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Chamber and committees

CEPR Delegation to Gaza

  • Submitted by: John Finnie, Highlands and Islands, Independent.
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
  • Submitting member has a registered interest.

  • Motion reference: S4M-05134

That the Parliament notes the return home of politicians from Scotland, Ireland, Portugal and Poland, who comprised the most recent Council for European-Palestinian Relations (CEPR) delegation to the Gaza Strip, initially postponed due to the recent hostilities; notes that the delegation visited many locations in the Gaza Strip, including the site of the Al Dalu family home, where 10 members of the family, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike, the Abu Khadra civil service compound, which was completely destroyed by an airstrike, as was the nearby Al-Jazeera club, which provided sports facilities for 400 boys and girls,100 of whom were disabled, the Al Yarmouk football stadium, whose pitch and spectator facilities were bombed, Zaitoun Girls School, Tel El Hawa, which was damaged by an airstrike and the nearby Zaitoun Co-ed D Tel El Hawa school, where the delegation received a briefing on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) education programme, Al-Shifa Hospital, where it received a briefing from the Minister for Health, Dr Mofed Al Makhalalaty, on the 182 killed and over 1,000 injured in the recent hostilities, the Jabalia Camp to see, and receive a briefing on, UNRWA food distribution and a palm plantation in Raffa; understands that the delegation met the Deputy Director of UNRWA, Scott Anderson, various NGOs, visited, and met elected members of, the Palestinian Legislative Council and held a meeting with the Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya; condemns the targeting of non-combatants, attacks on residential areas, the targeting of journalists and the destruction of civil facilities such as police stations; considers that the only route to progress in the Middle East is through dialogue involving all parties, and calls on the international community to insist on adherence to international law, an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza and to support efforts for a lasting peace.


Supported by: Jackie Baillie, Claudia Beamish (Registered interest) , Colin Beattie, Marco Biagi, Sarah Boyack, Patricia Ferguson, Neil Findlay, Rob Gibson, Patrick Harvie, Hugh Henry, Jamie Hepburn, Jim Hume, Colin Keir, Bill Kidd, Angus MacDonald, Lewis Macdonald, Mike MacKenzie, Mark McDonald, Christina McKelvie, Elaine Murray, Gil Paterson, Richard Simpson, Drew Smith, Elaine Smith, Kevin Stewart, Jean Urquhart, Sandra White