Friday, January 9, 2009

Occupation is the root cause

Here a good description of the debilitating situation that Israel enforced on Gaza in the past years, by Frances ReMillard of Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land. Two months ago she traveled to the occupied Palestinian Territories with two fellow Utahns. Their purpose was to witness first hand the current situation in Israel and Palestine and to attend a peace and justice conference. The travel plans included a visit to the Gaza Strip. Here Karen's story:

I applied for a permit to visit Gaza well ahead of my visit. I had planned to take a donation to the Episcopal Church's Hospital in Gaza and discuss with them how our group here in Utah might help.

The Israeli border guard denied me entry, telling me that Israel was only allowing humanitarian help into Gaza. Next, he denied entry to my traveling partner, a reconstructive surgeon who had 30 patients in Gaza waiting to see her. This was mid-November and the fifth week in a row Israel denied her entry. "Humanitarian cases only," he repeated. Read More.

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