Jordanian, Arab activists conclude Gaza mission

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - Jordanian and Arab activists, who were part of the humanitarian aid convoy Flotilla 5, left the Gaza Strip yesterday and were expected to arrive in the Kingdom late Sunday, according to officials from the Professional Associations Council (PAC).

The convoy included trucks laden with food and medicine, as well as medical supplies donated by Jordan Medical Association members, which the group handed over to Hamas.

The activists also held talks on the humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave, according to PAC Spokesperson Alaa Bourqan.

Association officials said they had prepared a welcome reception at the Professional Associations Complex to greet the activists after what they described as a"difficult” trip to Gaza.

"The activists had been trying to enter Gaza for months and were prevented from going there through Aqaba. They were forced to travel to Syria and join other activists before embarking on their solidarity journey," Bourqan said, in reference to Egypt's refusal to allow the activists head to Gaza via the port city.

Earlier this month, around 100 activists headed to the Syrian port of Lattakia on the Mediterranean, from where they sailed to Al Arish in Egypt, the port designated to receive aid for Gaza

Arab nationals from Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman accompanied Jordanian activists, according to Bourqan.

Several Islamist leaders were among the delegates, including former Islamic Action Front (IAF) MP Azzam Huneidi and Wael Saqa, former president of the Jordan Engineers Association and president of the Gaza aid committee.

Bourqan said the activists will be flown to Amman on a charter plane hired by the PAC.

"They are currently crossing the borders between Gaza and Egypt and should be flying to Amman in the early evening," he told The Jordan Times.

Members of delegation visited Jordan’s field hospital in Gaza, which was deployed in January last year, to express support for their efforts in helping Gazans, according to Bourqan.

Meanwhile, the Islamist movement, represented by its political arm the IAF, said it will continue to collect aid to send to Gaza in the hope of generating regional momentum to break the blockade on the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave.

Since the Israeli blockade on Gaza started in 2007, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization has sent some 90 convoys to the strip, carrying over $33 million worth of aid.

Israel began to ease its restrictions earlier this year, allowing in all purely civilian goods, after an international outcry over a May 31 commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

25 October 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=31246.