Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Britain

UK parliament terror suspect 'linked to Afghanistan'

2017-05-11

[AlAhram] A man tossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! near the British parliament last month was involved in bomb-making in Afghanistan in 2012, it was alleged Wednesday as he appeared in court on terrorism charges. Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, ...the known wolf who was born abroad but reared in Tottenham. He first became known to the world when he participated in George Galloway's 2010 Viva Palestina road trip to Gaza, during which he became friends with the future notorious Al Shabaab jihadi Thomas Evans... 27, was arrested not far from Prime Minister Theresa May's office on April 27, in possession of three knives, London's Westminster Magistrates Court heard. He is charged with preparing terrorist acts relating to that incident, and faces two other charges of having or making explosives related to activity in Afghanistan in 2012. The court heard that his fingerprints were alleged to have been found on parts for improvised bombs (IEDs) recovered in Afghanistan that year by US intelligence. Ali, from north London, told the magistrate: "I don't recognise the charges." He remains in jug and will appear at the Old Bailey court in London on May 19.

Link

Britain

Armed police swooped on terror suspect as he headed for Downing Street with bag packed with knives

2017-04-28

[Telegraph] A suspected jihadist carrying a rucksack packed with knives was heading towards Downing Street when he was dramatically tossed in the slammer Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! by armed police, security sources have told The Telegraph. It is understood that the suspect’s family had become concerned about his behaviour and reported him to the authorities several weeks ago. Investigators believe he was about to launch an attack. The ’lone wolf’ suspect had been under close surveillance when counter-terrorism officers ordered his immediate detention as he came within 300 yards of the gates of the Prime Minister’s residence. Update from the Daily Mail at 1:40 p.m. EDT: Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, 27, is a British citizen who was born abroad and grew up in Tottenham. He is said to have been part of a pro-Palestine convoy which took supplies and aid to the Gaza strip in 2010. That would be George Galloway's Viva Palestina group that drove what was claimed to be $5 million of aid to Gaza via Syria and Egypt. Mr. Galloway was not among them, having made himself persona non grata in Egypt.

Link

Africa North

Egypt Blocks Pro-Hamas Group's Aid Convoy to Gaza

2012-06-06

Islamist Muslim convert George Galloway's Viva Palestina suffers setback after Egyptian authorities refuse to allow its aid convoy to enter Gaza. The British pro-Hamas Viva Palestina organization suffered a setback recently, when Egyptian authorities refused to allow the organization's aid convoy to enter Gaza. According to a report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), it was the sixth time that Viva Palestina failed to deliver aid to Gaza via Egypt. Viva Palestina is headed by former British MP George Galloway, who was thrown out of the British caucus in 2003 after vocally opposing Britain's involvement in the war in Iraq. Galloway, who openly supports the Hamas terrorist group, tried to lead a convoy of some 150 trucks with aid to Gaza through Egypt for the first time in 2010. Egypt blocked the effort, insisting instead that aid to Gaza should be sent through recognized international channels. The group has tried several times since, the last time being in August of 2011. ITIC said that Egypt's decision to prevent Viva Palestina's members from bringing the aid into Gaza is related to the bullying behavior of the convoy members during the first incident in January of 2010. During that attempt, Galloway and the others violently confronted the Egyptian security forces. He has since been declared persona non grata in Egypt. According to ITIC, Galloway ultimately decided to move the aid through Syria. The report noted that Bashar Assad's regime allowed the convoy to move through, hoping to use it as a means of proving that the Syrian regime is a humanitarian one. ITIC noted that Viva Palestina "works closely with the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain and with Hamas activists who live in Britain, as part of what is termed 'the red-green coalition' by the media." Galloway was declared a security risk and was barred from entering Canada in 2009 for a speaking tour that was organized by the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War. He was later allowed entry to Canada and began a speaking tour across the country.

Link

Britain

Galloway prevented from entering US

2010-12-27

[Iran Press TV] Ex-British Member of Parliament, George Galloway, has been denied a visa to enter the US to speak to the MLFA members and some non-Muslims in Kenner, Louisiana over human rights. Galloway was invited to Louisiana by the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) to deliver a speech to raise funds for the organisation and to promote awareness about ongoing injustices facing Muslims and their rights in the United States. The audience of around 100 people, with the majority being Louisiana Muslim community members, and a handful of non-Muslims were shocked to learn that the keynote-speaker was absent because he was not given an entry visa to America, for the December 13 meeting. Galloway addressed the crowd in Kenner via the computer program Skype, stating that it was not clear whether the decision was the result of a technical or bureaucratic glitch, or whether it was a political measure carried out in secrecy. He explained that efforts were made to resolve the situation throughout the weekend, but that nothing came of it. His speech to the audience mainly consisted of human rights violations carried out by the US government against Muslims all over the world. He also talked about the rights of Palestinians and the Israeli-led violence towards women and children, which is supported by the US government. "Nothing will stop me. Not the government of what they call Israel; not the government of Canada nor the US," Galloway said. "I cannot be silenced...I hope the US government understands that. We live in the age of Skype, YouTube and Face book. There will always be a way for me to speak." Well then, we don't need you here, do we ... The long-time British activist, George Galloway, is known for his activities in supporting Palestine. He is a founding member of a charitable organisation called Viva Palestina, whose mission is to break the blockade of the Gaza strip by bringing badly-needed aid. Galloway had also been denied entry into Canada from March 2009 until October 2010. He has not, however, been officially banned from entering the United States.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Viva Palestina sends new Gaza mission

2010-09-19

[Iran Press TV] The Viva Palestina charity has sent a new aid convoy, Lifeline 5, to the Gaza Strip despite the likelihood of a new Israeli aggression against the mission. Part of the aid convoy set sail from London on Saturday and is scheduled to be joined on by other parties on its way to the coastal sliver. "Well, it's unique actually in two respects. First of all, it will be by far the biggest convoy so far. And secondly it's leaving from three places simultaneously," one of the organizers, former British lawmaker George Galloway, told a Press TV correspondent in London.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Viva Palestina prepares for next Gaza convoy

2010-08-25

[Ma'an] British MP George Galloway's charity Viva Palestina will send "the largest convoy to date" to Gaza with aid on 18 September, the group said Tuesday. The land convoy, named the Viva Palestina Global Lifeline To Gaza, will travel through Europe and the Middle East expecting to arrive in Gaza in early October. Two other convoys from Doha and Morocco will also join the group, organizers said. The Kia Ora Gaza in New Zealand, a convoy of six hoping to drive three vehicles to Gaza, said they were "on a peaceful humanitarian mission. We are fund-raising to deliver aid to people in Gaza. They are suffering under an Israeli siege which has been condemned by the United Nations, International Red Cross and most other world bodies." Over 1,000 people in 450 vehicles have joined the convoy, which Galloway has led to Gaza three times. In January, Galloway was deported from Egypt when tensions rose after the government told the convoy that some of the vehicles would have to enter through an Israeli-controlled port, sparking protests and rallies along the Egyptian border.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Egypt to seal sea border with Gaza

2010-02-08

[Iran Press TV Latest] Egypt is to close its sea border to the Gaza-bound supplies as it reinforces the restrictions against the passage of sustenance into the strip. Cairo has ordered a port to be built at its maritime border with the Gaza Strip, a security official was quoted by AFP as saying. The security boats there would then "prevent all future attempts to smuggle Palestinian contraband," he added. The surveillance multiplies the restrictions Cairo has placed along the terrestrial border at a time when the coastal sliver of 1.5-million population continues to suffer from an all-out Israeli-imposed blockade which has deprived it of its basic necessities for almost three years. Egypt has kept shut the Rafah border crossing -- the sliver's only border that bypasses Israel -- claiming that the border post is an Egyptian-Israeli crossing and should not be used without Tel Aviv's permission. The Egyptian government is additionally building a steel wall along the Gaza border to prevent the trafficking of any goods into the strip. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said late last month that "fortifications along our eastern border are a work of Egyptian sovereignty, and we refuse to enter into a debate with anyone [about them]." Egypt has also banned all relief convoys from using its territory to enter Gaza after causing numerous complications for the high-profile Viva Palestina convoy, which had departed for the enclave headed by British member of parliament George Galloway.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Galloway: Britain, Egypt need leaders like Erdogan

2010-01-11

British lawmaker George Galloway has slammed Egypt for its support of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, hailing Turkey's support for the Palestinian people. Galloway, who headed the Viva Palestina aid convoy for the Gazans, was deported from Egypt. "I wish that Egypt and Britain had leaders like [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan," Turkey's Yenisafak quoted Galloway as saying on Saturday. He hailed the Turkish government's support for the humanitarian convoy. The member of the Respect Party noted that he will never visit Egypt again, stressing that the Egyptian people are different from the "dictatorship" running the country and said that he will miss them. Galloway said that he is discussing a new plan with Turkish officials to carry humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip directly from Turkey via the Mediterranean Sea. Somehow invisibly under the noses of the Israeli Navy. A fiendishly clever plan, that. I think the syphilis has gone to his brain. Two Betz cells held together by a spirochete, as we used to say at the County ... He said that such a move is expected to take place in March. Despite restrictions imposed by the Egyptian authorities, the Viva Palestina convoy of around 200 vehicles managed to break the Israeli siege of Gaza on Wednesday. Fifty-nine vehicles were not allowed into the strip but the supplies were unloaded and taken through by the activists. The activists entered Gaza through Rafah border crossing.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Egypt bans all Gaza-bound relief convoys

2010-01-10

[Iran Press TV Latest] Egypt has banned all Gaza-bound relief convoys from using its territory after accusing members of the Viva Palestina convoy of committing "criminal" acts in the country. They had just such a ducky time with Gorgeous George and his merry band... "Egypt will no longer allow convoys, regardless of their origin or who is organizing them, to cross its territory," Egyptian Foreign Minister Abul Gheit was quoted by government newspaper Al-Ahram as saying, the AFP news agency reported. "Members of the [Viva Palestina] convoy committed hostile acts, even criminal ones, on Egyptian territory," he added. Earlier in the week, the Egyptian riot police injured 55 people in the port of El-Arish during clashes with Viva Palestina activists. The scuffles broke out after Egypt said it would not allow 59 Viva Palestina humanitarian assistance trucks to enter Gaza. The Egyptian authorities then proceeded to deport the head of the group, British MP George Galloway. "I am sorry to say that Egypt is implicated in this siege. That's the reason of their revenge on me," Galloway told Press TV upon his arrival in London, referring to the blockade Israeli has imposed on Gaza for over two years. Cairo has also sealed the Rafah border crossing -- the Gaza Strip's only border that bypasses Israel -- claiming that the border post is an Egyptian-Israeli crossing and should not be used without Tel Aviv's permission. Despite restrictions imposed by the authorities, the Viva Palestina convoy of around 200 vehicles managed to break the Israeli siege of Gaza on Wednesday.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Galloway: New Gaza convoys won't cross Egypt

2010-01-08

British lawmaker George Galloway says no more aid convoys destined for the besieged Gaza Strip will pass through Egyptian territory as its authorities caused troubles for Viva Palestina convoy to enter the Palestinian enclave. "I cannot see any more visits to Egypt since we find it very difficult to deal with the officials who cheated us. They signed a binding agreement with us in Aqaba, Jordan, and they broke it," Galloway said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday. "There are other ways into Gaza and we are exploring them. You'll see Viva Palestina coming from all corners of the world," he added. The British anti-war activist added that the third international convoy organized by the British-based group Viva Palestina arrived in the Gaza Strip with no more than three quarters of what the organizers had planned. It is believed that the remaining quarter of the humanitarian supplies, intended for impoverished Gazans living under crippling Israeli siege, will never reach its intended target in the Gaza Strip. The Viva Palestina aid convoy entered Gaza Wednesday, after it received the approval of Egyptian authorities to bring into the blockaded coastal sliver of Gaza several tonnes of aid supplies. The activists of the pro-Palestinian movement had earlier entered the Egyptian port of al-Arish in order to get access into Gaza. The third international convoy to Gaza departed from London on December 5, 2009. The convoy was made up of volunteers from Britain, Ireland, Belgium and Malaysia who had raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in their local communities to pay for ambulances, minibuses, vans and lorries. These vehicles were then filled with medical and other aid supplies desperately needed in Gaza. The Gaza Strip has been under a complete Israeli siege, with full cooperation of Egypt, ever since the Hamas resistance movement, which does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, won parliamentary elections in a surprise victory in 2007. Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, deteriorated the already dire situation there. The Israeli assault led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $1.6 billion damage on the Gazan economy.

Link

Africa North

Turks protest Egypt's attack on Viva Palestina

2010-01-07

Thousands of angry protesters in Turkey have staged a demonstration in the city of Istanbul to condemn the Egyptian police crackdown on a Gaza-bound aid convoy. At least 55 people were injured in clashes that broke out between riot police and Viva Palestina activists at the Egyptian port of El-Arish on Tuesday, after Egypt said it would not allow 59 trucks for the relief convoy to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip. Following the incident, Turkish protesters poured into streets and assembled in front of the Egyptian consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday. It's interesting that it's the Turks protesting, not the Arabs. I s'pose there aren't that many Palestinians in Turkey, making friends of the locals as they did in Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq...and Egypt. They carried flags of Palestine and chanted slogans in condemnation of Cairo's use of force against the human rights activists and Israel's ongoing siege of the Palestinian coastal enclave. Led by British politician George Galloway, Viva Palestina has over 200 vehicles laden with basic food items and medical supplies, and is set to break Israel's months-long closure of the Gaza Strip. Earlier, Cairo had said it would only permit 157 members of the convoy to drive to Gaza, but later agreed to allow the group's 400 volunteers to enter the impoverished Palestinian territory. The Egyptian government's denial of entry for Viva Palestina trucks came despite talks in which a delegation of Turkish lawmakers sought to convince Cairo officials to open its border to Gaza for the aid convoy.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Aid convoy breaks Israeli blockade of Gaza

2010-01-07

The Viva Palestina aid convoy entered Gaza Wednesday, after it received the approval of Egyptian authorities to bring into the besieged, impoverished coastal sliver several tons of humanitarian supplies. Several tons won't last long. The activists entered Gaza through Rafah border crossing. More than 500 international activists accompany the convoy organized by the British-based group Viva Palestina, a Press TV correspondent reported. Fifty-nine vehicles were not allowed into the strip but the supplies were unloaded and taken through by the activists. Sweating like the Hebrew slaves of old, under the hot Egyptian sun. The Egyptian approval came after activists and security forces clashed earlier in the day when Cairo refused to allow part the aid convoy to pass through its land to the Hamas-ruled territory. More than 55 activists and over a dozen members of the security forces were injured in the clashes. Some sixty convoy-members were also arrested. Gaza has been under a tight Israeli blockade since June 2007 when the democratically elected Hamas took control of the area. Egypt has come under fire from Arab and Muslim groups And Turks! for cooperating with Israel. British lawmaker George Galloway, who is accompanying the convoy, said that the activists had been forced to renegotiate with the Egyptian authorities. "We refused this because it's a breach of the agreement which we reached in Aqaba between the government of Egypt and the Turkish side," he said. "It is completely unconscionable that 25 percent of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza, because nothing that goes to Israel ever arrives in Gaza." First they refused, then... they didn't. Egyptian authorities had also refused the convoy entry into the country from the Red Sea, forcing it to change course to a Mediterranean port. Was there a reason for that, or was it just to be mean?

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More