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www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-31 20:27:03
Int'l activists protest against blockade on Gaza EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis together with foreign activists demonstrated on Thursday against a tight Israeli blockade which has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than three years. Palestinian demonstrators from Gaza and 86 foreign activists as well as Israeli Arab demonstrators rallied at both sides of Erez crossing on the borders between northern Gaza Strip and Israel against the blockade. Deposed Prime Minister of Hamas government in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haneya told Arab Israelis that they strengthened the steadfastness of the Gaza residents in their stance against Israel. "We succeeded in overcoming the occupation's plans. We are certain we will meet at the al-Aqsa mosque and that Jerusalem will continue being Arab and Islamic," Haneya told the protestors. The foreign activists arrived in Gaza on Wednesday night from Egypt though Rafah border crossing, the only entry that bypasses Israel. Several anti-Zionism Jews also joined the protest at the Gaza Strip side. One of the Jews, who comes from the United States, told the demonstrators that "I pray to God that the state of Israel vanishes because it was established on a territory that never belonged to it." He said on behalf of the Jews "I apologize to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip for the crimes, which were committed in Gaza during the last war," describing the state of Israel as "the evil Satan." "We the Jewish people don't want a Jewish state to be established on the land of Palestine. The land of Palestine is for the Palestinians and not for the gang of this Zionist group," said the Jewish demonstrator. Hundreds of demonstrators, who gathered near the northern Gaza Strip town of Biet Hanoun, chanted slogans against Israel and called for an end to more than three years of the tight siege on the impoverished enclave. Yousef Barakat, an American-Palestinian, said he left the Palestinian territory in 1948 when he was 12 years old, adding that he is now 62 years old. "I can never forget Palestine, and this state (Israel) is a fascist state," he said. Jamal al-Khodari, chief of the Popular Committee to Challenge Gaza blockade, called for an immediate end to the blockade and reopening all the crossing points either between Gaza and Israel or between Gaza and Egypt. Israel and Egypt have sealed the Gaza Strip off from all but vital humanitarian aid since Hamas ousted Fatah-dominated Palestinian security forces and seized power in the coastal enclave in June 2007. Spokesman for the deposed Hamas government in Gaza told reporters during the protest that the Palestinian people "will keep trying to sue the Israeli criminals of wars at the international courts." On Thursday, Egypt allowed the entrance of 86 foreign activists, out of 1,500 foreigners, into the impoverished Gaza Strip ruled by Islamic Hamas movement, Palestinian officials said. Hamdi Shaath, head of the committee to challenge the Israeli blockade, told reporters that the 86 foreign activists crossed into the Gaza Strip late on Wednesday night through Rafah border crossing between Gaza Strip and Egypt. He also said the 86 foreign activists are mainly American, British, French and Japanese, adding that they are only part of 1,500 foreign activists, who are still stranded in Cairo and trying to reach the Gaza Strip through Rafah border crossing. "The foreign activists are coming from 43 countries, and they include 700 Americans, 300 French as well as Jewish activists. They have been waiting in Cairo for one week, and Egypt has just let 86 of them to cross," said Shaath. The 1,500 foreign activists were planning to march from Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip against the Israeli blockade and to mark the first anniversary of the 22-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip that ended on Jan. 18. "The 86 activists will stay in Gaza for several days, hoping that Egypt would let the rest of the activists to cross within the coming two days into Gaza," said Shaath. The foreign activists will visit northern and eastern Gaza Strip which was destroyed during the Israeli war on Gaza. They will also visit hospitals and meet with senior Hamas leaders. On Dec. 27, 2008, Israel launched a massive military offensive on Gaza which the Jewish state claimed was aimed to halt Gaza rocket and mortar attacks. Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the war.
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