to the Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas for the resumption of dialogue with the Hamas movement,' he said.

On Thursday European Parliament members voted for the resolution, saying 'the policy of isolation of the Gaza Strip has failed at both the political and humanitarian level.'

The MEPs also called for a halt to Israeli military actions that kill or endanger Palestinian civilians, as well as an end to extrajudicial targeted killings.

Israel closed the vital border crossings into the Strip, restricting supplies, after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Since January Israel has been reducing fuel and electricity supplies, pushing the impoverished coastal sector to the brink of a humanitarian disaster. Israel says this is a legitimate response to rocket fire by Palestinian resistance factions into Israeli border towns."

Campaign seeks to block anti-Israel seminar in Brussels

12 August 2007

By Barak Ravid

Israel is about to launch a public campaign to call off an anti-Israeli seminar scheduled to take place at the European Parliament in Brussels later this month, Foreign Ministry sources told Haaretz. The ministry is enlisting the support of parliament members and Zionist leaders in Europe.

The seminar is being organized by the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, established in 1975. Since Jerusalem learned of the seminar two weeks ago, diplomats have been trying to persuade the European Parliament to ban the event, which Israeli sources described as geared toward "passing unilateral condemnations against Israel."

Government sources said they intend to launch a public campaign to win the support of pro-Israeli European organizations. The seminar is expected to deal with subjects such as human rights in the West bank and the Israeli response to demonstrations against the separation fence. The event will include a workshop on "increasing the resistance to the Israeli occupation."

'Under guise of promoting peace'

One government source in Jerusalem said the event was being "conducted under the guise of promoting the peace process, but in fact, under this banner we are seeing organizations that promote anti-Israel boycotts and are working to defame Israel."

After sources in the Israeli Foreign Ministry contacted the European Parliament to request clarification about the seminar, scheduled to begin on August 30, they were told the parliament "was not sponsoring the event, but merely making its facilities available for the participants."

The explanations failed to impress Jerusalem because the seminar is supported by many European Parliament members, some of whom plan to attend and take part. Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik asked her counterpart at the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pottering, to reconsider the plan to allow the seminar to take place at the parliament seat in the Espace Leopold complex in Brussels.

In her letter to Pottering, Itzik said that by allowing the seminar to take place, the European Parliament would be legitimizing an anti-Israeli organization. Foreign Ministry sources said they had not yet received a response from Pottering.