EU parliamentarians call Israel to end its siege on Gaza

Sources from the Freedom Flotilla Alliance revealed that around 100 EU parliamentarians have signed a petition calling for the end of the eight-year Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian-European Club revealed yesterday.

Among those who signed the petition was Vice President of the European Parliament Dimitris Papadimoulis and representatives from more than 15 EU countries. They also called for international protection for Freedom Flotilla III and for it to be allowed to safely arrive in Gaza.

Fengales Pesias, principal of the Greek ship, which is part of the Flotilla, and one of founding member of the Alliance, said: “This number of petitioners reflects a change of the popular European mood after eight years of the Gaza siege.”

Felesteen newspaper reported Pesias saying that there would be “negative consequences” if Israel refused the Flotilla access to Gaza.

The petition, which was raised in the EU Parliament a couple of weeks ago, called for lifting the Israeli siege on Gaza, opening crossings, guaranteeing freedom of movement, affording international protection for the Flotilla, stressing the right of Gaza to have a sea passage and pushing Israel to commit to international law.