Bahar says Egypt has no excuse for continuing to close Rafah crossing

[ 10/08/2008 - 05:02 PM ]

RAFAH, (PIC)--

Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the acting PLC speaker, has appealed to Egypt to open the Rafah border terminal between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in a bid to save dozens of Palestinian patients who are facing slow death.

Bahar told a rally organized by Hamas at the terminal on Sunday that Egypt had no pretext left for retaining the terminal closed at a time patients are falling victims on daily basis.

He questioned the Arab and Islamic resolutions that called for breaking the siege on Gaza and described it as a "disaster area", regretting the passive stands of the Arab rulers and religious leaders of Al-Azhar in Cairo toward the suffering of the Gaza patients, six of whom died in a single day only recently.

The continued siege on Gaza is due to its insistence on national rights and constants and its rejection of the international quartet committee's conditions, Bahar said, stressing that the PLC would continue to insist on the Palestinian people's right of resisting occupation and restoring rights.

He also expressed surprise at Egypt's refusal to allow a delegation of the PLC to cross the terminal on a tour of a number of Arab countries to discuss a mechanism for breaking the siege, and also regretted Cairo's stand in blocking return of patients to Gaza despite the fact that they had left the Strip with Egyptian approval.

He stressed that Egypt has to allow 8,000 stranded Palestinians and patients to cross the terminal.

Many of the participants in the rally deplored the Egyptian stand and criticized Cairo for delaying a decision to open the crossing despite the elapse of one and a half month on the calm agreement that was coupled with an understanding to open the Rafah terminal.

Egyptian authorities deployed 500 soldiers at the Rafah border terminal to prevent Palestinians from crossing it by force during the rally.

Meanwhile, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that the continued closure of the crossing meant an actual involvement in besieging Gaza.

He called on Egypt not to heed foreign pressures that aim to foil the Palestinian people's dream of living in dignity and freedom.

For his part, Abdullah Al-Sinawi, the chief editor of the Egyptian paper Al-Arabi, criticized his country's continued closure of the crossing, describing it as "submission to Zio-American pressures".

He told Quds Press that the Egyptian masses demand the opening of Rafah terminal before people and goods, noting that the American-Israeli pressures on Cairo prevented it from responding to the popular demand.

Sinawi also denounced his country's support for Fatah faction, saying that it weakened efforts to end inter-Palestinian rift that is mainly between Fatah and Hamas movements.

Families of Gaza patients criticize Egypt for continuing to close Rafah crossing

[ 09/08/2008 - 05:09 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The families of Gaza patients committee strongly denounced Saturday the Egyptian government for continuing to close the Rafah border crossing, accusing it of helping the Israeli occupation in "strangling patients and increasing their suffering".

"As we bid farewell to our patients, we congratulate Egypt for the culmination of its silence with the rise of the number of siege victims to more than 233", the committee said in a press statement received by the PIC.

The committee also criticized Egypt for closing its ears to the repeated appeals for opening the Rafah crossing before Gaza patients while listening to the orders of the Israeli occupation which call for keeping the crossing closed.

Ashraf Abu Daya, the spokesman for Hamas popular action, announced that the Movement will organize Sunday a massive peaceful protest at the main gate of the Rafah crossing to urge Egypt to open it especially with the start of the world day for the opening of Rafah crossing.

In a statement received by the PIC, Abu Daya stated that the message of the Palestinian masses to the Egyptian leadership is that it is time to open the Rafah crossing because there are no justifications for continuing to close it in the light of the increasing deaths in the ranks of patients who need medical treatment outside Gaza.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.