Israel Palästina
Nahost Konflikt Infos
PRESS RELEASE
BY
LUISA
MORGANTINI
Vice
President of the European Parliament
THE ISRAELI SIEGE ON GAZA KILLS PALESTINIAN PRESENT AND FUTURE
NO MORE
SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS IN GAZA
Rome, 30th May
2008
"The Israeli siege on Gaza continue to punish
collectively and illegally civil population, killing them together with their
hopes of a dignified life and of a better future: of course rocket launched
from Gaza to Sderot are illegal and criminal and must
be immediately stopped because they hit Israeli civilians, but the fault of
some Palestinian extremists groups cannot be paid as reprisal by one million
and a half of non-culpable people.
Today, more examples of collective punishment against
Palestinian civilians took place.
Special Israeli Forces raided Khaza'a
area, east of Khan Younis, and killed Yosra Qzeih Abu Roq, a 70 years-old woman. Amnesty International in its
latest report announced that since the beginning of 2008, "frequent air
strikes and other attacks by Israeli forces killed more than 370 Palestinians,
including some 50 children, and injured thousands more."
Also today, the U.S. Department of State withdrew all
Fulbright grants from Palestinian students in Gaza, as Israel refused to grant
them permission to leave the Gaza Strip. Seven Palestinian students were added
to the long list of victims of the illegal, brutal, and incomprehensible siege.
The students were deprived from a chance to better contribute to Palestinian
society. As The New York Times reported today, even some Israeli lawmakers
expressed their anger of the decision.
"This could be interpreted as collective
punishment," Rabbi Michael Melchior, chairman of
the Knesset's education committee, stated in a committee hearing. He also
expressed his concern that "this policy is not in keeping with
international standards or with the moral standards of Jews, who have been
subjected to the deprivation of higher education in the past. Even in war,
there are rules".
This is the meaning of a widespread and contradictory
unbalanced policy carried out by the United States that, instead of asking to
Israel to open the border crossings to people, women, men, ill persons and
goods, it reinforces the brutality of the closure withdrawing scholarships for
students.
Unfortunately this unbalanced and hypocritical policy
is also followed by ‘a supine Europe’, as recently defined Peace Nobel Prize
and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who, together with another Peace Nobel
Prize, Archbishop Desmond Tutu -in these last days visiting the Strip and
shocked for the deteriorated situation in Gaza- urge both that Gaza siege must
end.
Amnesty International also announced that "some
40 Palestinians died after being refused passage out of Gaza for urgent medical
treatment not available in local hospitals," which totals143 Palestinian
patients. Amnesty International also expressed concern over the situation of
the thousands of those seriously ill and are denied
permission to leave the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) denounced the increasing number of checkpoints and
other physical limitations on movement. According to OCHA there are 607 new
checkpoints and physical limitations added since September 2007. In its report,
OCHA also expressed its concern regarding the 3,000 Palestinian homes scheduled
for demolition by the Israeli Army, and the confiscation of Palestinian fertile
land due to the illegal Wall.
Many UN Agencies, International, Palestinian and
Israeli NGOs, are constantly denouncing this evidence, but once again in vain.
There are also two resolutions by the European Parliament calling on Israel to
end the Gaza siege. Nevertheless people in Gaza continue to dye, justice and
rights for Palestinians are always more and more remote after
40 years of Occupation and 60 years of Nakba
carried out by Israeli Governments and tolerated by the International
Community.
Further
information Luisa Morgantini + 39 348 39 21 465 or +
972 54 72 71 742 or Office +39 06 69 95 02 17/ +32 22 84 51 51
Luisa.morgantini@europarl.europa.eu
; www.luisamorgantini.net;