Gaza – Mohammed Habib Â
Mohammed Awad Gaza – Mohammed Habib Gaza Foreign minister, Mohammed Awad, emphasized that ‘Palmer’ report issued by the United Nations about the embargo on the Gaza Strip lacks objectivity and professionalism. Awad welcomed in a statement to ‘Arabs Today’ the Turkish intention to take this matter to the international court of justice. Awad said: “the report justifies the illegal and unjust siege on Gaza, where most of countries on the world agreed on the necessity to lift it.” He pointed that: “the Turkish intention to investigate the legality of the siege on Gaza should be the first response to this pro-Israeli biased report.” Awad has also showed his appreciation to the Turkish position to reduce the level of representation of Israel in Turkey in response to the crime committed against the Turkish flotilla ship and emphasized that this position reinforces the necessity of lifting the siege on Gaza.” He also pointed out that Arab states must support the Turkish position and called on the United Nations to reconsider its position on the blockade, especially because it has accurate reports on the degree of the Palestinian suffering as a result of the Israeli siege imposed. Palmer report on the Israeli aggression on the Marmara ship, which resulted the death of eight activists in May 2010, concluded that the blockade on Gaza strip was legal, pointing out that the Israeli forces were aggressive. According to the report, “the naval blockade imposed by the occupation in the Gaza strip is justified as it aims to prevent the transfer of arms supplies to the ‘terrorist’ organizations.” The report had also criticized the organizers of those aid ships, a long with the Turkish government who failed to prevent those ships from going to Gaza, pointing out that most of the participants in ship didn’t have aggressive intentions with the exception of members of the IHH organization.