Egypt rejects Algerian aid into Gaza

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=130065§ionid=351020202



Egyptian authorities have refused to allow an Algerian humanitarian aid convoy to enter into the Gaza Strip which has been under a crippling three-year Israeli blockade.

The ship, carrying seven tons of medicine and two tons of powder milk, docked in Egypt's Al-Arish sea port on Friday.

Fifteen people onboard the ship including Algerian lawmakers, businessmen and peace activists were seeking to break the Gaza siege by organizing the convoy.

Algerian daily Al-Khabar said that the convoy was prevented from entering Gaza despite a primary agreement singed between the Algerian Foreign Ministry and Egypt in this regard.

The daily added that the Egyptian officials only allowed three Algerian lawmakers to visit Gaza though the Rafah border crossing for a few hours.

The move came two weeks after the Israeli military attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing at least 20 peace activists including nine Turkish citizens on board the M.V. Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other people who were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza after the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, won parliamentary elections in June 2007.

Some 1.5 million people in the coastal strip are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent respectively in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt has joined Israel in imposing a three-year-long blockade on Gaza, sealing its borders with the strip and effectively cutting off all links to the coastal sliver.

Israel to cut off Freedom Flotilla

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127198§ionid=351020202


Israel is planning to thwart an attempt by the Freedom Flotilla seeking to break the siege of the Gaza Strip and to deliver humanitarian aid to Gazans.

Israelis will dispatch two boats to coastal areas around Gaza on Saturday in order to prevent a convoy of three freighters and five passenger ships with some 600 peace activists from attempting to break the siege of Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an (MNA) reported.

"The [Israeli] fleet will go to confuse those who are coming to confuse Israel," the report added, citing Israeli sources on Thursday.

The Israelis have decided to receive the humanitarian convoy with anti-Palestinian slogans and banners.

Meanwhile, Israel's navy is also reportedly set to declare a no-go military zone to stop the fleet from dropping anchor.

All the boats are due to cast anchor at Gaza city's docks on 27 May, a Palestinian official said earlier.

The Freedom Flotilla convoy carries 5,000 tons of construction material, medical equipment, and school supplies, as well as around 600 people from 40 countries.

The siege of Gaza has deprived 1.5 million Palestinians of fuel, food, and other basic necessities.

Gaza Aid Convoy Awaits Egypt Nod

By: Lawrence Smallman
Source: Al Jazeera

An aid convoy that has traveled over 3500 km to deliver vital medical and food supplies to the Gaza Strip is currently stranded because of Egypt's refusal to grant it easy passage.

The Viva Palestina convoy, made up of almost 250 lorries, remained in the Jordanian port of Aqaba on Saturday, having waited over 48 hours to board ferries for the Egyptian Red Sea port of Nuweiba.

But Egypt has so far insisted that the aid be delivered through its Mediterranean port of El-Arish, a much longer journey that would require the convoy to go around the Sinai peninsula and through the Suez Canal.

George Galloway, a British politician leading the convoy, on Saturday appealed to Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, to allow the lorries through before medical and food supplies were ruined by the heat.

"Please President Mubarak - let us resolve this matter. We can only sail through Nuweiba. We are only four hours away from Gaza," Galloway told Al Jazeera.
"We have this aid, and the people of Gaza need it on the anniversary on the 27th December - a year after Israel's 22-day bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory.

"All fingers should be pointing at Israel, not getting confused and pointing at Egypt", Galloway said.

Infiltration Worry

But Maged Botros, a member of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, told Al Jazeera that the government in Cairo has every right to specify the port by which Viva Palestina enters its territory.

"We are talking about 250 trucks passing along this critical territory [the Israeli-Egyptian border] - it is technically so difficult to allow.

"There are good reasons not to allow them through Nuweiba ... these trucks might create a big infiltration problem for Egyptian security forces", he said.
But convoy members told Al Jazeera that traveling through the Suez was not a viable option, as passengers are not allowed to go with cargo ships and that the port of El-Arish is too shallow to take the size of ship needed to transport the aid.

Anniversary Deadline

Zuber Hatia, who has driven thousands of kilometers from the British city of Portsmouth, said there was a symbolic reason why Viva Palestina cannot make the extra long journey to El-Arish.

"We are only a four hour ferry ride and a four hour drive from Gaza - we have to be there by 11:35am on 27th December - the first anniversary of Israel's war on Gaza", Hatia said.

"So though we have all the cargo manifests, we have to just sit, wait and hope. Unfortunately, the Egyptians I have spoken to say this is a 'political aid convoy' rather than a humanitarian aid convoy - and that makes all the difference," Hatia said.

"And though the Jordanians are being very kind to us while we wait, the fact is our trucks are impounded in a car park 30km from the port with tones of medicines spoiling in this Middle Eastern heat.

"Please Mubarak, let our people go!", Hatia said.

Galloway Raps Egypt for Stopping Gaza Aid Convoy

Source: PressTV

British Lawmaker George Galloway has criticized Egypt over denying the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy to enter the Gaza Strip.

The humanitarian convoy to the Gaza Strip has become stuck in Jordan as Egypt is reportedly denying the convoy's passage through its territory.

"It's a strange Christmas for us. We are stuck in Aqaba. 500 people, 210 vehicles, hundreds of tons of aid which is desperately needed in Gaza," Galloway said in an interview with Press TV on Friday.

"Our Jordanian friends are doing their best to keep us warm and to feed us," he added.

The British anti-war activist also called it a very complex situation.

"It's a very complex situation. We have on the Turkish level quite a diplomatic activity going on, because the Turkish prime minister personally appeared on live television in Damascus three days ago and asked the Egyptian government to facilitate this convoy; so this is a slap in the face, you can say, to the Turkish government," he further explained.

"We don't yet know exactly what tactics we will follow. That would depend on the diplomatic situation, but one thing we are not going to do is run away. We came all this way to Aqaba."

"We are very sad not yet angry, but we will get angry if the days go by," he noted.

The humanitarian convoy arrived in Jordan on Tuesday and was expected to leave via sea to Egypt.

The convoy left London almost two weeks ago with 80 vehicles. Its size grew with the addition of dozens of vehicles from Turkish charities.

Galloway earlier appealed to Egyptian authorities to facilitate the convoy's passage through its territory. The convoy aims to break Israel's crippling blockade on Gaza.

Lifeline 3, the third international convoy headed to Gaza under the name Viva Palestina, comprises 210 trucks laden with basic food items and medical supplies. 450 activists, including 30 Americans, 150 Turks and a number of Europeans are accompanying the convoy.

The already impoverished Gaza Strip has been under a complete Israeli siege, with full cooperation of Egypt, ever since the Hamas resistance movement, which does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, won parliamentary elections in a surprise victory in 2007.

Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009 which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, including a large number of civilians, deteriorated the already dire situation.

The Israeli assault led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $ 1.6 billion damage on the Gazan economy.

Galloway to Cairo: Open Gates for Viva Palestina

Source: PressTV

British Lawmaker George Galloway has appealed to Cairo to allow the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy he is accompanying to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The call comes as activists on Viva Palestina faced problems as the convoy was making its way to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The aid shipment, which originally departed from London on December 3 with the aim of breaking the months-long Israeli siege on Gaza, was prevented by Jordanian police from entering Amman, where it was scheduled to hold rallies.

Instead, dozens of the convoy's vehicles formed a rolling road block on the main highway to the city and shut down traffic in a move the organizers called a peaceful protest.

After an hour of grid blocked traffic, the police had to back off and promise to allow the pro-Gazan team into the capital city amid unexpected gestures of support from Jordanian drivers stuck in the traffic jam.

In Amman, the founder of Viva Palestina George Galloway thanked Jordanian authorities for finally facilitating the convoy's entry into Amman and appealed to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to also open the way for Viva Palestina.

"I ask him on behalf of our convoy, on behalf of all the people around the world, whose hearts are bleeding, whose eyes are weeping for Palestine to please open your gates for us and allow us to proceed through the gates of Rafah to besieged Palestine," he urged.

The convoy is scheduled to spend two days in Jordan before moving to the Red Sea port of Aqaba where it hopes to take a ferry into Egypt, hopefully, crossing into Gaza.

If nothing intercedes, Viva Palestina is to cross into Gaza on December 27 to mark the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive against the blockaded enclave, but this will not happen if authorities in Cairo refuse to allow the convoy ashore.

Lifeline 3, the third international convoy headed to Gaza under the name Viva Palestina, comprises 210 trucks laden with basic food items and medical supplies

450 activists, including 30 Americans, 150 Turks and a number of Europeans are accompanying the convoy.