http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1069774.html




British MP George Galloway, left, walking with a Hamas official after having 
crossed with his entourage from Egypt into Gaza on Monday.
(AP) 

Last update - 22:24 09/03/2009 

Hamas official hails British MP George Galloway as 'hero' in Gaza 

By The Associated Press 

Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Israel News  

A Hamas official on Monday hailed controversial British MP George Galloway as a 
"hero" upon the lawmaker's arrival in the Gaza Strip. 

Galloway entered Gaza from Egypt with an aid caravan. About 50 British and 
Scottish volunteers and 100 vehicles carrying food, clothing and medicine 
passed through Egypt's Rafah border crossing with him, a Hamas border official 
said. 

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

Galloway, who was expelled from Britain's ruling Labour Party in 2003 over 
statements he made in opposition to the Iraq war, said a total of 300 British 
citizens and 200 Libyans would be entering Gaza. 

After entering Gaza, 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. 

Other aid, including electrical generators and a fire engine, would enter 
Israel, where the British delegation hoped to get it into Gaza through 
coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the official 
said. 

Israel allows daily convoys of aid into Gaza and denies that there are 
shortages of food, fuel or medicine there. 

On Sunday, activists belonging to Galloway's "Viva Palestina" convoy clashed 
with Egyptian security forces in the north Sinai town of el-Arish, close to the 
border with Gaza. 

Clashes erupted after the convoy was refused entry to the crossing point at the 
town of Rafah, which is bisected by the border between the Gaza Strip and 
Egypt. 

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