By IRNA
London : The foremost British-based campaign group seeking justice for the plight of the Palestinians Thursday criticized US President George W Bush’s trip to the Middle East for for making worse the situation in the occupied territories.
“President Bush’s visit has clearly emboldened the Israeli government to escalate its military assault on Gaza,” the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said.
In a letter to the Guardian, PSC chair Sarah Colborne urged the British government to call for the Israeli siege to be lifted.
A further three Palestinians, including a 14-year old boy, were killed by an Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza City on Wednesday.
The attack came after Israeli troops killed at least 19 in another atrocity in Gaza on Tuesday.
“How much more killing and collective punishment are we expecting the Palestinians in Gaza to take?” Colborne asked. Even the Israeli military are now admitting all the killings were civilians, she said.
“Israel is restricting the Gazans’ access to food, fuel, electricity and water, ensuring all entry and exit points are closed to them,” she said.
Her letter said Israel was “forcing Palestinians to watch family and friends dying because the Israeli authorities are preventing them from leaving Gaza to access medical treatment.”
The PSC has announced that it is holding a protest to end the siege on Gaza as part of an international day of action outside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s office on January 26.
On the same weekend, a day school is being held in Edinburgh on ‘Zionism, Ethnic Cleansing and the Way Forward for Palestine’ and the first of a series of events in Oxford to mark the 60th anniversary of the dispossession of Palestinians in 1948.