Galloway slams Arabs over abandoning Gaza

Local Editor, 23-12-2009



British Member of Parliament George Galloway has poured strong criticism at Arabs over their inaction and failure to play a role in organizing aid convoys to the besieged Gaza Strip.

"It is a shame that this convoy Lifeline 3 is coming from Europe and not from the Arab countries," Galloway told reporters upon his arrival at Damascus International Airport.

He said that Lifeline 3 charity convoy is a message of solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip on the first anniversary of the "Israeli" onslaught against the coastal enclave.

In 5 days, coinciding with "Israel's" three-week offensive against Gaza that took place in December 2008 and January 2009 leaving more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, more than half of them civilians, according to medical sources, Lifeline 3 is to arrive in Gaza -on December 27- through the Rafah border crossing to break the ongoing "Israeli" blockade imposed on the impoverished Strip.
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The "Israeli" assault also led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses , infrastructure, as well as UN compounds, inflicting $ 1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy.

The British anti-war activist added that the third Viva Palestina convoy is aimed to direct the world's attention to "Israeli" war criminals who committed the dreadful crimes in Gaza as well as against the courageous Palestinian resistance. He voiced hope that the Egyptian authorities would secure the arrival of the convoy without impediment.

Galloway meanwhile expressed his deep gratitude to Syrian authorities for the contribution they made to facilitate the entry of the Lifeline 3 convoy organized by the UK-based Viva Palestina movement.
The third international convoy to Gaza departed from London on December 5, 2009. The convoy is made up of volunteers from Britain, Ireland, Belgium and Malaysia, who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in their local communities to pay for ambulances, minibuses, vans and to fill them with medical and other aid that is desperately needed in Gaza.