<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Arab League criticises claim that siege of Gaza is&nbsp;legitimate]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Monday, 05 September 2011 16:30 | MEMO</p>
<p><img class="image_align-left" title="Arab League criticises claim that siege of Gaza is legitimate" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/images/article_images/news/middle-east/arab_league1.jpg" alt="Arab League criticises claim that siege of Gaza is legitimate" width="250" height="125" border="0" />The Arab League has criticized the United Nations for issuing a report which claims that Israel&#8217;s blockade of the Gaza Strip is legitimate. Such a position, said the League&#8217;s spokesman, harms the UN&#8217;s reputation, having declared previously that the siege imposed on Gaza&#8217;s million and a half Palestinians is illegal.</p>
<p>The Arab League&#8217;s Assistant Secretary General for Palestinian Affairs, Mohamed Sobeih, said that the UN report on the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla is &#8220;biased&#8221; and &#8220;encourages aggression and war.&#8221; Israel, he added, &#8220;could take it as a pretext to continue its siege on the Gaza Strip.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sobeih said he was surprised to see the UN trying to justify the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip, adding that this stance &#8220;contradicts international law, as no country has the right to impose a blockade on another country for political reasons&#8221;. He noted that the siege falls within the definition of collective punishment, which is prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.</p>
<p>He stressed that the Gaza blockade and attacks on ships carrying aid materials &#8211; be them Turkish ships or otherwise &#8211; &#8220;constitute a flagrant violation of the Law of the Sea and Freedom of Navigation.&#8221; Human rights organizations around the world were called to work towards lifting the siege.</p>
<p>In closing, Mr Sobeih praised Turkey for expelling the Israeli ambassador from Ankara, noting that &#8220;Israel attacked Turkish ships in international waters, which is an aggression against Turkey&#8217;s sovereignty, and it is Turkey&#8217;s right to respond in the way it deems convenient.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2788-arab-league-criticises-claim-that-siege-of-gaza-is-legitimate">Source</a></p>
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