Vivia Palestina Malaysia heads for Gaza

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161514.html


Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has launched an aid convoy to the besieged Gaza Strip, in the latest international effort to help the Palestinian nation.

The Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) was officially launched on Saturday from the country's federal capital Kuala Lumpur, Press TV correspondent said.

Speaking at the launch, Dr. Mahathir slammed the US and Britain for their continuous support for Israel, stating that they allowed for the gross human rights violations against the Palestinians.

“Without the support of the United States and Great Britain these things would have ended long ago,” the former prime minister said.

He also accused the two countries of creating the Middle East crisis by “taking the land of Palestinians in order to give to the Zionists.”

During the ceremony, Lauren Booth, a journalist, human rights activist and sister-in-law to former British prime minister Tony Blair, also described the situation in Gaza as a “colossal humanitarian crisis” and the place as “the largest concentration camp in the world today.”

Besides delivering aid, VPM, which is a coalition of Malaysian non-governmental organizations, aims to come up with a just, equitable, prompt and sustainable resolution to the conflict in Palestine.

The group also plans to make employment opportunities available for Palestinian woman, provide them with soft loans and create small integrated animal husbandry, an agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.

Last month, VPM participated in the delivery of 300 tons of medical and food supplies to the people of Gaza, as part of Asia's first Gaza-bound aid convoy.

Tel Aviv laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after the democratically-elected government of Hamas took control of the coastal sliver.

The three-year-long illegal Israeli-imposed blockade has plunged 1.5 million people into poverty.

With unemployment standing at around 40 percent, now, more than two thirds of Gazans rely on food aid by the United Nations and charity organizations.

To make matters worse, at the turn of 2009, the Israeli military launched a deadly assault on Gaza, killing at least 1,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Since then, Israel has only allowed a trickle of food, medicine and fuel into the strip.

 

Egypt allows Iranian aid to reach Gaza

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158999.html


Egypt has opened its border with Gaza to humanitarian aid and relief, allowing medical supplies from Iran to be delivered to the besieged enclave through the Rafah border crossing.

The Iranian medical supplies are part of an Asian aid convoy, dubbed Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan, or Asia 1, which is carrying an estimated one million dollars worth of medicine, foodstuffs and toys as well as four buses and 10 power generators for hospitals.

Earlier this week, Egyptian authorities had denied entrance to a number of Iranian activists and refused to allow 10 generators donated by the Islamic Republic to pass through the Rafah border crossing.

The relief supplies have been unloaded from a ship organized by the convoy, which has docked at the Egyptian port of El Arish.

The Asian convoy consists of activists from more than 15 countries, including Iran, India, Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Kuwait.

The convoy had travelled 7,000 kilometers, but was stuck in Latikia, in the northwest of Syria, for more than a week awaiting Egypt's permission.

It started its journey in the Indian capital, New Delhi. It had passed through Iran, Turkey, Lebanon and Syria to reach Egypt and finally the Gaza Strip.

The convoy was scheduled to reach Gaza by December 27, the second anniversary of Israel's 22-day war on the impoverished enclave that started on December 28, 2008.

Tel Aviv has been enforcing an all-out land, aerial and naval blockade on the 1.5 million Palestinians in the enclave since mid-June 2007.

The illegal Israeli-imposed blockade has created dire humanitarian and economic situation in the enclave as the United Nations expresses concern that over 80 percent of people of Gaza depend on relief supplies for their survival.

On May 31, Israel's military killed nine Turkish activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla, an Ankara-backed humanitarian convoy, which was carrying humanitarian supplies to the Palestinians.

Egypt allows 4 aid trucks into Gaza

Syrians and Palestinians welcome the "Asia 1" convoy as they arrive in Syria, December 20, 2010

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158882.html


Egypt has reportedly allowed four aid trucks carrying medicines for impoverished Palestinians to enter the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to a Press TV correspondent in the region, 10 more trucks are expected to be allowed entry in the area by Sunday.

The medicine convoy is part of an Asian aid convoy dubbed “Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan or Asia 1” which carries a one-million-dollar worth of relief items, including medicine, food and toys for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The aid convoy, which has been organized by Asian activists who come from 18 different nationalities, was unloaded from a ship docked at the Egyptian port of el-Arish.

Cairo had initially refused to allow the full delivery of the convoy through the Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip, asking for money to let the cargo enter Gaza.

The convoy has traveled through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Lebanon. It was forced to remain in Syria for a week, awaiting Cairo's authorization to dock at its northeastern port of el-Arish.

The activists, who managed to cross into the Gaza Strip on January 3, say they will stay in the Palestinian territory until they make sure that the aid convoy enters Gaza and the relief supplies are delivered to the Palestinians.

The activists say they seek to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian people in their resistance against the Israeli regime.

Gaza has been under a full land, aerial and naval Israeli blockade since 2007, when Hamas, the democratically elected administrator of Gaza, took control of the enclave.

Egypt blocks ship carrying aid to Gaza

Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan activists (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158521.html


Egyptian authorities have prevented an Asian convoy's ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists from reaching the Gaza Strip.

The ship has not allowed to dock at the Egyptian port of El Arish.

The vessel, which is part of a sizeable pro-Palestinian relief mission, is said to be carrying eight activists as well as $1 million worth of relief supplies for the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip.

"Egypt still didn't allow the aid ship to dock. It is 50 hours,” dpa quoted the activists as saying on Monday, noting that they are in a “bad situation."

The convoy, which in its full size is also known as Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan or Asia 1, is joined by activists of 18 different nationalities.

It has traveled through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Lebanon. It was forced to remain in Syria for a week, awaiting Cairo's authorization to dock at its northeastern port of El Arish.

The activists say they want to display solidarity with the Palestinian people in their resistance against Israel.

Tel Aviv has been enforcing an all-out land, aerial and naval blockade on the 1.5 million Palestinians in the enclave since mid-June 2007.

Palestinians have frequently accused Cairo of collaborating with Tel Aviv to increase pressure on Gaza by refusing to allow aid convoys to reach the region.

Last January, the Egyptian riot police injured 55 people in the port during clashes with the activists of the high-profile Viva Palestina convoy -- a mission, which had been organized by a UK-based charity of the same name.

Following the tension, Cairo accused the members of the mission of committing “criminal” acts in the country and banned all Gaza-headed relief convoys from using its territory.

Meanwhile, a group of Iranian students gathered in front of the representative office of Egypt in Tehran on Monday in order to protest Cairo's continued policy of preventing humanitarian convoys from reaching the besieged coastal sliver.

They also called on the Egyptian government to cooperate with the Asian aid convoy and provide free passage into Gaza for the aid activists.

Asian aid convoy reaches Gaza Strip

Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158381.html

An aid convoy carrying food and medical supplies for the besieged Palestinians, as part of an Asian aid mission, has arrived in the Gaza Strip.

The Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan, (Asia 1) entered the coastal strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Monday.

Some 105 human rights activists gathered at the crossing. Most of them flew to Egypt from Syria. And eight activists arrived at the Egyptian port of El Arish onboard a ship.

Egyptian authorities had prevented Iranian activists with the convoy from entering Egypt.

The convoy had travelled 7,000 kilometers, but was stuck in Latikia, in the northwest of Syria, for more than a week awaiting Egypt's permission.

The aid convoy started its journey in the Indian capital, New Delhi. It had passed through Iran, Turkey, Lebanon and Syria to reach Egypt and finally the Gaza Strip.

The activists say they want to display solidarity with the Palestinian people in their resistance against Israel.

Tel Aviv has been enforcing an all-out land, aerial and naval blockade on the 1.5 million Palestinians in the enclave since mid-June 2007.

The embargo persists while Gaza is far from recovering from the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli war that claimed the lives of over 1,400 Palestinians, inflicting a damage of above $1.6 billion on the enclave's economy.