“The Israeli blockade of Gaza is a great crime, like the war and the killing of civilians,” says the Joint (Arab) List in a press statement.
The party — third largest in the Knesset — issues a statement expressing its backing of one of its members, MK Basel Ghattas, in his decision to join a flotilla that took off from Italy on Saturday and is headed for Gaza.
Joint (Arab) List leader Member of Knesset Ayman Odeh at a memorial service during a rally marking Nakba Day at Tel Aviv University, May 20, 2015. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
“We support the humanitarian flotilla with the participation of MK Basel Ghattas, which is intended to raise to the agenda the terrible suffering of the residents of Gaza, who live in a massive prison,” says Joint (Arab) List Chairman Ayman Odeh, according to the statement.
“It is our duty to support the struggle to end the blockade and to enable the rebuilding of Gaza after the immense destruction wrought by Israeli airstrikes,” Odeh continues.
The party says the “Freedom Flotilla” has proven that the international community supports ending the blockade on Gaza “and the rights of the Palestinians to live in liberty, in peace, and honorably.”
Arab-Israeli parliament member Basel Ghattas of the Joint (Arab) List in the Knesset, February 12, 2015 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
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