'Israeli occupation supported by West'

Tue Dec 14, 2010

Iranian Deputy Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Abu Torabi Fard says Israel continues to survive with the support of the West.

“The regime (in Tel Aviv) has [also] reinforced its occupation of the [Palestinian] territories with the backing of European countries,” IRNA quoted Abu Torabi as saying during a meeting with activists of Asia's first humanitarian aid convoy to Palestine in Tehran on Monday.

The Asian People's Solidarity for Palestine convoy, which is traveling through Iran before heading to Turkey, arrived in the Iranian capital on Sunday and was greeted by the city's people and officials.

Abu Torabi also said that even “the Israeli authorities are aware of the fact that the regime would certainly collapse with the first defeat.”

He stated that the “symbolic” move of the international aid convoy carrying relief materials for the besieged Gaza Strip “demonstrates that Muslims and free-thinking people are always fighting cruelty and oppression.”

The convoy began its journey from New Delhi earlier this month and entered Iran thorough the southeastern city of Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan province on December 9.

Earlier in the day, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the international effort to break the siege of Gaza, saying, "Today the path to humanity's historic aspiration passes through Palestine."

He also condemned Israel for committing genocide in Palestine.

The Iranian president added that in all corners of the world, people with “pure hearts and freedom-seeking thoughts” strive for the liberation of Palestine.

The Gaza aid convoy will pass through a number of other countries, including Turkey and Egypt, before entering Gaza via the Rafah crossing on December 27, which is the second anniversary of the beginning of the Israeli war against the people of Gaza.

The Israeli war took the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, one of the most densely-populated regions in the world.

Israel imposed the siege on the coastal enclave in June 2007.

Some 1.5 million Gazans are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement and the right to appropriate living conditions, work, health, and education. The poverty rate in the Gaza Strip is 80 percent and the unemployment rate stands at 60 percent.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155371.html.