Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Lifting blockade the solution

byStaff writers
4 July 2010
Reading Time: 2 mins read
AA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

JERUSALEM (CNS): Only a total lifting of the Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip will significantly improve the situation for Gazans, the Jerusalem regional director of the Pontifical Mission of Palestine said after a two-day visit to the beleaguered region.

“The mood in Gaza is that really whatever sort of things are in the process to ease the blockade, they will not make a significant difference on their life,” Sami El-Yousef, who met with civil and religious representatives including those of several Christian organisations during his visit on June 14 and 15, said.

“What they are looking for is the lifting of the blockade. Otherwise, (Gazans) say, (easing the blockade) is just a joke unless it is completely lifted and there are no limitations put on the humanitarian supply,” Mr El-Yousef told Catholic News Service.

He said most Gazans believed United States President Barack Obama’s recent pledge of $400 million in aid to Gaza would have little impact on their situation.

After the May 31 raid on a flotilla that organisers claimed was carrying humanitarian aid but that Israeli officials believed to include Islamist extremists from Turkey, Mr Obama urged Israel to limit the blockade to items that can be used to produce arms and to allow items through that could improve daily life and economic activity for Palestinians.

However, details of the plan must be released and reviewed before a “learned comment” can be made about it, the director said, noting that, according to reports, only $40 million of the aid would be earmarked for the Gaza Strip.

Both Israel and Egypt have enforced a blockade on Gaza since June 2007 after the militant Hamas Islamic movement took over governing the strip following Palestinian elections in 2006 and a battle with the more moderate Fatah party.

Egypt opened its borders with Gaza indefinitely after the May 31 incident. Israel has said it would open the blockade if Hamas would allow the International Red Cross to visit Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped from the Gaza border four years ago and is being held in the Gaza Strip.

Mr El-Yousef said the entry of products such as “mayonnaise and soft drinks” would not make a difference in the lives of most Gazans because they cannot afford them. He urged that the blockade be lifted so that building supplies and other necessities can enter the region and allow Gazans to provide jobs by rebuilding infrastructure and buildings destroyed during the January 2009 war.

One particular need Mr El-Yousef cited was the Shajai Medical Clinic, which mainly treats mothers and children and which the pontifical mission helped make operational within three months after the war.

Related Stories

All Catholics invited to pray rosary for peace with Pope Francis next Tuesday

Gunmen kidnap two Catholic priests in Nigeria

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

The clinic has been unable to bring in a dental unit and two electric generators for use during frequent power outages.

In the meantime, a smuggling economy has developed with goods entering Gaza through underground tunnels from Egypt.

Hamas controls the tunnels and imposes taxes and license fees, making the produce brought into Gaza far more expensive than most residents can afford.

In general, Mr El-Yousef described a feeling of despair among the Gazans he met.

He said Gazans felt pessimistic that the blockade would be eased soon or that Hamas and Fatah will reconcile with each other.

 

ShareTweet
Previous Post

A happy end to the Shrek franchise

Next Post

Report shows race tension

Staff writers

Related Posts

Vatican

All Catholics invited to pray rosary for peace with Pope Francis next Tuesday

27 May 2022
Gunmen kidnap two Catholic priests in Nigeria
World

Gunmen kidnap two Catholic priests in Nigeria

27 May 2022
Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia
Australia

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

26 May 2022
Next Post

Report shows race tension

Abortion survey raises concern

Motives for staging MacKillop play

Popular News

  • Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

    Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Gunmen kidnap two Catholic priests in Nigeria

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Vatican

All Catholics invited to pray rosary for peace with Pope Francis next Tuesday

by Staff writers
27 May 2022
0

By Catholic News Agency THE Vatican is inviting Catholics to join Pope Francis in praying the rosary...

Gunmen kidnap two Catholic priests in Nigeria

Gunmen kidnap two Catholic priests in Nigeria

27 May 2022
Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

26 May 2022
Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

26 May 2022
Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting

Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting

26 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping