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Friday, July 16, 2010

Egypt stops aid convoy to Gaza. Did you hear about it?

Here's a story that was put out by AFP yesterday:
Jordanian activists and trade unionists slammed Egypt on Thursday for denying them entry to the Gaza Strip for the second time in less than a month to deliver aid to the blockaded Palestinians.


"We are shocked that Egypt prevents us from delivering aid and medical supplies to Gaza," Ahmad Armuti, president of the Islamist-dominated unions' council, said in a statement emailed to AFP.
"We regret, reject and condemn Egypt's unacceptable position, not only towards our brave people of Gaza, but also towards all Jordanians."

Armuti called on the Jordanian government to demand clarification from Egypt, which "should be pressed to change its position."

"This will not stop the Jordanian trade unions from working hard to break the unjust blockade and resisting any form of normalisation with the Zionist entity," he said.
The group of 150 people, including unionists, journalists and academics, left for Gaza on Tuesday, with 25 vehicles carrying supplies and medical aid as well as equipment to establish a hospital for children, the unions said.

Late last month, Egypt banned several Jordanian trade unionists from Gaza through Rafah, Gaza's only crossing to bypass Israel, saying they had failed to give prior notice of their arrival.
It was covered in the Jordan Times and another Jordanian newspaper. It was mentioned in passing by Al Jazeera within a story about the Amalthea. And that's about it.

Even though AFP is a major wire service, I couldn't find a single newspaper that bothered to mention Egypt's ban on aid from this group.