Worldwide Anger Over Gaza plight

The Arab League
and European
Union have led
worldwide calls
for Israel to end
its blockade of
the Gaza Strip
that has caused
untold suffering
to more than
a million people.

After an emergency meeting in
Cairo on Monday, delegates
from the 22 Arab states
called on the UN "to carry
out an international inquiry
into Israeli crimes".

In a statement, the
Arab League described the Gaza
Strip as "a disaster
area" and appealed to the
international community
to provide the Palestinian
people with
necessary assistance.

Amr Moussa, the Arab
League secretary
-general, told Al Jazeera
that what was
happening in Gaza was
a "war crime".

He also urged the international quartet

- made up of the

United Nations, European Union,

Russia and the United States

- to put pressure on Israel.

"This is not terrorism as Israel

is claiming," Moussa said.

"The real problem is the Israeli

military occupation.

And, Israel as an occupying

nation has a responsibility

to protect the rights of the

people of the occupied land."

The 57-member Organisation

of the Islamic Conference

supported the calls for an

emergency meeting of

the UN Security Council.

'Collective punishment'

The criticism of Benita Ferrero

Waldner, EU external relations

commissioner, was also

strong as she accused Israel of

carrying out

"collective punishment" of

Gaza's 1.5 million people.

The EU commissioner warned that

neither the

closure of Gaza's border nor

the deadly air raids

and incursions of the past

week would bring

Israel security from rockets

fired by

Palestinian armed groups.

"Only a credible political agreement

this year... can turn Palestinians

away from violence,"
she said.

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian

president, phoned Ehud Olmert,

the Israeli prime minister, on

Monday to stress "the need to stop

the Israeli aggression against

the Palestinian people".

He also warned "of the deteriorating

humanitarian
situation resulting from the

blockade imposed on

the [Gaza] Strip by Israel."

The Hamas movement, which took

full control of Gaza last June, has

called on other nations to put

pressure on Egypt to open its

Rafah crossing with the territory

to let in desperately needed supplies.

"We have one demand and that is

the opening of the Rafah crossing and

the breaking of the siege,"

Ismail Haniya, Hamas leader, said.

Peace talks 'a mockery'

Syria said Israel's actions made

a mockery of the relaunched

peace talks with the Palestinian

government led by Mahmoud Abbas,

the president.

"Talk of a peace process between

Israel and the Palestinians flies in

the face of the green light being

given to the attacks and blockade,"

a foreign ministry statement said.

Neighbouring Lebanon called on
Western powers to end their
silence over Israel's military
action against Gaza which has
killed at least 37 people in the
past week.

"Israel is profiting from the
international silence ...
to unleash its rage against
the inhabitants of Gaza,"
Fuad Siniora, the Lebanese
prime minister, said.

People gathered across the
occupied Palestinian territories
as well as in Amman, the
Jordanian capital, and Palestinian
refugee camps in Lebanon,
to protest against the blockade.

"Oh Arabs, where is your compassion?
They are slaughtering our people in
Gaza," chanted hundreds of
demonstrators in the
Ein al-Helweh camp.

In Amman, about 2,500 people
marched from the headquarters
of Jordan's main opposition party,
the Islamic Action Front (IAF),
to the parliament building in the city centre.

"Bush [US president], Olmert,
you are despicable. Our blood is
not cheap," chanted the protesters.

Thousands of university students

also protested in Algiers, Algeria's

capital.