In a press conference at İstanbul’s Feshane, the organizer of the Turkey leg of the trip, Bülent Yıldırım, chair of the Human Rights Foundation (İHH), said they will enter Gaza despite the Israeli-controlled embargo. Turks came to Feshane to meet the convoy carrying Palestinian flags. Several Jewish religious scholars also participated in the meeting to protest Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Hanging Palestinian flags on their necks and wearing cards on their chests saying “No to Israel,” the scholars condemned Israel’s current policy in Gaza.
Supporters called on President Abdullah Gül to ask Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was in Turkey yesterday, to open the Rafah border gate and end Gaza’s isolation. The Rafah border gate is the only entrance to Gaza from the outside world, and according to the Egyptian-Israeli agreement, Egypt keeps its side closed. “There are elderly sick people and children in the convoy. The convoy serves only humanity,” Yıldırım said.
British Member of Parliament George Galloway, who organized the European leg of the trip, also condemned Israel for its embargo and called on Arab nations to lend their support to the Palestinian cause.
The 80-car convoy is composed of cars from Britain, France, Italy, Greece, the US, Turkey and Arab countries. Forty-seven vehicles will also join the convoy in Mersin. The convoy will attempt to enter Gaza on Dec. 27, the first anniversary of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
