US Congressman calls on US to break Gaza blockade
Monday 15 February 2010
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EmailA US Congressman on a fact-finding mission to blockaded Gaza told students there that his country should break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver badly needed supplies by sea.
Washington Democrat Brian Baird said on Sunday that instead of condoning Israel and Egypt's blockade, "we ought to bring roll-on, roll-off ships and roll them right to the beach and bring the relief supplies in, in our version of the Berlin airlift."
Mr Baird, who has been visiting Gaza's under-resourced schools and hospitals, also urged US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy to visit the Hamas-ruled territory to get a first-hand look at the destruction caused by Israel's bloody offensive last year.
The Obama administration, like its predecessor, refuses to engage with the democratically elected Islamist organisation because it does not recognise Israel as a "Jewish state" and upholds the right of Palestinians in the occupied territories to resist Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, British officials met detained British journalist Paul Martin in Gaza on Sunday amid calls for Hamas to release him.
He was arrested on Sunday in a Gaza Strip courtroom while testifying for a Palestinian friend accused of collaborating with Israel.
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