Galloway Meets with Hanieh, Granted Honorary Palestinian Citizen

Source: Al-Manar TV, 12-03-2009

British lawmaker George Galloway has been awarded an honorary Palestinian citizenship after his "Viva Palestine" convoy broke the Gaza siege. Hamas leader Ismail Hanieh granted Galloway a Palestinian passport after meeting the outspoken UK lawmaker in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Hanieh's office announced on Wednesday without disclosing the meeting place.

It released a picture of the two men embracing and says Galloway was awarded an honorary Palestinian passport.
Galloway, who left Gaza through Rafah crossing point on Wednesday, has urged the "Israeli" government to begin negotiations with the democratically elected ruler of Gaza.

He led a delegation that he says delivered some $1.1 million of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Among those traveling with Galloway was Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of international Mideast envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

On Monday, part of a Gaza aid convoy finally in the Strip via the Rafah crossing, prompting Galloway, who headed the group, to kiss the ground. It managed to break the 19-month "Israeli" blockade and arrived in the besieged strip via the Rafah crossing on Monday.

The "Viva Palestina" convoy, bringing medicine, food, clothing and toys, traveled more than 12,000 kilometers, through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. It also included ambulances and a fire engine.

The convoy reached the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Sunday, but was delayed due to the Egyptian security forces' objection to the delivery of non-medical aid. The activists spent the night in El-Arish, where locals reportedly pelted them with stones and sprayed anti-Hamas graffiti on their cars.

Eventually, an agreement was made with Egypt, whereby some of the non-medial supplies - including electrical generators and the fire engine - were unloaded and were to be transferred via the Egyptian Red Cross through border crossings under "Israel's" control after being checked by the "Israeli" occupation army.

A Hamas border official said about 50 British and Scottish volunteers and 100 vehicles carrying food, clothing and medicine had passed through the Rafah crossing. Galloway said 300 British citizens and 200 Libyans would be entering Gaza.
After entering the Strip, Galloway called the aid "a drop in the ocean," but said the trip was to send a message that "the lifeline from Britain to Gaza is in."

Speaking from Gaza, the UK lawmaker described Tel Aviv's efforts to mount pressure on Hamas by imposing blockade on Gaza as unsuccessful and urged "Israeli" officials to lift the siege.

He vowed that more such aid convoys would follow and that Gazans should not feel they were alone. "I have entered Palestine many times but the most emotional of these is after the 22-day genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people," he told reporters.

Receiving the activists, Ahmed Kurd, Hamas' minister of social affairs, thanked Galloway for the "noble goodwill gesture" and called the lawmaker a "hero."