British NGOs Call on the Quartette to Stop Being Diplomatic About the Gaza Siege


Translated from Al-Quds Newspaper
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Page 6

Jerusalem. AFP. NGOs that are working in Gaza called on the Quartette meeting in London yesterday to pressure Israel to end the Gaza siege.

The statement, by British organizations, called on the Middle East Quartette (the USA, European Union, Russia, and the UN), to stop offering compliments and to exert strong diplomatic pressure on the Israeli Government.

The statement, that was published in Al-Quds Newspaper, said that pressure should lead to ending the Gaza siege, and to allowing sufficient amount of the various products to get there, and to stem an impeding humanitarian crisis.

Among the organizations that signed the statement were Oxfam, CARE International, and Medicines du Monde UK.

The NGOs said the siege on Gaza is making people’s lives unbearable, and it is making the work of humanitarian organizations and the UN totally impossible.

In early April, the NGOs had said they were worried about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, and in their new statement today, they are saying that the situation has deteriorated significantly.