GAZA,- The Egyptian authorities allowed last night 86 pro-Gaza activists from the US, Britain, France and Japan to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with only their personal belongings and refused to allow in any aid trucks.
The authority of crossings in Gaza said Thursday that those activists were among 1,500 multinational advocates waiting for more than three days in Cairo to be allowed to enter Gaza to express their solidarity with its people on the first anniversary of the Israeli war.
Spokeswoman for the French ministry of foreign affairs Christine Valle had said Wednesday that France moved through its embassy in Cairo to help the French citizens who came to Egypt to take part in the march towards Gaza on the war anniversary, but they were barred by the Egyptian authorities.
The French Green party asked two days ago for an urgent meeting with foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, during which they condemned the abuses committed by Egypt against the rights of individuals and their movement as “intolerable”.
It said that Egyptian security guards prevented the participants in the march towards Gaza from leaving their accommodation and reaching some places to buy their basic needs such as food and drink.
In a related context, more than 20 Swiss organizations staged a sit-in outside the Egyptian embassy in Bern in protest at its building of a steel wall on Gaza borders.
The coalition of pro-Palestine organizations in Switzerland had said that the protest was also organized to condemn Egypt’s refusal to allow humanitarian convoys to enter Gaza.
British lawmakers and human rights activists also went Tuesday to the Egyptian embassy in London to hand a message of protest against the building of the steel wall, but the embassy closed its doors and refused to take the letter.
Many humanitarian organizations throughout the European continent called last Monday for participating in massive protests outside the Egyptian embassies in Europe to denounce its steel wall and its refusal to allow aid convoys into Gaza. PIC
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