|
British MPs âfired atâ in Gaza
Saturday, 19 June, 2004, 14:03 GMT 15:03 UK A group of British politicians were shot at by Israeli soldiers during a UN-supervised fact-finding mission, they have claimed. The cross-party group, including MPs Huw Irranca-Davies and Crispin Blunt, was on a visit to Rafah in Gaza, where UK student Tom Hurndall was killed. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Northover said one bullet hit a wall about 10ft above her head. "I thought âtheyâre trying to kill usâ," she told BBC News Online. Speaking from the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday, the peer said they would be demanding an explanation and apology from the Israeli ambassador to Britain when they returned on Monday. The Israeli embassy in London said it had not received an official complaint from the UN or the politicians, but said it was checking with the military. A source said it was unclear whether shots had been fired, and if so by whom. He said the exchange of fire between both sides was "commonplace" in the area and had not necessarily come from Israeli forces. The group had emerged from their UN vehicle at around 1600 (1300 BST) on Thursday when they heard a burst of machine gun fire, said Conservative MP Crispin Blunt. âExtremely frighteningâ They were visiting the site of the demolition of Palestinian homes by the Israeli authorities, near the spot where Mr Hurndall was killed last April. Mr Irranca Davies said the first he knew of what was happening was when he heard the rattle of a machine gun. "We withdrew to the jeeps and as we were getting in, it was followed by some pretty accurate warning shots which fired above our heads and hit a building. It was a pretty clear indication they didnât want us there. "It was extremely frightening. "I will be taking it up with Jack Straw and the Foreign Office because itâs simply not acceptable," he added. A Foreign Office spokesman said it was in touch with the MPs and seeking an explanation from the Israeli Government. âIndiscriminate violenceâ Lady Northover told BBC News Online when shots rang out she wondered if she would make it back to their vehicle. "Our UN companions later said that if they had wanted to kill us they would have, but it was certainly our group they were targeting and seeking to scare. We were the only adults around. "One of the most perturbing things was that we had been surrounded by children as we arrived, but they were not terrified by this - itâs obviously a fairly common occurrence," she added. In an earlier statement Lady Northover, the Liberal Democratsâ international development spokesperson in the Lords, said the incident had shown her "the indiscriminate violence faced by Palestinians on a daily basis". Which the Israelis never get a taste of at all. She and Mr Blunt said the action may have been an attempt to stop the group seeing the effect of Israelâs policy of demolishing Palestinian Letâs see, a bunch of inbred elitist morons decide to take an international field trip into the heart of a serious conflict zone. Now theyâre amazed that bullets are actually being fired in the region. How dreadfully shocking! Couldnât they come up with a more productive way to waste public funds? Theyâre supposed to drink the tea, not smoke it. Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-19 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=35885 |