Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Amal Ghabayen and Muhammad Khawaldeh - Security forces Tuesday night allowed the Viva Palestina convoy to enter Amman after breaking it up into smaller convoys to prevent traffic congestion. The convoy was accorded a grand welcome by masses upon entering the Jaber crossing.
Security forces had earlier in the day intercepted the convoy and blocked it from entering Amman for a short while until further logistical preparations were made.
The convoy is supposed to camp for two days in the Professional Associations Complex, before heading Thursday to Rafah crossing via Aqaba and the Egyptian port of Nweibe.
Authorities justified the decision to block the convoy from entering Amman earlier in the day because there are not enough parking spaces for accompanying cars.
The convoy includes over 220 vehicles and 450 figures from the Britain, United States and European countries.
The Life-Line aid convoy to Gaza, led by British MP George Galloway, entered Jordanian territories Tuesday afternoon from Syria en route to the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.
The convoy was welcomed by large public crowds that included government officials, leaders of political parties, Professional Associations, and tribal and social personalities.
Chairman of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization JHCO Ahmad Al-Amian welcomed Viva Palestina as it arrived at the Jaber terminal on the border with Syria. Prime Minister Samir Rifai on Tuesday had called on Al Amian to receive the Life-Line aid convoy to Gaza.
Rifai had asked authorities to facilitate the passage of the aid convoy which started the journey from London with food and medical aid donated by European civil society institutions at the initiative of European parliamentarians.
British MP and human rights activist, George Galloway, who led the convoy, thanked His Majesty King Abdullah II and the government of Samir Rifai for the facilitations offered to the convoy ensuring its reach to Gaza. He also thanked King Abdullah for his humanitarian and political support to the Palestinian people.
Galloway expressed that he will kiss the sacred ground of Gaza upon his arrival on behalf of all those who support the freedom and rights of Palestinians.
The convoy is expected to reach Gaza on December 27th, Gallaway said, which is the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Galloway stressed that lifting the blockade against Gaza is a duty of utmost priority, and called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to facilitate the crossing of the convoy via its Rafah terminal on the border with Gaza.
He also welcomed war crimes arrest warrants issued by a British court against former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and defense Minister Ehud Barack for their role in the Gaza war and called on the world community to bring to justice all Israelis who committed war crimes against Palestinians.
On his part, Professional Associations President, Abdullah Obeidat, hailed the efforts leaders and people of conscious around the world to lift the blockade on Gaza, noting that Jordan had been the closest to the Palestinian people.
Obeidat thanked Prime Minister Samir Rifai and Minister of Interior Nayef Al Qadi for the facilitations provided to the convoy upon entry into Jordan, and affirmed the Professional Associations' support for the Palestinian cause and for the blockaded Gazans, adding that the Associations' are working to support lifting the Israeli blockade off Gaza.
The Professional Associations will dispatch three trucks loaded with medical supplies, electric generators, and dialysis machines donated by the professional associations, private corporations and individuals, including Al Wehdat Football team, Amman Chamber of Commerce, Amman Chamber of Industry, and the Jordanian Pharmaceutical Company.
Galloway told 'Ammon News' "Sykes and Picot did not dream that their maps dividing-up of the Arab world over a "cup of tea would be stronger than all empires." He expressed that Sykes and Picot would not have envisioned their map drawings dividing the Arab lands would be 100 years later one of the most successful plans in the history of mankind.
He added to 'Ammon News' that the Sykes-Picot agreement is what prevents Arabs from supporting the Palestinian cause and resolving it by establishing an independent state.
On the impact of his campaigns against Israeli occupation in Britain, Galloway stressed that Israel has become politically bankrupt in England thanks to the help of British activism against Israeli discrimination.
He noted that activist campaigns were the instigators for the issuance of arrest warrants against Tsipi Livni and Ehud Barak, and seven others, on charges of war crimes.
He noted that the Life-Line Viva Palestina has enjoyed popular support and interest in Arab and Islamic countries, adding that "in Turkey we were welcomed as dignitaries" as they had been welcomed in Jordan and Syria.
On his opinion of the stance of Arab governments towards the Palestinian cause, Galloway saw that these governments have disappointed the hopes of their peoples after the Palestinian cause ceased to be within the frame of their priorities.
While noting the material, cultural, and religious wealth of the Arab world is capable of enabling the creation of a Palestinian state, "disunity is the obstacle in the way of the ambitions of Arab masses," Galloway stressed.
Galloway noted that future plans include Viva Palestina 4, which will launch from Venezuela via Turkey to Gaza.
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