Karen Buck MP, calls on European Union to press Israel for an end to Gaza blockade - Impasse threatening Palestinian recovery
Published: 19 March 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
KAREN Buck MP has called on the European Union to lobby the Israeli government to lift their blockade on Gaza.
The MP for Regent’s Park and Kensington North has just returned from a three-day fact-finding mission to the area as a member of the Britain-Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group.
She witnessed first-hand the damaging effects the blockade is having on Palestinian recovery, over a year on from the Israeli invasion Operation Cast Lead.
She said: “The lack of reconstruction in Gaza 14 months after Operation Cast Lead is truly astonishing. I saw first-hand the homes, schools and hospitals that continue to lie in ruin because Israel refuses to allow access for the concrete, steel and glass that are so desperately required to rebuild shattered infrastructure.
“Where reconstruction has taken place it is because of supplies brought in through the smuggling tunnels that I visited. What I found most humbling was the resiliance of the people of Gaza and their desire to rebuild.
“Israel must allow the necessary materials in; it is in their interests as well as the people of Gaza that the Palestinians are allowed to rebuild their homes and schools, without enriching those that control smuggling rackets.”