US chain store boycotts Israeli goods

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=135574§ionid=3510203


An American chain store has boycotted sales of Israeli products to protest at the policies of the Tel Aviv's regime against Palestinians.

The board of directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Washington decided last week that no more Israeli goods will be sold at its two grocery stores in the city.

"We met last Thursday for the board members meeting and a pretty large group - about 40 people - presented the boycott project and answered our questions," board member Rob Richards told Ha'aretz on Tuesday.

"A couple of board members were concerned about what will be the financial effect on the organization, but it's minimal," he added.

Richards also said that two members on the board were from the Jewish community who supported the boycott.

The co-op grocery stores carried Israeli products including ice cream, crackers and a line of baby wipes.

Olympia is the hometown of Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist who was run over and killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 as she attempted to prevent a Palestinian home from being demolished.

Syria, Turkey join calls for free Gaza

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) walks with Lebanese
Prime Minister Saad Hariri (R) and Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu after a meeting in Damascus July 19, 2010


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=135506§ionid=351020206


Syria and Turkey have called for further action to end Israel's siege of Gaza and examine its deadly attack on a civilian aid convoy bound for the blockaded territory.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu issued a joint statement on Monday, urging greater international pressure on Tel Aviv to remove its crippling blockade of the populated Gaza Strip, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The call comes while years of Israeli movement restrictions have left half of the 1.5 million Palestinians residing in the Gaza Strip depending on food aid handouts.

Following a meeting in Damascus which also included Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the Syrian and Turkish officials also emphasized the importance of reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions and condemned foreign interventions in the internal affairs of the regional states.

They also called for "additional, reinforced efforts" for an international and independent inquiry into Israel's May 31 attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla which killed nine Turkish nationals and wounded some 50 others on the civilian aid fleet as it was in international waters.

Despite a widespread outrage across the globe and repeated condemnations from the international community, Israel — backed by the United States — has managed to resist calls for an international investigation into the deadly attack.

Assad and Davutoglu further blamed the Israeli regime's policies for the stalled peace talks in the Middle East region.

Earlier, Assad called Ankara "Syria's greatest hope" as a mediator in peace talks with Israel, saying that "other countries can play only a supportive role, not an alternative one."

Turkey mediated four rounds of indirect talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv in 2008 over an ongoing dispute resulting form the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967. But the negotiations ran aground after Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip which killed over 1,400 Palestinians in the region.

The chances of peace are widely viewed as growing slim as tensions grow between Turkey and Israel over the latter's Flotilla attack, what Ankara calls "a terrorist act" but Israeli officials defend as an "act of self-defense."

EU top diplomat arrives in Gaza

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=135234§ionid=351020202


The European Union's foreign policy chief has arrived in Gaza in an attempt to put pressure on Israel to lift its three-year blockade of the coastal enclave.

Catherine Ashton arrived in Gaza on Sunday morning.

During her visit to the occupied West Bank town of Ramallah on Saturday, the EU's top diplomat said that the European Union states want to see the potential for the people of Gaza to lead an ordinary life.

Ashton further added that the Gaza crossings need to be opened to allow both people and goods to move freely.

She is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman late Sunday.

Since 2007, Israel has put a crippling blockade on the 1.5 million people of Gaza, who are in dire need of basic humanitarian supplies.

Tel Aviv has repeatedly dismissed calls by the international community to lift the Gaza siege.