Arab League Calls on UN Security Council to Order Lifting the Israeli Siege of Gaza

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

Thursday June 03, 2010 12:45 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Arab League secretary-general, Amro Moussa, stated that the Arab League will demand the United Nations to ensure that Israel lifts its brutal siege of Gaza immediately, and added that the Arab League will head with that demand to the UN Security Council.

The statement was made after Arab foreign ministers held an urgent session to discuss the terrorist Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla heading to the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip to deliver medical and humanitarian supplies.

Moussa said that Israel is carrying serious violations to the International Law knowing that it is protected by its “immunity” and does not expect to be held accountable for its acts and violations.

The ministers stated in their closing statement that what Israel did is an act of piracy and state terrorism, and that this attack violated the International Law and all related agreements and principles of the International Humanitarian Law.

They said that they are committed to ensuring medical aid, food supplies and construction materials make it into Gaza, and held Israel responsible for the ramifications of preventing humanitarian supplies and essentials from reaching Gaza.

The Arab league also demanded Israel to open all border crossings leading to Gaza and to lift the siege.

The League decided to have Lebanon, a Security Council member, to coordinate with Turkey, and other countries with close ties with the Arab world, to demand holding a Security Council session in order to issue a decision that condemns the Israeli siege on Gaza.

The Arab Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the decisions made during the Arab Summit in Libya on March 28, 2010, in which the Arab countries decided to stop all sorts of normalization with Israel.

They said that Israel’s ongoing assaults and escalating violations against unarmed civilians prove that it is not interested in a comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.

They also decided to act with Turkey and other countries to prosecute Israel at the International Court in order to oblige it to lift the siege on Gaza.

The Arab Foreign Ministers welcomed the decision of the Human Rights Council regarding forming an independent committee to probe Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla and the nonviolent activists.

They agreed to head to international media outlets to expose the Israeli crimes, and thanked Qatar for declaring that it will finance the legal and media measures.

The ministers saluted the activists who participated in this humanitarian mission, and sent their condolences to the families of the victims who were killed by the Israeli forces.

They thanked Turkey for its stances and support, and thanked all countries that denounced the Israel attack and aggression against nonviolent human rights activists.

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