Just five weeks after their last visit to Gaza to provide material and political support to Hamas, Interpal are back with another convoy. Here are the charity’s top men – Essam Mustafa (left) and noxious Ibrahim Hewitt (right) – with Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza.
Haniyeh thought it was a good occasion for a rant about violence:
Prime Minister of the deposed Hamas administration in Gaza Ismail Haneya said Monday that the armed resistance on the ground in the Gaza Strip is “stronger than before.”
“Today, the armed resistance on the ground is stronger than what it had been during the three-week Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in late 2008,” Haneya told representatives of Miles of Smiles convoy that arrived in Gaza on Monday.
Haneya received the Miles of Smiles delegation at his office in Gaza. The delegation arrived in the coastal enclave through Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, bringing with them medical aid to the enclave.
“The Israeli aggression and the Israeli siege were aiming at toppling the government in Gaza and strike on the armed resistance. But today, the armed resistance is stronger than before,” said Haneya.
What about peace and recognising Israel? Forget about it:
“Resistance is our strategic choice and it will go on. We won’t recognize Israel and we won’t make any concession on any of our people’s legitimate rights, mainly the right of return,” said Haneya.
For a laugh, look at this early day motion (EDM) from 2009:
That this House recognises the important and valuable work carried out by the charity Interpal; agrees with the Charity Commission that charities like Interpal who provide `humanitarian aid in high-risk situations, such as conflict and other complex emergencies, make a vital contribution to these communities and their work supports people in desperate need’; notes with concern the numerous unsubstantiated allegations of links to terrorism that have been levelled at Interpal and the undeserved and unjust negative impact that these have had on the charity’s reputation and operations; praises Interpal on its efforts to comply with all of the Charity Commission’s recommendations regarding due diligence and monitoring of partners; and, in light of Lloyds TSB’s decision to refuse to continue processing the charity’s international clearance payments and bearing in mind the Charity Commission’s view that `every charity must have access to banking services’, calls on the Government to offer stronger support to Interpal in their efforts to find permanent banking arrangements.
The EDM’s primary sponsor was Labour MP Lynne Jones. The other sponsors were Labour MP Phyllis Starkey, Liberal Democrat MPs John Hemming and Bob Russell, SNP MP Mike Weir, and independent MP Dai Davies.
In total 35 MPs signed the EDM. 24 were Labour and five were Liberal Democrats, including Simon Hughes. The only Conservative to sign was Islamist-friendly Peter Bottomley, an oddball in his party on these issues.
Will any of them apologise now for this cretinous behaviour? I very much doubt it.
