Statement Issued On Gaza Illegal Siege

End siege of Gaza -MacLochlainn
Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry MacLochlainn today called on the Israeli government to immediately end its siege of the Gaza Strip.

His call follows an appeal by the UN and international agencies to Israel to allow urgent repairs to be carried out on the water and sewage system in Gaza .

According to these agencies more than 13 million gallons or 50 million litres of raw or partially treated sewage is flowing into the Mediterranean Sea each day because Gaza’s sewage and water treatment systems are totally inadequate following bomb damage inflicted by Israeli armed forces and the refusal of Israel to allow the necessary repairs and investment essential to service and upgrade the sewage and water systems.

Much of this pollution finds its way back onto the coast of Gaza and Israel .

Four months ago Councillor MacLochlainn visited the Middle East and spent four days in Gaza and along with elected representatives from across Europe and accompanied an aid convoy for Gaza across the Rafah border. The water and sewage system was already then at the point of collapse.

Speaking following the UN and international appeal Councillor MacLochlainn said:

“There is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza .

”In May I saw for myself the cruel consequences of the Israeli assault on Gaza last Christmas and New Year which produced enormous destruction and hardship for the people of that region.

The civilian population bore the brunt of the fatalities and in particular children and women.

Residential areas, educational and medical facilities alongside political and civil administration establishments were targeted. This included the police. Water and electricity services and roads were also targeted.

Over a three week period from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009 it is reported that
_
Over 1400 people were killed including more than 400 children and over a hundred women.
_ Casualties were in the region of 5,000 including 1,800 children and almost 800 women.

According to the UN the Israeli attack ' wrought unprecedented devastation and hardship on an already impoverished population, compounding the effects of an 18 month blockade and tight regime of closures and restrictions on movement that date back to the early 1990s. '

While I support the demand by the UN and international agencies that Israel allow urgent repairs on Gaza’s water and sewage system to proceed, the reality is that only a complete lifting of the siege by the Israeli government can significantly improve the lives of the million and a half people trapped in that area.
Ends

Israel Wakes Up in Bad Mood

Cranky, Cranky Israel, in one sweeping blow, Israel takes aim at the UN over Lebanon, and also an attack on Richard Goldstone, the man leading the investigation into the many war crimes committed by Israel.

Israel blames the UN for recent incidents involving Hezbollah. And….Israel is…. get this: “Complaining” about UN Resolution 1701 being “broken.” Oh, the irony of this is overwhelming. But isn’t it just like Israel to trumpet with rightiousness behind the Resolutions it agrees with, and ignore with deafness all those resolutions it refuses to comply with. How about Israel address the over 60 UN resolutions it has continued to break for years. Let’s start there shall we. Let’s begin with Israel meeting it’s obligation under all those resolutions it ignores. All of which pertain to much of the root cause of the existing problems between Lebanon and Palestine.

Israel says UN encouraged provocation on Lebanese border

In a letter of complaint addressed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council President Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev said recent incidents in Lebanon, including an explosion at a Hezbollah weapons cache, have verified that the Shiite group "consistently obstructs the implementation of Resolution 1701 by building new military infrastructure south of the Litani River."

Israel is also seeking a similar condemnation of two more incidents that took place over the weekend, namely the infiltration of 15 unarmed Lebanese civilians into Israel and the attack on UN peacekeepers by villagers in Bir el-Salasel.

"Such violations jeopardize the fragile stability along Israel’s northern border and stand in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1701, in particular paragraph 8 that calls for 'full respect for the Blue Line by both parties'," the letter read.

Respect the “Blue Line” Eh? What about Israel respecting the borders of Palestine, what about Israel respecting international waters surrounding Palestine and additionally Palestinian territorial waters, all of which do not belong to Israel. Yet Israel commits continued acts of Zionist Piracy without punishment. And they go on to “complain and whinge” about Goldstone entering Gaza to speak with the democratically elected Government of Gaza and it’s citizens to carry out this investigation of war crimes. Note that the Evil Rogue State refused to allow Goldstone into it’s country to investigate in an effort to hide the crimes. Can’t have Goldstone talking to any of those brave IDF soldiers who are “breaking the silence” on the genocide. So here’s their whinge about Goldstone and the War Crimes Investigation:

In a separate letter of complaint to Ban, the Israeli ambassador protested the "meetings between Richard Goldstone, head of the Human Rights Council’s 'fact finding' mission to the Gaza Strip, and ministers of the illegal Hamas terrorist government."

"I am confident that, as a member of the Quartet, you are well aware that the Hamas terrorist organization repeatedly refuses to accept the three principles outlined by the Quartet: the commitment to non-violence; the recognition of Israel; and the acceptance of previous agreements and obligations. Thus, the aforementioned meetings with Hamas leaders clearly violated the principles and policy of the Quartet," Shalev wrote.

Temper Tentrum and Mega Whinge Fest. When will Israel realise it cannot control everything and the UN can investigate war crimes where ever it wants to if that country allows the investigators inside. The fact is that the people of Gaza and their Government have cooperated with the UN investigation, Israel, on the other hand, have run away to hide behind their prison walls as usual. This was Israel's answer to Goldstone regarding the UN Investigation HERE